Economic Truth - Update 6.21.11 AND 6.11.11

Hey Barry:

I'm going to tell you exactly what we have to do to save the country. It's no B S; it's unvarnished and very difficult politically, but we're talking saving the USA from implosion. No time to pussy tweet around.

None of this stuff is a surprise. I’m giving you an intro y’all won’t hear from your econs, but it’s what they are thinking.

And, out in the real world, we get it; this is stuff we know.

But the thing about it is this: if most of this stuff does not happen, we are pretty much done and in for a very rough ride.

INCOME TAXES:

Y'all gotta raise income taxes on rich folks a lot, I mean a real lot. We need to go back to the Eisenhower years.

We need the money and we don't need the rich people. No brainer - tax them out of existence. If they don't like it they can move to some other place.

If we don't tax away the rich people, we will BE some other place soon.

The Rep idiocy that lowering income taxes creates jobs is just a billionaire con job, don't pay it no mind. It happened one time in history when Reagan was around, but it will never happen again. Talk to George Bush if you're in doubt.

Most of the Rep politicians know it's a lie, they just use it to get elected. Some of the intellectually challenged Tea Party folks actually believe it, though. Sad.

Jobs come from higher aggregate demand. And, higher aggregate demand has got to come from Government spending because most folks are just broke and can't buy anything. Or, we can raise incomes for the middle class through wealth transfers - social security, medicare, even lowering taxes on low income earners [of course NOT on high incomes], etc., etc.

We can't borrow any more, and we can't cut spending - we gotta raise taxes on rich people.

UPDATE 6.11.11: Read that you are calling for the private sector to create the jobs because government can't do it all. That's OK because when the aggregate demand goes up, the private sector will make the jobs - we get that. But, Barry, here's the big but: demand won't increase unless the government spends. Glad you agree Barry, glad you agree.

ESTATE TAXES:

Billionaire princes and their broods are killing the country. They get rich because they have a monopoly on something - usually from the government some way. They suck the life out of a market and they don't leave any room for folks to start new businesses.

Here's from the Financial Times: "Treating commodity cartels with benign neglect would be a mistake, however. Opec may not be able to realise its formal ability to collude. But other commodity markets also suffer from effective, if informal, cartelisation. Iron ore extraction, for example, is dominated by three large companies. The vast majority of rare earths – indispensable in many electronics components – comes from China. The recent public offering of Glencore exposed the extent of a single company’s control of commodity value chains from extraction to trading."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dc37dfa0-92c4-11e0-bd88-00144feab49a.html#axzz1OoVqgAQC

And, since new businesses are where jobs come from, y'all gotta tax away the monopolists' great fortunes. If you don't then we won't get job growth AND we'll become a feudal society where most folks are wage slaves and the Princes get all the favors by bribing the King.

The government will get some money from the tax, but that's not the point; the goal is to clear out the suffocating deadwood that are the Billionaire Prince Monopolists so folks can find some room to start some new businesses.

CORRUPTION:

We are corrupt, period. The only people who get laws passed are people who can make large campaign contributions.

Money buys laws. Usually, the money buys laws that gives money more money. I don't see a lot of laws helping out the middle class. I know you're trying and I know it takes awhile, but Barry, incrementalism won't get us there.

TRADE POLICY, INDUSTRIAL POLICY:

Free Trade is killing our jobs. We gotta be like China and South Korea: Protect American jobs with tariffs and quotas.

And, we need an industrial policy - a list of industries we want in the future and which we protect with trade laws and subsidies. Just like we want in solar energy, only better. China is eating our lunch in Solar, Barry.

NUCLEAR POWER

By the way, Barry: nuclear power has got to go. As human beings, we are just not smart enough to manage it. Remember the old TV commercial for some butter substitute: 'It's not nice to f--k with Mother Nature.' Ask Angela Merkel about nuclear power Barry - it's gotta go. Too bad, but that's the way it is.

UPDATE 6.21.11 Fukushima worse than imagined; read it here: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201161664828302638.html

Double down Barry, we is just too dumb to manage this stuff.

Money Quote: "Radioactive air filters from cars in Fukushima prefecture and Tokyo are now common, and Gundersen says his sources are finding radioactive air filters in the greater Seattle area of the US as well."
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TOO MUCH CAPITAL:

Now there is too much capital from too many very high income folks. But, there is no demand to buy the products or services that capital seeks to make.

It is time to redress the balance by taxing away some of the capital formation and giving more income to poor and middle class folks to stimulate demand.

BANKS:

The worst people on the planet and the ones leading us right off the cliff are the bankers. Letting bankers buy stocks and bonds was the dumbest thing we have ever done.

This we simply gotta fix. FDR did it - so can we.

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It’s a tough job Barry, but we are with you. Every time you raise these points people love it and your polls go up. And, all the billionaire prince monopolists piss their pants.

But, ya gotta see it through. It'll help you get votes, Barry.

Your pal,

Hissy Fit Banks Delay Rules

Hey Barry:

Looks like the bankers, especially the derivative hucksters, are kicking and screaming about the Dodd-Frank rules.

The rules don't go far enough to help protect the country against greedy banks, but even these light taps on the shoulder are making the Golden Sox crowd throw a hissy fit.

Y'all gotta get them on board to help the country - they live here and make their money from us, so they gotta help us out. It's the right thing.

If they won't do that, then kick 'em out or throw 'em in jail, Barry.

They're bad apples and un-American.

Your pal,

Danger Room: Fun Read about Defense

Hey Barry:

Here's a thing for your spare time: imagine some really bright reporters who take their time and write a story about weapons and politics - stories that won't get published in newspapers because they are too.....something.

It really exists and it's called Danger Room: What's Next in National Security. read it here: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011

Just read a great story on the new unmanned planes that will change aerial combat soon.

Your pal,

All Contractors Must Tell All Political Contacts

Hey Barry:

According to Robert Reich [Sunday, June 5, 2011 - http://robertreich.org/], you are thinking about asking big government contractors to disclose their political [read bribery] spending.

What's to think, Barry?

If some corporations like Lockheed, Boeing and even the Acme Road-Runner Fireworks Company, Inc., LLC, LLP, LtD. all want to get some of my tax money from a government contract, they gotta tell us all how much will go to bribing folks to get more money. It should be a part of every contract application, big and small: disclose all payments to anyone conducting business with an elected or empoyed official of the United States Government. Period.

Thought it was already there.

Holy cow, Barry, it's a no-brainer.

Keep on it.

Your pal,