Sanders and Warren: Still great ideas; still afraid speak the truth.

“Ignorance is the parent of fear.” Herman Melville
“Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.” Dale Carnegie
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” Helen Keller
“Fear is the lengthened shadow of ignorance.” Arnold Glasow
“Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” Joseph Campbell
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” Jack Canfield
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” Louis E. Boone

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The U.S. government is Monetarily Sovereign. It never can run short of its own sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar.

Even if all federal tax collections totaled $0, the federal government could spend unlimited amounts, forever, and without causing inflation.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and the rest of the Democrats know this. They have had expert advice.

Yet they are afraid to say it. They cower at the notion that voters will not believe them. They fear even to hint at the truth.

So despite offering great ideas, they won’t tell how these ideas will be paid for. And that, more than any other thing, will destroy what they propose.

Majority in US Back Free College Tuition and Student Debt Cancellation, New Poll Finds

Posted on September 14, 2019 by Yves Smith,  [By Judy Conley, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams]

A majority of voters support the bold proposals for free college tuition and the wiping out of student debt put forward by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, according to a new Hill-HarrisX poll out Friday.

The survey found that out of more than 1,000 respondents, 58 percent of people said they support government-funded public college tuition and the cancellation of student debt for the more than 44 million Americans who currently hold it.

“We will make public colleges and universities and HBCUs debt-free. And what we will always also do, because this is an incredible burden on millions and millions of young people who did nothing wrong except try to get the education they need, we are going to cancel all student debt in this country.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

The student debt crisis has left young Americans as a group owing more than 1.5 trillion for their college and graduate educations, and is largely blamed for keeping millennials from being able to buy homes and start families.

“What we will also do is not only have universal pre-K, we will make public colleges and universities and HBCUs debt-free,” the Vermont independent senator said. “And what we will always also do, because this is an incredible burden on millions and millions of young people who did nothing wrong except try to get the education they need, we are going to cancel all student debt in this country.”

According to the Hill-HarrisX poll, 72 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independent voters support free college tuition and student debt cancellation, while 40 percent of Republicans back the plans.

Free college. Eliminate student debt. They are excellent ideas.  But . . .

While both Sanders and Warren have proposed offering free public college to all Americans, Warren’s debt cancellation program would only be offered to families who earn under $250,000 per year—the bottom 95 percent of earners. Sanders has proposed wiping out student debt for all those who carry it.

Sanders would fund his plan by imposing a speculation tax on stock trades, raising an estimated $2.4 trillion over 10 years, while Warren’s Ultra-Millionaires Tax would fund her proposal.

Question: Why $250K? Why not offer it to everyone?

Answer: It’s an unnecessary attempt to reduce the cost.

More importantly, why propose a “speculation tax” and why propose an “Ultra-Millionaires tax”? Elizabeth, Bernie, and the rest of the Democrats (and the Republicans, too) know full well that:

Federal taxes do not fund federal spending.

There is plenty of evidence that this is true. The U.S. government never has failed to pay its debts.  It creates all the dollars it needs, when it needs them.

A politician who offers brave ideas, should not fear to tell how these ideas will be paid for.

At the Democratic debate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) suggested progressive candidates are “extreme” and have made “promises [they] can’t keep,” while South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg said in an earlier debate only that he supports “reducing” student debt and addressing college “affordability.”

“Promises they can’t keep”? Oh, the trepidation. Why can’t those promises be kept? Only fear stands in the way.

On MSNBC Thursday, Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner said that while poll numbers have fluctuated slightly for the top candidates in recent weeks, surveys have consistently shown that Americans support free college tuition and student debt forgiveness.

The ideas are good. The voters are in favor. Why the fear by the politicians?

Turner told Katy Tur, Sanders “understands the cries, the fears, the needs, and the dreams of the American people in this country. Hello Green New Deal, hello college for all, canceling student debt, standing up for the working people of this country.”

Yes, he understands the needs full well. He also understands how the proposed solutions easily could be funded.

Finally, he knows how to explain Monetary Sovereignty.

If only he and Warren and the rest of the Democrats had the courage.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty
Twitter: @rodgermitchell
Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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The most important problems in economics involve the excessive income/wealth/power Gaps between the richer and the poorer.

Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.

Implementation of The Ten Steps To Prosperity can narrow the Gaps:

Ten Steps To Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA

2. Federally funded Medicare — parts a, b & d, plus long-term care — for everyone

3. Provide a monthly economic bonus to every man, woman and child in America (similar to social security for all)

4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone

5. Salary for attending school

6. Eliminate federal taxes on business

7. Increase the standard income tax deduction, annually. 

8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher progressive tax rates on all forms of income.

9. Federal ownership of all banks

10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99.9% 

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY