THE UNIVERSAL ECONOMY UNIT V: GOVERNMENT “DEBT” IS NOT GOVERNMENT DEBT
Words matter. When a person opens a $5000 savings account at a bank it paints one picture. But if one states that the bank has borrowed $5000 from a person and now is in debt to that person for $5000 plus interest, it paints quite another. It is the same thing, but one statement creates a feeling of safety and wellbeing while the other creates a sense of doubt and fear of loss.
So it is with the misleading terms “deficit” and “debt” as applied to the U.S. federal budget. “Deficit” refers to the annual money created by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve ...
NANCY MACLEAN’S DIRE WARNING
By Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Our democracy is at a “historic turning point,” said Nancy MacLean, the author of “Democracy in Chains,” on May 3 in Madison, where she was the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s annual celebration.
The Duke University historian likened our current situation to two other perilous periods in U.S. history: the Civil War and the 1930s. In both those periods, she said, “the property supremacists” were trying to prevail over the advocates of democracy.
Today, the Koch Brothers and their big-donor network ...
Ruminations on Roadside Trash
Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends,
have become global garbage cans. Jacques Yves Cousteau
This time of year is garbage season. The snow has finally melted along our road revealing a winter's accumulation of trash. In the time between snow melt and new spring growth it is easily visible (and easy to pick up). We usually get several five gallon buckets just along the mile or so of county road that we pick up.
It is amazing what you can find along the road side. The variety is astonishing. You expect the usual food and beverage contai...
What Can One Person Do? A New Tactic for Change
We do not have a functioning democracy. Too often the will of the majority is ignored. The politicians and their big money donors do what they want. Money rules. Corporate lobbying trumps public opinion. Voters are apathetic. Crazy reactionaries succeed and common sense reforms go nowhere.
Too often we organize, march, write letters, contact our legislators, sign petitions, seemingly to no avail. It is time progressives try new methods. We need a new protest tool that will demand attention. I believe we need to use our economic power as consumers to demand sensible ...
WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY
A wreath was placed on the Memorial for Workers in a recent ceremony at the Workers’ Memorial Park on River Drive in Wausau (next to the Farmers’ Market).
There was a moment of silence for the workers killed in the recent helicopter crash as well as for people affected by the explosion in Superior, Wisconsin.
Randy Radtke, president of the Marathon County Central Labor Council, gave opening remarks. Mayor Robert Mielke spoke on the importance of safety for all workers. Joel Lewis of Citizen Action and member of OPEIU Local 9 read a resolution from Senator Tammy ...
COMMON THEMES
Common themes intertwined from the Marchers who came to support the students during the March for Our Lives in Wausau. About 200 people joined student organizers on the 400 Block in Downtown Wausau to remember the 17 students who died February 14th at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Anna Klieber, one of the organizers from Wausau West, spoke about growing up with social media and technology. It is a way to stay connected. She also sees the harm that social media can do. Anna spoke about Emma Gonzalez, one of the survivors of the shooting, ...
THE UNIVERSAL ECONOMY UNIT IV: THE FOLLY OF THE “BALANCED BUDGET”
We’ve heard it a thousand times. . . “I have to balance my budget. Why shouldn’t the government?” I have to pay my bills. Why shouldn’t the government? Politicians of every stripe jump on board. “Government spending is out of control!” “The deficit is unsustainable!” “We’re mortgaging our children’s future!”
But each of these statements is based on false or deliberately misleading premises regarding the monetary functioning of the U.S. Federal Government. Each assumes the government has no money of its own and must tax or borrow from the ...
NOW HEAR THIS
Once upon a time, people reserved loud outbursts for very special occasions.
HELP! FIRE! CHARGE!
In each case, the raised voice with its guttural message alerted anyone within earshot that an emergency required their immediate attention. Or in the case of warfare, now was the time to kill or be killed.
We respond to shouting both physically and emotionally as adrenalin dumps into our system. Our hands may form fists, our jaw clenches, our heart rate accelerates. Psychological studies have shown the negative effects of shouting.
In the mid-1980s, a certain ...
Tax Fairness
While President Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Representative Sean Duffy and other Republicans are trying to convince us that the December 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act is benefiting the working class, more evidence is surfacing that proves it is a tax bill of, by and for the rich.
A recent analysis by Americans for Tax Fairness, a political advocacy group devoted to tax reform, found:
Only 67 of the Fortune 500 corporations have announced plans to share their tax cuts with employees.
Only 4.3 percent of workers will receive a one-time bonus or wage increase tied ...
Corporations Are People?
“This is a crucial time in the fight for corporate civil rights. Just look at the hateful signs at Occupy Wall Street: 'Corporations Are Not People!' Wow, I thought we were past the point in this country where some people aren't people just because they have different color skin or different religion or were born in a lawyer's office, only exist on paper, have no soul and can never die.” Stephen Colbert, comedian
“I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one”. Robert Reich, economist.
We are moving into another election season. We all know ...
