FOCUSING ON THE REAL ISSUES BEING IGNORED IN THIS ELECTION CAMPAIGN
The thirteen colonies that came together in 1776 to declare their independence from the authoritarian rule of England were initially governed by the Articles of Confederation. That document was written in 1777, but not fully ratified until 1781. This first attempt at self-governance helped to resolve territorial disputes between the States, and functioned adequately in many respects. However, the inability of the central government to enforce the States to contribute money or troops was a fatal flaw. Correcting these short comings laid the foundation for the writing the U.S. Constitution which was adopted in 1798. The form of government that resulted was not a democracy, but a Constitutional Republic with separation of powers, checks and balances, and most importantly a Bill of Rights. Understanding the difference is important because words have meanings, and demagogues often wrap their intentions in phrases intended to confuse.
The governments of the western liberal Democracies allow their citizens to vote, engage some form of legislature to pass laws and use judicial systems to resolve disagreements, but only the United States has a Bill of Rights. The first amendment of that document which enshrines free speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances is what has protected the individual from mob rule. In the last 50 years, western liberal democracies have concentrated power in centralized authorities and while professing the best intentions for the common good, have trampled the rights of the individual. That was made crystal clear during the Covid19 Pandemic when we saw just how quickly the totalitarian inclination of liberal democracies tossed individual freedoms under the bus. Even today these pseudo democracies are enacting laws that restrict any speech deemed as hateful or misinformation, which they reserve the right to define as they see fit.
The 2024 election is an opportunity to resolve the future direction of our Republic. One choice is to “save democracy” by ceding even more authority to the dictatorial fiats of an un-elected and unaccountable deep state. The politicians, businessmen, and rich coastal elite donors who compose the American Oligarchy believe they know what is best for the hoi polloi, and will attempt to impose their beliefs through the deep state. The totalitarian hand within the silk glove was lucidly expressed by presidential candidate Kamala Harris when she advocated not for equality under the law but for equity of outcome. Marx would be smiling. The other choice in this election is a Nationalist Populist movement that wants to dismantle the deep state and reverse some of the more egregious authoritarian power grabs. It is a political movement that is still evolving, but one which advocates for the rights of the individual to make their own decisions free of federal mandates. What many lifelong Democrats have failed to notice in the last 30 years, is that the core tenants of the two main parties have completely reversed. The Democrats have become the party of Wall Street, and the MAGA dominated Republicans that of the working class.
Pre-election Maneuvering
The Democratic Party has officially dumped President Biden as their reelection candidate, or to be more specific, the elite moneyed coastal donor class made it clear that Biden’s poll numbers threatened their interests, and the DNC dutifully complied. The almost giddy sigh of relief from the media’s talking heads that were no longer required to ignore President Biden’s cognitive decline was palatable. The propaganda media quickly pivoted from the lie that Biden was as sharp as a tack to a new FALSE narrative. The current fabrication is that Kamala Harris is no longer a mediocre (at best) Vice President, but the best qualified candidate to save Democracy, which is a nebulous term with little real meaning other than don’t vote for Trump. The primary talking point for Kamala Harris’s supporters in the Media is that this is the chance to make History by electing the first Black Woman as President of the United States. Let’s pause for a moment, and be totally honest about that. Kamala is a woman of color with Indian and Jamaican heritage who can call herself whatever she wants. Ethnicity has absolutely zero to do with anyone’s ability to be an effective President. It has everything to do with cynically positioning yourself to receive a block of votes from a constituency which you feel owes you allegiance because you identify with the color of their skin. The African American Community wasn’t impressed by that claim in her 2020 failed run for the Presidency. It remains to be seen if they can be duped now that she has been anointed by the DNC power brokers without an open primary.
The Issues that Really Matter
I couldn’t care less about any particular historical perspective that might be achieved by this election. I am more interested in the differentiation of policy objects between the candidates and how they propose to deal with two serious self-inflicted crises; one foreign and one domestic. These two problems pose an existential threat to our Country’s survival, and should be at the forefront of any analytical discussion in this year’s Presidential Election. They are also indicators on whether we will continue our slide towards liberal totalitarianism or make the correction back towards a more representative Republic.
The Prospect of Nuclear War in Ukraine
In a previous Substack, (https://removingthecataract.substack.com/p/was-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine), I covered the historical background of Russia’s objection to the inclusion of Ukraine as a member of NATO. Vladimir Putin made emphatically clear that NATO membership for Ukraine was a red line not to be crossed. Putin is not the good guy in this conflict, but there is also absolutely no military justification for including Ukraine in NATO. The Neo-Con persistence of that policy not only precipitated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has now brought us perilously close to a needless Nuclear Confrontation. The Biden Administration narrative has been about saving Europe from Russian aggression. In reality, this war may be more about feeding the voracious appetite of the Military Industrial Complex and gaining control of Ukraine’s Lithium Oxide ore deposits. The media has failed to point out that at a projected 500,000 tons, these deposits are thought to be one of the largest in the world. Kamala Harris has been adamant in her support of a conflict that is not winnable and which has led to unjustifiable destruction and loss of life in Ukraine. The other candidates, former President Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. both believe a negotiated settlement and an end to the destruction is achievable.
The Prospect of Nuclear War in the Middle East
There is another dangerous ongoing confrontation, the one between Iran and Israel, which also poses a very real threat of Nuclear War. In June of 2010, the Obama Administration worked with Congress to pass comprehensive sanctions to force Iran to the bargaining table to curtail both their nuclear weapons development and their support of terrorism. In 2014, Iran gained access to small portion ($4.2 Billion) of their seized assets after reaching an interim nuclear deal. Iran regained access to more than $100 billion when the final accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was agreed to in 2015. Citing intelligence data that claimed Iran had lied about its nuclear program, had negotiated in bad faith, and was using returned assets to fund a military buildup and foment terrorism, the Trump Administration re-imposed sanctions to force Iran back to negotiations. The Biden/Harris Administration, has attempted to renegotiate the JCPOA agreement, but Iran has refused and continues to pursue their nuclear capability. Complicating the situation was the Biden/Harris 2023 release of $6 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for 5 U.S citizens being held prisoner. Kamala Harris who claims to have met with President Biden on an almost daily basis to discuss policy, owns at least part of that decision. That money and some of the over $7 Billion in military equipment left behind in the disastrous Biden Administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal have most likely been a factor in the Hamas attack on Israel last October 13th. Some experts are convinced that Iran is likely to eventually use nuclear weapons against Israel and there is even less doubt that Israel will preemptively strike Iran to prevent that from happening. Nuclear war in the Middle East is almost a forgone conclusion. Which of the three presidential candidates is more likely to prevent escalation of the current Israeli/Hamas/Hezbollah conflict or the start of a shooting war with Iran. A serious question deserving a serious answer.
The Debt Bomb
The National Debt is 36 Trillion ($36,000 Billion) and growing. The federal Debt/GDP ratio is 123%, and the cost of the current budget interest payments currently exceed the budget earmarked for Defense. As a Nation we are on a collision course with insolvency. It is not a question of “if” but “when”. This growing debt is irresponsible, unsustainable, and is undeniably the greatest threat to our economy, security, and social cohesion. At the time President Nixon un-pegged the dollar from gold in August of 1971, the National Debt was $371 Billion, (1/1000 of what it is today). His reasoning was in part pragmatic. There simply wasn’t enough of the metal to support an economy as large as that of the United States. The dollar, backed only by the full faith and credit of the US Government became a free floating currency, fluctuating in value in relation to other world currencies. The end of the gold standard initiated the collapse of Congressional spending discipline and ushered in the rise of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Adherents of this theory believe governments are free to spend independent of revenue and can merely print new money to cover the difference.
The US has run a budget deficit for all but 3 years since 1970. There was a brief peace dividend and budget surplus following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1998, which was under the last year of President Bill Clinton’s term and the first 2 years of President George W. Bush. Then following the 9/11 terrorist attack and the beginning of the never-ending wars, budget discipline evaporated and was replaced with MMT. Print and spend is a favorite technique of politicians seeking reelection who are keen to avoid spending cuts or tax increases.
Seigniorage is the economic term for government income realized from the difference between the cost of producing money and its value. It can be used to finance expenditures in lieu of taxes. Expenditures that finance productive projects like infrastructure don’t automatically lead to inflation. Unproductive expenditures and those intended to stimulate consumption do. When the Federal Reserve increases the money supply and that supply growth outpaces the growth of goods and services, then inflation is the result. This is what happened with the Pandemic stimulus checks and it is why inflation started to spike. The Consumer Price Index for inflation was 1.7% in February ’21. Three rounds of coronavirus stimulus checks totaling $867 Billion dollars drove inflation up to 9% by June’22.
MMT is a Ponzi scheme and like all such fraudulent structures is doomed to eventually collapse. It has only worked so far because the U.S. Treasury has been the holder of the world’s dominant reserve currency. As long as China, Saudi Arabia, Western Europe, and other countries buy U.S. Treasuries, then the U.S. government can continue to finance reckless spending. Proponents of MMT argue that the Dollar will always be the reserve currency, but then so did the British for the Pound Sterling and the Dutch for the Guilder; both were wrong.
The major threat to the MMT Ponzi scheme is that the interest on T-Bills needs to be high enough to attract foreign investors, but rising inflation which increases the interest cost of the debt aggravates the problem. This increased cost of money results in price increases, lowers growth and generates higher inflation. Foreign investment in the US Treasuries is holding this house of cards together, but that may not continue. As the Dollar’s perception as a safe haven wanes, the World’s developing economies have been looking for an alternative. This has created support for BRICS, (an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates), who collectively are determined to supplant the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The weaponization of the Dollar by the Biden/Harris Administration against Russia and Iran has only added fuel to the financial fire. Other developing countries are now actively seeking alternative currencies for trade, investment, and reserve currencies to remove the potential of any future leverage being used against them.
Continuing deficits from uncontrolled spending will eventually result in the Dollar losing its status as reserve currency. Without foreign investment in treasuries, there is a very real danger of a debt spiral where government borrowing and interest rates keep pushing each other up, resulting in higher inflation and significantly lower living standards.
Alternative Possibilities
The exploding national debt is a serious problem that will require time to correct. Fundamentally, there are only two ways to accomplish this. Balance your budgets and grow your way out of debt, or continue to spend recklessly until inflation collapses your currency, and then use the devalued dollar to eliminate debt. The myopic press will focus on whether a candidate proposes to raise or cuts taxes. The impact on the deficit as reported by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, (CBO), will be cited as fact. However, the CBO calculations are based on the assumed revenue, inflation, and growth parameters they are given, regardless of their connection with the reality. Plenty of room for misrepresentation here. Focusing on revenue is irrelevant if spending remains unchecked. The Federal Government can’t be the sugar daddy for everybody and everything. There just aren’t enough resources to solve every problem, and the candidate you vote for will need to restrain the Deep State in order to return to the functions of the limited (and less expensive) government envisioned by the founders. It will require a change in mentality to revamp the pork barrel corruption that currently passes for budget legislation.
Failure to put our financial house in order could lead to a financial collapse and an economic depression similar to Venezuela’s, where 3 out of 4 people live in extreme poverty. Boomers might escape this calamity, but Millennials and Gen Z need to take a hard look at any candidate who proposes to continue the status quo of irresponsible spending.
Addendum:
Gen Z Needs to Know the Stakes
This election may will be decided by the younger generations. At this point in their lives, it is nearly impossible to change the opinion of most Democratic Party Boomers. That would require an admission that the Democratic Party of their youth is now a progressive socialist train wreck that has consistently lied to them for the last 16 years. That may be too painful of an acknowledgement to make, easier to pretend that Biden was, and Harris now is a moderate.
The millennials, (1981-1996), are dealing with the complexities of the Covid19 economic downturn and resulting inflation that is making raising a family extremely difficult. Most of them are smart enough to vote their pocketbooks. However, Gen Z (1997 and 2012) with a little over half of its members being old enough to vote in this election could be a critical component of the electorate. Living their entire youth under the shadows of digital media and social platforms rife with socialist propaganda Nudging, it’s hard for me to gauge whether they are indoctrinated or skeptical. These are the voters to whom you should forward this Substack Essay. They need to understand that the consequences of this election are a lot more important than achieving some insignificant historical milestone. Their future will depend on it.
Kamala Harris’s Particulars
My Substack is about government lies and the media’s collusion in those lies, and at the moment that is primarily coming from the left. It is a measure of the shallowness of the Democratic Party and their media propaganda echo chamber that they tout Kamala Harris's candidacy as historical, rather than focusing on her record. A prime example is the kerfuffle about whether she was a failed border Czar. Biden handed her that bag of worms after he issued Executive Orders that dismantled everything that Trump had put in place to close the border. The press obsessed about whether she was actually a border Czar, a title the media themselves gave her. Like a carnival shell game, let’s fact check the title “Czar” instead of looking at the fact that she visited the Border once in 2021 and has made no attempt to fix the problem. 10 Million Illegal Aliens later, the press is only concerned with her title, not the failed policies she presided over. This is the media game plan; expect the same superficial analysis for everything associated with her abilities to govern.
When Harris ran in the 2020 primaries, GovTrack, a non-partisan organization that tracks bills in Congress, ranked her as the most Liberal of US Senators. During the 2020 primaries Harris opposed fracking, wanted to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, proposed a mandatory buyback program for some guns and aspired to eliminate private health insurance entirely. She withdrew from the race prior to the Iowa Caucuses. It is fair to ask whether or not the progressive positions she espoused during that previous primary run were a cynical attempt to gain traction or were honestly held beliefs? We don’t know because the un-Democratic Party didn’t have a real primary in 2024, and Harris isn’t likely to be queried on these issues by the propaganda media. Best to shove them down the memory hole, remake her image as a moderate, and focus on the historic aspect of the contest.
I’ve included in this addendum some Substack essays that delve into the positions of Kamala Harris’s record that won’t be covered by the legacy media attempting to paint her as a moderate. She is in fact a progressive liberal and Donald Trump is a National Populist, and while those labels may be enough to determine how to vote for some people, it is a really shallow standard to employ in this election.
Other Informative Takes on Kamala Harris
1. Robert F Kennedy Jr. initially entered the race as a democratic but was forced to run as an independent by the un-democratic party. Here are two of his organization’s takes on VP Kamala Harris.
The Kennedy Beacon - Harris is owned by Big Pharma: https://thekennedybeacon.substack.com/cp/147378496
The Kennedy Beacon – The Democratic Party no longer does Democracy:
2. Sasha Stone’s Substack delineates some of Kamala Harris’s word salad gaffs the propaganda media is trying to memory hole.
Free Thinking - Yes, Trump should debate Harris
https://substack.com/home/post/p-147326307
3. Finally, the legacy media dismisses as misinformation any attempt to contradict their misleading portrayal of Kamala Harris as a moderate. Is she instead a far left Progressive? Here is an opinion piece from the Progressive Left contradicting the media, and well worth the time spent reading.
E-International Relations – Opinion: A Socialist Case for Supporting Kamala Harris https://www.e-ir.info/2024/07/25/opinion-a-socialist-case-for-supporting-kamala-harris/