Week 23 of the Quarantine
SAN MARTIN, ARGENTINA – The trouble with a democracy is that “the people” vote. You know them as well as we do. They’re our friends and neighbors. Nice people.
They run their own lives plausibly well. But you wouldn’t want them running your life. Or your country.
Highest Bidder
And they never really do. The insiders, cronies, and Deep State elite control government policy, not the voters.
But the insiders are not all the same. They divide into two groups – Republicans and Democrats. Each needs votes to gain power.
So, with an election approaching, each tries to be the highest bidder in the auction of goods that haven’t even been stolen yet.
Here’s where the bids stand:
The Democrats are at $3.4 trillion.
The Republicans are at $1.1 trillion.
But Donald Trump is waving the nation’s checkbook. Here’s the latest from the Daily Mail:
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is readying $3,400 checks to go out to American families, but blamed Democrats for holding up a deal in talks that broke down a week ago.
“I’ve directed the Secretary of the Treasury to get ready and send direct payments, $3,400 for a family of four to all Americans – Democrats are holding this up,” Trump said.
Who wouldn’t like an extra $3,400?
It would cost another $300 billion that the feds don’t have. But why not? They’ve got a printing press.
Team Trump has even signaled that it would toss another $25 billion to the Post Office – whose losses have nothing to do with the coronavirus or the recession – if the Democrats go along with the rest of his big spending boondoggles.
Classic Problem
Old-fashioned “conservatives” – if there were any left – would be appalled. Their knees would jerk. Their moss-covered backs would shiver. They would hrrumph in disgust and spit in contempt.
They sought their votes honestly – by promising “balanced budgets” and “fiscal integrity,” not by dropping money from helicopters. They loathed debt. And they loathed politicians who courted the masses with federal funds.
But Donald Trump, a Democrat for most of his life… who made his fortune in the bubble of fake-money financing, has an election to win.
The problem is classic. The frugal politician, like the chaste prostitute, is rare. Even rarer is the successful politician who promises to cut back on the free stuff voters enjoy.
In a small, honest money system, the tendency to over-promise and over-spend is held in check by limited resources. Voters realize that any bribes or giveaways must be paid by the taxpayers themselves.
The mob, of course, hopes to “tax the rich” and redistribute the loot to itself. But it rarely happens. Politicians are almost all relatively rich themselves, as are their major campaign contributors.
Money talks. “Spare me,” it says, “and I’ll help you win re-election.” Washington listens.
The feds still want to promise (and deliver) favors. But, read my lips, without raising taxes. Voters don’t like tax increases. Plus, higher taxes reduce both economic growth and their chances of re-election.
Desperate Measures
What to do? The easy solution is to borrow. But again, in an honest money system, they soon run into a limit. The more they borrow, the more they “crowd out” private borrowing. Then, interest rates rise, the economy slows, and they get less tax revenue!
In the final, desperate, and degenerate stage, they turn to the printing press. Neither taxed nor borrowed, printing-press money appears like magic… free as the wind… and as destructive as a tornado.
Here’s dear reader James D. explaining it:
…new [dollar] bills still beguile and bewitch the masses and keep a lid on the very dangerous undercurrents of unrest in all societies. Thus, I believe, because people want stability (mostly), they will continue to place their beliefs in this new money theory of printing what you need to pay for the desires of the voters. Until it doesn’t work anymore.
But the fake-money system does work… for a while. People love it. They want more fake money, not less. Here’s a dopey opinion from The Week:
It is absolutely within the rights of the people to demand that their elected representatives make sure everyone has enough to eat and a roof over their heads at all times, not just in a crisis. And when a Great Depression-scale disaster is allowed to fester for no reason, it is anybody’s guess what will happen. As we saw with this summer’s racial justice protest movement, mass despair is just waiting for a spark to blow into a conflagration of rage. The result could easily spin out of anyone’s control.
No Choice
And who can blame Donald J. Trump for paying attention to the threat? And for doing what politicians have always done?
Besides, it’s what the public (and the press) demands of them. Dear reader Felix M. explains that The Donald has no choice:
I wish to point out that if Trump implemented austerity, vetoing spending bills and opposed stimulus, he would most definitely lose the upcoming election. The Democrats would promise free stuff and would win. Trump’s hands are tied.
Well… yes and no. He still could do the right thing. But Felix is right; he would almost definitely lose the election.
And, who knows, the Democrats might even be worse than Trump is.
Different Trump
And another of our readers thinks it is essential that Mr. Trump win. He may be a toad now, says Joseph M., but he’ll turn out to be a prince after the election:
First, we must re-elect the president. Then with four years, he can get to work with fireside chats telling Americans the party is over. Stop all non-essential spending, revert back to the gold standard, and let the economy reset. Then, he will be known as the greatest president.
But why would we expect a different Mr. Trump in his second term than the one we had in term one, when he increased spending and the U.S. debt more than any other president?
Why would he jeopardize his own fortune… and risk impeachment or assassination? Why would the fatal flaw of democracy suddenly disappear?
Not going to happen.
We don’t know who will win the election. But both parties are playing the same game.
Neither will stop the money-printing.
Regards,
 |
Bill
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