"Taxpayer dollars": The origins of austerity's racist catchphrase How the myth of the overburdened white taxpayer was made.

Can we call it public money instead?
“Taxpayer Dollars”: The Origins of Austerity’s Racist Catchphrase – Mother Jones share.google/71CQxCHEQQZU...

Saw this today. Good flick, a bit different from the original that I read maybe 30 years ago?, but I thought it captured the spirit.

Yep, it has fallen victim to enshittification. Best to delete it and move on.

It's almost like war money is pulled out of thin air, while money for public purpose is buried at the center of the earth. If it actually all comes from the same place, then congress is just CHOOSING to kill people at home and abroad.

Nor do they understand the the "trust fund" is just an accounting gimmick. They never notice that we don't have an army trust fund for instance and yet somehow we are able to fund it at will.

Wow.

Not really. Economic myth drove that, but that's a deeper discussion.

Agree, that this is probably just a distraction that makes no difference and likely has no intent.

2 ways to conduct monetary policy:
1. Control the quantity of reserves (pre 2008)
2. Control the rate directly (IOR)
Take your pick, same result.

Meh, it would just take us back to pre 2008 where we used supply of reserves to manage rates instead of IOR.
Or, we let rates go to 0 and leave them there.
Neither is likely to happen with folks still worshipping at the church of monetary policy.

Board games are bit like that too.

To be fair, we will be talking about all the shit taco fucked up for decades to come as it will take some time to recover (if we ever do).

Deficit is a non-issue. Focus on inequality instead.

Paying interest to bond holders is just a basic income to people that already have money. It is a policy choice that we could choose to eliminate.

The "debt" is our collective savings and is nothing to worry about. I'm not a small gov person, just understand currency.

...and if (big IF) we stop pretending there isn't because of some "big" numbers on a spreadsheet.

It would be cool if the IRS folks knew that federal taxes simply delete US$ from the economy.

Small biz owners can't afford their own politicians and therefore don't matter.

...and then you realize that brat bastard isn't charging you enough. So, every time you buy one, you set fire to an extra 25% so you aren't being taken advantage of.

That's the idiocy of the tariff.

...or maybe the left one.

But her emails....😜

Seems like this is all that's needed:

💩

We can do that already, but choose not too. Us Gov is the sole issue of USD, not "the rich."

Don't get me wrong, we should tax them more, but that is an independent policy choice.

Just silliness. If they were worried about "servicing the debt" there is always the option of not paying a basic income to savers.
This narrative always leads to cuts to services for people without savings.

Yes. My point doesn't contradict this. 😉

She isn't pro debt, but recognizes that money is debt. Nobody is saying we shouldn't have tax collection, but it is important to understand where USD comes from. We don't dig them out of the ground, but rather issue them on demand.

It's not a business. The gov is the issuer of the USD. It must be issued before it can be collected.
When you see a movie, does the theater collect the tickets first and then issue them?

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creat...

This is false. Congress funds the government through appropriation. Taxes reclaim that money AFTER it is spent into the private sector. The government is the SOURCE of USD, not the private sector.

This is important to understand, many make this error.
Start here:
www.amazon.com/Deficit-Myth...

Sweet, go with that framing if you like.

Again, I don't refer to the addition of a import tax (essentially a sales tax whether paid directly or indirectly by the consumer) as inflation. But, you are welcome to if you wish.

Of course, but a step price increase isn't inflation - continuous rise in price level according to mainstream academic definition anyway. Fully expecting tariffs to be passed along to consumers.

Maybe, we'll see how that pans out and how long this "trade war" lasts. I still think it is mostly a market manipulation play to facilitate insider trading for him and his minions.