Why doesn't socialism work?

The presidency is a National Vote, not a state-vote of representation in Congress.

Each state should be adept at running the voting process. It is that voting process that is defective.

Howzat? -
*The "Electoral College" need only report the results of the presidential popular-vote to Congress. Both units of Congress (HofR, Senate) then announce the winner.
*The state-vote to the HofR should be in a direct relation to its Total Popular-vote with No Gerrymandering Whatsoever of the voting process as now exists. The number of a state's members in the HofR should be strictly in relation to its population. That population number should be revised/reconfirmed every five years - that is, two national election cycles. Thus determining the total number of State Representatives in the HofR.
*The Senate vote of two representatives to Congress cannot change. However, there is no reason to accept the present distribution of committee leaderships, as shown here. All committees are run by Republicans! Despite the fact that the Senate majority is presently like this; "Majority (53) - Republican (53) Minority (47), Democratic (45) Independent (2)".
*There is no reason whatsoever for the distribution of committee-heads not to be according to each party's representation-number in that body. The "majority" have no natural-reason to head ALL Senate committees.

It is not that difficult to understand how this "democracy" of ours is one in name only ... !

 

So now you are OPENLY violating PF RULES because you cannot handle that your own links PROVE YOU WRONG just like the one above does!

Sad!

Furthermore you OBVIOUSLY don't have a CLUE what "certain alternative lenders" actually MEANS either.

In simplistic terms an "alternative lender" is NOT a REGULATED BANK that makes Commercial Loans!

IOW's a small business that has been TURNED DOWN by regulated Banks that issue Commercial Loans can find an UNREGULATED "lender" who will charge much higher interest rates.

Here is a quick PRIMER of what "alternative lenders" charge small businesses.

https://www.nav.com/blog/alternative-lending-138876/

Let's RECAP your abject FAILURES to date!

You FAILED to grasp the concept of COLLATERAL as SECURITY for regulated Commercial Bank Loans.

You FAILED to grasp the concept of PERSONAL ASSETS being used as SECURITY for regulated Commercial Bank Loans.

You FAILED to grasp the concept of how INTERNATIONAL Commerce uses Letters of Credit to transact business.

You FAILED to grasp the concept of how corporations operate on the standard 30 day INVOICING period.

And NOW you have FAILED to grasp the concept of how ALTERNATIVE LENDERS make loans at rates that are essentially USURY.

All of the above COULD have RESEARCHED by yourself BEFORE you posted your nonsensical drivel but since you FAILED to do that just PROVES that your posts are nothing but BLUFFING on your part.

So once again you have been EXPOSED in yet another DESPERATE BLUFF where you are hoping that NO ONE else can see though your massive loads of BOVINE EXCREMENT!

Sad!

 

Blah, blah, blah and so what?

Sanders is a fine man and a good politician. But, he is far too "emotional" to be a PotUS. I, for one, had settled on Warren but that is not going to happen. Not even for VP - she'd scare the hell out of Biden. If Biden won the presidency.

It is still a lonnggggg way to November - and Donald Dork is going to start-to-look "presidential" to show how well he's handling this new crisis.

Which is about all jerko is good for given that the CV-19 crisis will come-&-go regardless of his efforts ...

 

Call a Constitutional Convention and change the Constitution. It's that simple.

 

That's funny. It's hilarious how the elite stoop to name calling. Always good for a laugh. Keep the jokes coming.

 

I was talking about income distribution and said I prefer dropping right-to-work laws to redistributing income through progressive taxes. Your point is irrelevant.

You said (see above) taxes would be raised to control inflation.

 

I'm not violating forum rules by pointing out you're wrong.

We've been talking about credit, not just commercial loans.

Trade credit can be extended from one business to another. Done every day. I pointed that out many messages back.

Good to see you can "do" links.

Buckle up for whoppers.

Whopper #1.

Whopper #2.

Whopper #3.

Whopper #4.

Whopper #5.

There many types of "alternative lenders"--trade credit, for example.

Why are you SHOUTING? Are you okay?

Keep digging.

 

I told you I'm a monetarist.

Why don't you say what the government should do right now?

 

1) Sure, yeah .. that's my doctrine. the sole PF commie.

2) All we collectivists can do is offer the materials. We can't make people use them.

 

No country (in the First World) practices socialism.

 

Monetarists are as dead as classical economists. How do you communicate with people alive?

 

Back on this .. I suspect it will be higher than 20%. Probably more like 30%, and it won't be just the 'coming weeks'. Will more likely be 12 months.

And to further answer your question - I know two people who lost their jobs this past week. Let me give an overview on each, and you can perhaps tell me how you would respond.

Person One: Chose to work in a field notorious for its insecurity and poor pay, despite having many opportunities to work in something less glamorous but far more secure and better paid. Literally said "I could never do one of those boring jobs". Then lived paycheck to paycheck due to constant expensive holidays in exotic parts of the world, buying only high end everything, and by using all available capital to buy a house far beyond necessity.

Person Two: Insisted on renting in the inner city when she could long ago have bought a modest home in the suburbs and be debt/rent free today. Lived paycheck to paycheck by going eating out 2 or 3 times a week and taking two holidays a year - and by indulging several expensive bad habits (alcohol, cosmetics, and fashion).

These are two real examples. Are you going to insist that a working class man, responsibly doing his level best to feed his family, should support these people?

 

Communistscommunist surfer government ownership socialist are for community control

The rich and the richest payabout 27% of their income just like everyone who earns any real money,if you count all taxes. You are brainwashed with bologna and only know about federal income taxes. Our only progressive tax everything else is regressive. So you get the worst inequality and upward mobility ever. Great job

 

They certainly think they do. Only misinformed Republicans and tories believe this, that communism and socialism of the same thing. All right

 

Of course now people know they were a bunch of authoritarians duh. They only learned it through the twenties and thirties. If there is no democracy it is not socialism. Socialism means at least regulated by the community. Regulated by the community means democracy of-a-kind at least.

 

I must dispute this, at least in part.

If we regard democracy as the freedom to choose, then Democracy merely allows us to choose 'socialism' (for ourselves). The actual practice of that socialism obviates democracy. IOW within a collective, the only democracy which exists is the freedom to leave. There is no freedom of choice in the usual sense.

 

And actual communists, who know it's the same thing.

 

Every bail out whether it be of citizens or businesses is socialism. We are now talking about the government bailing out Boeing and in exchange getting a piece of the company temporarily until repaid, as was done with the auto industry previously,direct socialism.

 

What is the tax revenue quintile distribution in the Scandinavian countries ??? You won’t answer that question.

 

Monetarists run the central banks.

 

Doesn't matter. What does matter is the US raises LESS tax as a % of GDP than most other OECD countries, AND is the 4th most wealth-unequal society in the OECD.
Therefore has less money to spend on infrastructure, and has more citizens forced into bankruptcy through health and education outcomes.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.html

A new study from academic researchers found that 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies were tied to medical issues —either because of high costs for care or time out of work. An estimated 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy each year because of medical issues and bills, the research found.

Other reasons include unaffordable mortgages or foreclosure, at 45 percent; followed by spending or living beyond one’s means, 44.4 percent; providing help to friends or relatives, 28.4 percent; student loans, 25.4 percent; or divorce or separation, 24.4 percent.

Those two underlined issues can be solved by raising the tax take in line with most other OECD countries.

In the meantime, the era of low tax (% of GDP cf other OECD countries) free market dominance in the US is coming to an end. That Sanders was able to raise more in campaign donations than any other candidate proves the point.

btw, any ideas on how to deal with the current unemployment situation?

 

If you come up with a way to have an effective economy with collective ownership in a democracy, you can hold it up as a model for a socialist society.

 

Of course it matters.

 

Yes, and they should all be sacked immediately, and replaced with MMT aware economists, who would work within a consolidated government sector including treasury and central bank, to implement policies that actually benefit all citizens.

The thing about MMT is that it adaptable to ANY employment situation, and can therefore maintain the maximum sustainable productive capacity of the economy in all situations.

That alone proves MMT is based in reality, unlike the false monetarist/neoliberal orthodoxy that falls over at the slightest hint of turbulence and ALWAYS requires government and extraordinary central bank intervention.

So....re the current situation: everyone who loses a job should be paid an income by the treasury - until such time as normal employment can be resumed - by direct deposits into customers' bank accounts.

And perhaps mortgage and utility costs also paid by treasury, as the situation unfolds.

Inflation will not be a problem, because there will be massive unused productive capacity for some time, while maintaining essential food, construction, and R&D ...and some labour can be diverted to producing ventilators, masks etc and cleaning jobs)

As it is, the current monetarist central bank will probably introduce inefficient QE policies and/or sell interest bearing bonds which will be a permanent millstone around the nation:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/17/coronavirus-1-trillion-emergency-stimulus-133821

Some senior White House officials are also pushing Treasury to issue long-term bonds that would mature in 50 or 100 years to help cover the cost of the stimulus package. Mnuchin has said repeatedly in the past that he is considering issuing such bonds to take advantage of interest rates that the Fed has now pushed to near zero. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow has long advocated for the issuance of such bonds, an idea also supported by outside economic advisers to the White House".

ie, kicking the can down the road. Pathetic. More:

The bank bailout plan passed by Congress in 2008 under the Bush administration — formally the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP — authorized $700 billion originally intended to buy toxic assets from banks, mainly mortgage-backed securities that plunged in value during the housing crisis. The money was later diverted to multiple different programs to inject capital into banks.

The TARP program ultimately disbursed around $426 billion and eventually recovered $441 billion, earning the Treasury Department a nominal profit of around $15 billion. That figure remains controversial. Taking into account inflation from the time of the bailouts, the government actually lost around $25 billion on the program.

It also generated widespread anger that banks and bankers got bailed out while ordinary citizens received far less. The Trump administration is well aware of this history and taking pains to avoid the same optics; top economic officials like Mnuchin and other senior aides around Trump keep emphasizing the need to help small and medium-sized businesses as well".

The TARP program also drew widespread criticism for creating a moral hazard — banks could feel emboldened to take risks knowing the government would rescue them — while creating fewer and even larger banks that now enjoy a bigger federal backstop. Part of the reluctance among members of Congress and the administration to direct cash payments to individual industries like airlines and hotels stems from the TARP experience and deep voter resentment toward corporations and their highly paid executives getting aid over regular citizens."

Yes... the whole one-sided mess of bailouts for corporations/banks, as practised by monetarist central bankers.....while other people were forced to sleep in their cars.
At least they won't be able to get away with it this time around.

 

What DOES matter is the US raises LESS tax as a % of GDP than most other OECD countries, AND is the 4th most wealth-unequal society in the OECD.

Why? Because most citizens are saying it matters.

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/202...s-but-fewer-than-half-call-it-a-top-priority/

"Most Americans Say There Is Too Much Economic Inequality in the U.S.",