[All] Economic Solutions for the 99%

Mon Nov 14 10:29:13 EST 2011

Hi Lulu and All -

Just this morning this article by Ellen Brown came out on the Global
Research list.  Ellen Brown, author of Web of Debt, was one of the sources
mentioned by Prof George Crowell on Sat.  Almost everything she says about
the US situation applies to us as well.

Eleanor
______________

Time for an Economic Bill of Rights

By Ellen Brown

 URL of this article:
www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27611<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0E_1sV10NFIjIlavzyQ5cmv1uxW8dQrUliHDMga0QXOXHLT9yGKowKYJyhygK3lfbwsWv6a4XqY-tHZ2rsdLJboJzxVwZ2HVm1Cr53j5dHakXtPxl4y5IfrtOBKwouaeFUlozT4dAYGoJpyEYMGS1aYUyStsd9XLI=>

 Global Research<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2MfSv-rPDYMfmZeSbHdYBobJ1SO1eqXIhgPx3ZL5gSGtMDMNeorkA661dy4094AANCNYU1DKbMsBlP8V2tiayewUdizzbur3-SnCDkV5uRAw==>,
November 11, 2011
 Web of Debt<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0xA6xcqZVTUPhRtAJ8PJ5TETTbss561--749sgMynApVZlbDGkVbU4Odon_HdghSSEjpNE4QfpEwUi12UzjqV9ozfxGzbbU4M=>-
2011-11-09

Henry Ford said, “It is well enough that the people of the nation do not
understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe
there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

We are beginning to understand, and Occupy Wall Street looks like the
beginning of the revolution.

We are beginning to understand that our money is created, not by the
government, but by banks.  Many authorities have confirmed this, including
the Federal Reserve
itself<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz1izu464LPmCTks1ILqWweh8TJt2phHnAyoR1YNtoJ3VFIlgVnxakeKkLdk-MHeOZTZk1Up5pBa1A-F3_ln1smWOfG1-W1m6XUgSkDPhDVxJS8AXFJ9bIlqInWA2OClWakKq_cyKPctug==>
.  The only money the government creates today are coins, which compose
less than one ten-thousandth of the money supply.  Federal Reserve Notes,
or dollar bills, are issued by Federal Reserve Banks, all twelve of which
are owned by the private banks in their district.  Most of our money comes
into circulation as bank loans, and it comes with an interest charge
attached.

According to Margrit Kennedy, a German researcher who has studied this
issue extensively, interest now composes 40% of the cost of everything we
buy<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2_U9lC7WVupJFLq-6EbB1a7v7XCal-NT6V5daPBIgDN3HNp8J-AHEoyMSl-bYKNdToHR2GhvPr5POkGN5XFlp-NgtECkqLVt5GuNSWVj6an8sS-0yRfdrUMrLvIRpeHsCzPg7l4cFVkxTV8wWC_W6J>
.  We don’t see it on the sales slips, but interest is exacted at every
stage of production.  Suppliers need to take out loans to pay for labor and
materials, before they have a product to sell.

For government projects, Kennedy found that the average cost of interest is
50%<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz34mWakujh7rFxbeSLPjNxOhN7jxb03edefFx-lbzcwG2207iAeQu-isOMT9D3nACmfi7FeR0PSrxqrmtQqgb_ilVgeeSYQzkyJKtVbI5b9URCP6yxoPfsy>
.  If the government owned the banks, it could keep the interest and get
these projects at half price.  That means governments—state and
federal—could double the number of projects they could afford, without
costing the taxpayers a single penny more than we are paying now.

This opens up exciting possibilities.  Federal and state governments could
fund all sorts of things we think we can’t afford now, simply by owning
their own banks.  They could fund something Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Martin Luther King dreamt of—an Economic Bill of Rights.

*
A Vision for Tomorrow*

In his first inaugural address in 1933, Roosevelt criticized the sort of
near-sighted Wall Street greed that precipitated the Great Depression.  He
said, “They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers.  They have
no vision, and where there is no vision the people perish.”

Roosevelt’s own vision reached its sharpest focus in 1944, when he called
for a Second Bill of Rights.  He said:

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under
the protection of certain inalienable political rights . . . . They were
our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial
economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us
equality in the pursuit of happiness.

He then enumerated the economic rights he thought needed to be added to the
Bill of Rights.  They included:

The right to a job;

The right to earn enough to pay for food and clothing;

The right of businessmen to be free of unfair competition and domination by
monopolies;

The right to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age,
sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

Times have changed since the first Bill of Rights was added to the
Constitution in 1791.  When the country was founded, people could stake out
some land, build a house on it, farm it, and be self-sufficient.  The Great
Depression saw people turned out of their homes and living in the streets—a
phenomenon we are seeing again today.  Few people now own their own
homes.  Even
if you have signed a mortgage, you will be in debt peonage to the bank for
30 years or so before you can claim the home as your own.

Health needs have changed too.  In 1791, foods were natural and
nutrient-rich, and outdoor exercise was built into the lifestyle.  Degenerative
diseases such as cancer and heart disease were rare.  Today, health
insurance for some people can cost as much as rent.

 Then there are college loans, which collectively now exceed a trillion
dollars, more even than credit card debt.  Students are coming out of
universities not just without jobs but carrying a debt of $20,000 or so on
their backs.  For medical students and other post-graduate students, it can
be $100,000 or more.  Again, that’s as much as a mortgage, with no house to
show for it.  The justification for incurring these debts was supposed to
be that the students would get better jobs when they graduated, but now
jobs are scarce.

After World War II, the G.I. Bill provided returning servicemen with free
college tuition, as well as cheap home loans and business loans.  It was
called “the G.I. Bill of Rights.”  Studies have shown that the G.I. Bill
paid for itself seven times over and is one of the most lucrative
investments the government ever made.

The government could do that again—without increasing taxes or the federal
debt.  It could do it by recovering the power to create money from Wall
Street and the financial services industry, which now claim a whopping 40%
of everything we buy.

*
An Updated Constitution for a New Millennium*

Banks acquired the power to create money by default, when Congress declined
to claim it at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.  The Constitution
says only that “Congress shall have the power to *coin* money [and]
regulate the power thereof.”  The Founders left out not just paper money
but checkbook money, credit card money, money market funds, and other forms
of exchange that make up the money supply today.  All of them are created
by private financial institutions, and they all come into the economy as
loans with interest attached.

Governments—state and federal—could bypass the interest tab by setting up
their own publicly-owned banks.  Banking would become a public utility, a
tool for promoting productivity and trade rather than for extracting wealth
from the debtor class.

Congress could go further: it could reclaim the power to issue money from
the banks and fund its budget directly.  It could do this, in fact, without
changing any laws.  Congress is empowered to “coin money,” and the
Constitution sets no limit on the face amount of the coins.  Congress could
issue a few one-trillion dollar coins, deposit them in an account, and
start writing checks.

The Fed’s own figures show that the money supply has shrunk by $3
trillion<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0miD7jPx9eKbQ0DtTTvdrJr79K_Y2Qyf_oaAoMBl0b3z3L9og86TpZtqzGO2PnEEnkji-afRnwi116oMbrO6c0b6Tm4oHQx4T4UAr3fVqvkv9BR8NRT0E_5epryFLEo670CQNK6pt1fc1kSDM09kZNDQy3p8HCSIg=>since
2008.
That sum could be spent into the economy without inflating prices.  Three
trillion dollars could go a long way toward providing the jobs and social
services necessary to fulfill an Economic Bill of Rights.  Guaranteeing
employment to anyone willing and able to work would increase GDP, allowing
the money supply to expand even further without inflating prices, since
supply and demand would increase together.

*
Modernizing the Bill of Rights*

As Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a’changin’.”  Revolutionary times
call for revolutionary solutions and an updated social contract.  Apple and
Microsoft update their programs every year.  We are trying to fit a highly
complex modern monetary scheme into a constitutional framework that is 200
years old.

After President Roosevelt died in 1945, his vision for an Economic Bill of
Rights was kept alive by Martin Luther King.  “True compassion,” King
declared, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that
an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

MLK too has now passed away, but his vision has been carried on by a
variety of money reform groups.  The government as “employer of last
resort,” guaranteeing a living wage to anyone who wants to work, is a basic
platform of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).  An MMT
website<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz2uYXZK98E0fS6tXfc13iH26mWxrflCkiSCSBdkX93LsaUh2fi6_fYICruGE3DUnu85-bWTu-T8Kz4jLC7rl4qg0pwnLn0G9QnwNpdpAENC3Y7f2QdZRBqSpAJdWfC33CE=>declares
that by
“[e]nding the enormous unearned profits acquired by the means of the
privatization of our sovereign currency. . . [i]t is possible to have truly
full employment without causing inflation.”

What was sufficient for a simple agrarian economy does not provide an
adequate framework for freedom and democracy today.  We need an Economic
Bill of Rights, and we need to end the privatization of the national
currency.  Only when the privilege of creating the national money supply is
returned to the people can we have a government that is truly of the
people, by the people and for the people.

*Ellen Brown is an attorney and president of the Public Banking Institute, *
*http://PublicBankingInstitute.org*<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz3REagKw1Z1RD0vzlXB4Tme7fbcvLkkB7vGB7sKFCeYAek9u1hAzpNHSKlCNH4k83CuVS6STErUVE_QxyYLzmYepUb7eM_EXJ8u1Utwl2UepsC1W7KlH8lB>
*.  In Web of Debt, her latest of eleven books, she shows how a private
cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves,
and how we the people can get it back.  Her websites are **
http://WebofDebt.com*<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0FWfmcXWEQi3OyZgfNXNB5C1Idzh9GX-KsC_lwIyfxutRU6ZeLrwakSiL3hc0qoWygJ2Bda9KKIdKTH0ujTqsKaveulu2oOvsO4ejttVvXMw==>
* and **http://EllenBrown.com*<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=o8b4necab&et=1108602477922&s=44829&e=001NgXNYSVMHz0NqR4Cb3l1F8Ab6HeJeGjO0ltfH9tuwjujrq-rxjsoXft62ZD0j9WOVjP45NYotjbECfBchogIKVV8265etfe9tgsXUDQqrkGbvfk1YhbxPw==>
*.*

_________________

2011/11/14 Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>

> Hi folks
>
> Just finished writing out the minutes of the meeting that I took at the
> nonviolence festival event: Economic Solutions for the 99% held on Nov.12,
> 2011. Feel free to use/share the info. I did a spell check but I'm too
> sleepy to do a proper proof read so if you find typing errors,by all means,
> feel free to fix.  Info is below for your reference.
>
> Lulu :0)
>
>
> Notes taken at the public forum: Moving Towards a Peaceful Economy:
> Solutions for the 99% held on November 12th, 2011 as sponsored by the
> Nonviolence Festival, as taken by Louisette Lanteigne
>
> Matthew Albright helped open the event with an intro of the group and
> reading of the agenda.
>
> Roger Albright showcased economic movies to provide background to our
> current economic crisis. They can be viewed on YouTube at the following
> link:
>
> The Essence of Money: A medieval tail. *http://youtu.be/_dwL9lqVBxY*
> Money as Debt (part 3) *http://youtu.be/kTv1fo6sKmo*
> Dollars & $ense: Where does money come from? *http://youtu.be/r0jtkwBVG6M*
> Canada's Greatest Experiment with Bill Abrams (part 2) *
> http://youtu.be/9yYEFuN2v08*
>
> Guest speaker Tom Kennedy, a retired school teachers shared his knowledge
> about the function of Usury aka Interest.
>
> In the criminal code, section 347-348 it states that it is illegal to
> charge a usury fee that exceeds 60% of credit advanced. Technically people
> can literally charge up to 60% interest and get away with it in Canada.
>
> The practice of charging usury fees is prohibited in religious texts
> including the Old Testament, the Bible and the Koran.
>
> Citizens have the power to create community currency at the local level
> and with it, one can circumvent the need to pay usury fees. One such
> example can be found in Ithaca NY called the Ithaca Hours. To read more of
> this visit here: *http://www.ithacahours.org/*
>
> Recommended Reading: None dare not call it conspiracy by Gary Allen
> published in 1971.
>
> There is an old saying that interest is theft and money can't have babies.
>
> Many activities are being recorded to review trends, information using
> even our online browsing history but a good site to use if this is a
> concern is startpage.com.
>
> In medieval times, a winged lion represented loans without usury fees. Has
> anyone looked at the logo of the RBC? It's like a lion with it's wings
> clipped.
>
> Workshop Questions: What have we learned & What do we want to communicate
> to others?
>
> Group 1
> -Canada experienced greater prosperity when the Bank of Canada handled the
> money.
> -Other options exist: currency as credit in general stores worked, local
> currency in hours, bartering etc.
> -Currently Canada has no policy in place to secure economic resilience.
> -People should get political/run for office/vote and participate in
> movements such as Occupy.
> -We need more education/public outreach on the matter.
> -We need our economy structured within natural capital limits
>
> Group 2
> -Money is not circulating as it should
> -US federal reserve is privatized
> -People need to understand how important it is to not buy beyond one's
> means
> -Money = air . (aka most money doesn't physically EXIST)
> -It's up to citizens to create the change.
>
> Team 3
> -Occupy needs to be aware of their strategy and beware of those trying to
> manipulate the movement.
> -Once people are aware of what's happening, there's no undoing it. We need
> to wake people up.
> -Good authors to read: John Perkins and Steve Keen.
> -Check out personocraftia.com
> -At times of war or threats of war, question the agenda of attacking
> nations and national banking set up
> -Community Currency for donations are legally recognized by way of the
> issuance of tax receipts. In that regard, the government has handled it
> like currency.
>
> Team 4
> -People need information beyond what media is currently providing
> -The crisis is far greater than many people realize
> -We need financial regulation and to expose directive market
> -We need a time to see debts forgiven. A Jubilee year.
> -Quality of Life and Health indicators should be the new index
> -Glass Eagle Bill: November 12, 1999, this bill to introduce banking
> regulation was abolished. Learn about it and reintroduce.
>
> Team 5
> -absolute Power corrupts absolutely
> -the banks subjugate the public/nations
> -We have many unseen influences in media/credit card and debt activities
> etc.
> -the system we have fosters an isolationist society.
> -the Global power brokers are unseen by the world.
>
> PART 2 of Forum
>
> The non violence festival's website is at *www.nonviolencefestival.com* and
> they meet at the Queen St. Commons Tuesday nights. Anyone is welcome to
> attend.
>
> Keynote Speaker: Retired Professor George Crowell BA Th. D.
>
> Violence can be reduced through Economics. It's my ambition to secure the
> Economic solutions to help create a better world.
>
> The creation of money out of nothing is huge and it should be reserved for
> those working for the public good, not corporate benefit.
>
> We have coins/cash but the cash only makes less than 5% of today's money.
> The rest is all through banks who facilitate transactions. Problems arise
> when they make loans creating money every time it's done. 97% of money in
> circulation is created by private banks. They create principal but they
> don't cover the costs of the interest so the loan is not covering the total
> cost of the money paid back to them. They get more so public debt is
> created. Many end up borrowing to pay back principal and interest and there
> simply isn't enough to go around. We compete for the limited cash resources
> and defaults lead to further debt. When paid back, the money created simply
> disappears. No actual cash is circulated after the debt is paid.
>
> The consequence of debt money is:
> -recession
> -competition in community which is bad
> -banks are in a strong position based on our collateral. They take the
> interest and when people default they take their collateral including real
> assets such as homes, properties, belongings etc.
> -The current monetary system concentrates money into the hands of the few
> not the many.
> -It promotes growth to exploit our finite planetary resources
> -The Government must borrow from private banks building debt. While bank
> profits increase citizens face austerity measures, programming cuts etc.
> -Creating money by government to solve the issue is possible. The monetary
> policy applicable is the Bank of Canada Act.
> -Raising interest to fight inflation ins perverse. It only benefits the
> wealthy.
>
> Alternatives Exists ( the work of Will Avery was referenced)
> The power to create money out of nothing can be taken away by the Bank of
> Canada to stop banks form handling it. It can be spent into reality by way
> of expanding social programs, infrastructure projects and public services.
> It creates money as it creates jobs for the public creating a public
> benefit with unlimited possibilities. Interest free loans to build
> infrastructure means taxpayers only have to pay it off once not two or
> three times.
>
> Canada pays $60 Billion per year, that's $165 million per day on interest
> for out debt. Imagine using that money to fund social justice programs,
> environmental programs etc.
>
> We need to see a Renaissance of the Bank of Canada. Make it an
> environmental issue, make it an election issue. Visit this website for more
> details:*http://www.comer.org/*
>
> People worry about issues such as counterfeiting when someone gets
> something for nothing but banks get away with it all the time. All of us
> can benefit when money creation works through the Bank of Canada because it
> is spent into existence to create jobs and things people need or it is lent
> into existence interest free to help pay down debt. We need to take over
> the power and use it for the public.
>
> Fractional Reserve Banking: We had policy in Canada to mandate bank
> reserves of 5-20% to be maintained but Harper abolished it in 1991.
>
> Defaults- Bake write offs. When a person goes into bankruptcy for $45,000,
> that $45,000 is a benefit to the economy because there is no more interest
> on it.
>
> Rely on local economy. Buy local. Live within your means and lobby for the
> Renaissance of the Bank of Canada.
>
> Trade and Debt = the enslavement of nations. NAFTA is less than free and
> more than trade.
>
> Myth buster: Don't believe that if we make more money there will be
> inflation because the fact is, Government money is less inflationary than
> bank made money.
>
> The US needs to use the National Emergency Employment Act to remove the
> Federal Reserve money to the National Monetary Fund.
>
> Good book and website: Ellen Brown's Web of Debt. For online info visit *
> www.webofdebt.com*
>
> Another good site, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives at *
> http://www.policyalternatives.ca/*
>
> Austerity is unnecessary, (Quote by Jim Stanford CAW)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20111114/ec66e29d/attachment.html>