In the Trust We Trust?
Never trust someone when they tell you to trust them. In time,we'll find that the new private trust to fund public projects in Chicago is a bust. I went to the alderman's office to tell him I was opposed to the new legislative manuevering by our mayor. The immediate response was the same old story line. We're broke. Where are we supposed to get money to fund necessary projects? We can't keep taxing people.
Excuse me, but I thought we were the richest nation in the world, the land of opportunity. The money you want is in the pockets of those who broke the economy. More than $100B is lost each year in tax avoidance.For breaking the economy, we reward them with more opportunities to pocket more money. Do we honestly think that this benevolent trust group is going to hand over money out of sheer patriotism? No, they are in it to win it, to make a buck. If people aren't going to pay additional taxes, how will the trust be reimbursed? I would venture to say that it will probably come in the form of higher fees, which are killing me more than taxes.
Fiscal challenges are simply used as an excused to achieve other political ends. Government is crumbling. Government is captured by alarming powers.This is not the leftist revolution that we were suppose to fear for generations. No, we are paralyzed as corporate armies and their officers usurp democracy and place their demands on government to serve their own financial interests.
The corporate class hijacked the democratic processes and plundered the economy. They are looting the public wealth and ravaging the natural resources. They feed off private debt, while contributing to public debt. Then they insist that their political lackeys ignore the private debt people accumulate and crack down on the public debt and demand it be turned over to be better managed by private interests.
Now, we hear how we must deal with the debt problem from the same politicians who claimed that debt doesn't matter. Bobby Shilling, Tea Party freshmen, owner of Giuseppe’s Heavenly Pizza in Colona, IL, claimed, “I learned how to manage a budget!” Well Bobby, the United States of America is NOT a pizzeria.
Basic common sense tells me this. The government is paying low rates on US Treasuries. If it goes into debt, it won’t cost as much as an individual carrying exhorbitant interest on a credit card. With private debt, you get hauled into court. With public sector debt, your children won’t.
If the national debt was a real concern, investors would be driving up the interest rates on federal borrowing. Federal bond yields are at record lows. The FED, according to its mandate, can inject funds to stimulate the economy at low cost. The jobs created and the resultant taxes would make borrowing cheap.
The Fed has flooded the system with easy money to stabilize the markets and shore up banks. It is also supposed to act as “lender of last resort” to support employment, according to its charter. So, when the private sector stalls, the government steps in to shore up the economy. Yes, that means borrow and spend, that evil phrase, with the intention of rescuing the real economy, to serve the broader public interest. After all, it is our money. What is more important to the average person, jobs or balanced budgets? So, why can’t the Fed finance long-term public projects?
But that's not how Rahm wants it to be. His entrusted little circle of friends will invest in projects, then conjure up schemes to repay them with interest, better known as profit. Where in Chicago would you invest for maximum return? Are certain areas left out because they aren't wise investments? How would you demand payment?
If sewerage lines were funded, how much would water rates be increased? Mind you, that's not a tax. If CTA Rapid Transit was upgraded, who would bear the largest burden? Those who ride from the furthest points to get to the city or the closest? Mind you, that's not a tax increase. If Lake Shore Drive was resurfaced, how would that borrowing be covered? Would tolls be charged? Mind you, that's not a tax.
Money, power, and greed grease the wheels that feed the coffers of the great American buddy system – corporate and political cronies. We live in a totalitarian capitalist system that courts to the corporate class. Rahm is certainly playing his part well.