A Guaranteed Minimum Income In The US?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**********
If the Obama Administration and his fellow
Socialist/Marxist/Progressives (who camouflage themselves as democrats)
in the US government aren't sent packing in November, I fully expect the
next step in securing a socialist state in America is a guaranteed
annual (minimum) income for every American.
Think about it. It is one of the few steps remaining that would
solidify the hold government has on every man, woman, and child in
America.
We know from the records that the welfare rolls have increased
exponentially under Obama. Recently, changes were made by Presidential
Executive Order to redefine "work" allowing even more applicants for
welfare to be added to the welfare rolls. Why? Could it be the Obama
Administration is deliberately attempting to "crash" the US welfare
system? If so -- why?
I contend -- that is exactly what is happening.
If I an correct, then we are actually seeing the "Cloward-Piven
Strategy" at work. We are observing the foundation, the groundwork --
if you will -- for establishing a guaranteed annual (minimum) income for
American citizens. It is very, very, worrisome. But -- it is only
the latest move by our socialist leaders to break America so they can
re-mold her in the image of their choosing, which is, unarguably a
socialist/Marxist state.
America is in a death spiral, dear reader. If the
American electorate doesn't shake itself out of this stupor in which it
is currently wallowing and come out swinging like the people we like to
think we are, we are going to lose our liberty, our individual freedom,
and our country.
What we are talking about here is "a government-ensured guarantee that all citizens unconditionally receive an income sufficient to meet their basic needs." SOURCE: http://www.usbig.net/index.php
Look around you. Consider the extremely high percentage of Americans
already on what we call "Welfare" and consider, too, that nearly half of
all Americans currently receive some form of government monetary
assistance every month and then -- ask yourself what will happen
to America's economy if Americans are guaranteed an annual income
whether they work and contribute to our society or not.
Let's look a bit closer: What is a BIG? It is a Basic Income Guarantee. "The
basic income guarantee (BIG) is a government insured guarantee that no
citizen's income will fall below some minimal level for any reason. All
citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement. BIG
is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves
individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government
social policy. Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to
cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in
taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and tax deductions
aimed at maintaining incomes." SOURCE: http://www.usbig.net/index.php
Here's more:
"The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is a government ensured guarantee
that no one's income will fall below the level necessary to meet their
most basic needs for any reason. As Bertrand Russell put it in 1918, "A
certain small income, sufficient for necessities, should be secured for
all, whether they work or not, and that a larger income should be given
to those who are willing to engage in some work which the community
recognizes as useful. On this basis we may build further." Thus, with
BIG no one is destitute but everyone has the positive incentive to work.
BIG is an efficient, effective, and equitable solution to poverty that
promotes individual freedom and leaves the beneficial aspects of a
market economy in place." SOURCE: http://www.usbig.net/whatisbig.phphttp://www.usbig.net/whatisbig.php
OK. So, how would we pay for it? Those who advocate the BIG say (above):
" ... could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting
funds from spending programs and tax deductions aimed at maintaining
incomes."
HUH?
That's strange because just a bit lower on the page we find this:
"The most commonly cited source of revenue for BIG is the income tax.
Most proposals combine a basic income guarantee with a flat tax on
income. Charles Clark estimates that a flat income tax rate of less than
40% would be enough to finance all current government spending and a
BIG large enough to eliminate poverty."
SOURCE: http://www.usbig.net/whatisbig.php
I have to wonder if "less than 40%" means 39.99%?
It's coming. How can I be so sure? Because the next attempt at a BIG
for the US will be only the latest iteration. The movement for a
guaranteed income has been around for a long time. A quick check for
advocates of a guaranteed income at Wikipedia brought some surprises.
For Instance: American revolutionary Thomas Paine advocated a basic
income guarantee to all US citizens as compensation for "loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property" (Agrarian Justice, 1795).
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte echoed Paine's sentiments and
commented that 'man is entitled by birthright to a share of the Earth's
produce sufficient to fill the needs of his existence' (Herold, 1955).
In 1962, economist Milton Friedman proposed a Negative Income Tax
coupled with a flat tax in support of a guaranteed minimum income.
In 1963, Robert Theobald published the book Free Men and Free Markets,
in which he advocated a guaranteed minimum income (the origin of the
modern version of the phrase).
In 1966 the Cloward–Piven strategy advocated "overloading" the US
welfare system to force its collapse in the hopes that it would be
replaced by "a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty".
In his final book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) Martin Luther King Jr. wrote[3]
I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the
most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a
now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.
—from the chapter titled "Where We Are Going".
In 1968, James Tobin, Paul Samuelson, John Kenneth Galbraith and another
1,200 economists signed a document calling for the US Congress to
introduce in that year a system of income guarantees and supplements.
In 1973, Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote The Politics of a Guaranteed
Income in which he advocated the Guaranteed Minimum Income and discussed
Richard Nixon's GAI proposal.
We encourage you to read the article at Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income
There are references to other advocates of a national guaranteed income
in the article at Wikipedia, but I think you get the idea.
Oh, and while you are on the Wikipedia page, scroll down and check out
the list of suggested means of funding for a national guaranteed
income. But -- be sure you are sitting down before you do.
A guaranteed income for all Americans is the worst idea for America since, well, Obamacare!
Item number two in the The Black Panther Party: Platform and Program includes the following statement: "We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income." SOURCE: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6445/
As I mentioned above -- I have to wonder if the massive
increase in the number of Americans on Welfare under the Obama
Administration is in keeping with the Cloward–Piven strategy which
suggests overloading the US welfare system forcing it to collapse and
setting the stage for a guaranteed income for all Americans. You can read more on the Cloward-Piven strategy at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward%E2%80%93Piven_strategy
I cannot even begin to tell you how deeply, deeply, opposed to the
entire idea of a guaranteed annual income for all Americans I am. The American republic would be crushed and wiped out by internal rot!
If you think Obamacare is bad for America, if you think the UN's Small
Arms Treaty is going to disarm America (as I do), then you will not be
surprised when the call goes out from the Obama Administration to
replace the welfare system with a guaranteed income.
I am convinced that if Americans don't wake up and get a grip and reclaim their/our
country -- the UN Small Arms Treaty will become the law in America NEXT
YEAR and I am convinced there is a sub-Rosa movement to give America a
guaranteed minimum income. (I spoke to a young man, over the past weekend, who told me emphatically
that beginning this week he is going to begin buying all the ammunition
he can lay his hands on -- while he still can! He, too, is convinced
that America's weapons are about to be seized by the US government.)
A second term for Obama is America's death knell. The damage from his first term will take generations to repair and restore.
There is a reason we cherish the words of our national anthem -- "land
of the free, and home of the brave." Free and brave go hand in hand.
As it always has, throughout America's history, it will take brave people to keep America free.
Yes, America is FREE -- because of the BRAVE! It is time for the brave to raise their colors and state emphatically: "This far and no farther!"
Yes, it will take courage. But, it should be clear to every
sentient American that if we don't stop the attack on our freedom and
liberty, here and now, very soon we will awaken one morning to find we
are a people enslaved to -- and by -- the state.
J. D. Longstreet
******************
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Monday, July 23, 2012
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