Thank God It's Over

As I write this, it’s Tuesday, and the polls are still open in Arizona.

The results are starting to trickle in from the eastern side of the country (Rand Paul … really, Kentucky?), but I don’t know if these early GOP gains are indicative of anything that will happen in Arizona.

All I can think is: Thank God this election is over. I am quite done with the nonstop TV ads, the robocalls, the campaign mailers and the flaming online comments. If you think it’s bad here, thank your lucky stars that our U.S. Senate contest wasn’t close. I spent last weekend in Las Vegas at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Writers’ Workshop, and you could not escape the Harry Reid-Sharron Angle race anywhere. It seemed like every TV ad involved the campaign.

In any case, by the time you read this, the election will be over (save some inevitable recounts and legal challenges). And now there’s work to do. Congress has to tackle the budget deficit, immigration reform and all sorts of other issues. In Arizona, we have to balance the budget and figure out how to get the economy further back on track. The budget specter hangs over the city of Tucson, too.

I hope that we can all put aside the petty bullshit and spin-doctoring, and figure out how to move this city, this state and this country forward. However, I am not all that optimistic. Possible new Speaker of the House John Boehner is already pledging that there will be “no compromise” as far as repealing health-care form is concerned, and Arizona’s GOP legislative leaders are known for pushing ideology over cooperation.

We shall see … and the Tucson Weekly will be here to cover how it all turns out.

This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.

Well, it really isn’t over because the campaigns didn’t address the structural/institutional problems that face the state and nation. All I heard is people claiming for “fight for us” but that’s the claim that has been made repeatedly for as long as I can remember. What hasn’t been address is how to get more money in circulation so our economy can grow. For those who don’t know or have forgotten, the gross domestic product (GDP) is determined by the amount of money exchanged in a calendar year. For example, if I give you a dollar, and you give it to the next person, that makes two dollars in terms of the GDP. If that dollar changes hands ever day for a year, that adds $365 to the GDP. When all the politicians stand up and say let’s cut the budget and reduce the debt, they are threatening our economy because less money will circulate and less money will be available for exchanges among the people. This means less investment and fewer jobs. Because there is little money available, demand is down and for this reason businesses are not investing. Investment capital is fleeing the country to other countries e.g., Germany, China, Australia, where returns are higher and this doesn’t help us at all. Having bailed out the banks, they aren’t investing because there is no demand domestically so they hold on to their money. The only recourse is the government sharing the money on projects and payments to the people to stimulate spending and thus demand.

Now let’s think about how governments pay themselves back. When the government spends money, the person who receives the money pays say 30% in taxes. As that money is passed to the next person, that person pays 30% and so it goes. As the economy builds, when there are more investments, then the government, both state and federal, get well because of the increased velocity of money in the economy. Current politicians don’t want to think of this because they are financially supported by corporations, financial institutions, etc., who want to hold onto the money for themselves to seek their best returns even if it is investment overseas where the economic returns are stronger. Is this patriotism? Who will invest in our economy? I can think the government is our only resource. This is why we have government, to represent the best interest of the people, me included. The banks and business are going elsewhere with the cash.

Let’s think a bit about history. At the end of World War II with all of the veterans coming back, the national indebtedness was roughly 93% of gross national product (figured a little differently from the current GDP). And what did the government do? It spent like crazy sending people back to college on the GI Bill, it financed the building of houses in the hundreds of thousands, etc., and what happened? More money was in circulation reaching millions of people who build the now threatened middle class. In the process, we built the most significant technical/scientifically based power in the world, radar was invented, the basic electronics that made possible the current internet was developed, new materials were created, etc., all because the government put money in circulation. I fear for my state and nation because of the people taking and remaining in power don’t understand fundamental economics. In listening to the discussions, I found Ted Downing as the one who understood this dynamic but his arguments were too sophisticated for the channels of communication that modern campaigning allows. As Einstein noted, the kind of thinking that got us into our current mess will certainly not get us out. We need to rethink. Please interview Ted on his vision for the future.

4 replies on “Thank God It’s Over”

Scarpia B says:

November 3, 2010 at 3:26 pm

How about a round of applause for Nintzel. Best political reporting in town.
zookeeper says:

November 4, 2010 at 2:18 am

Well, it really isn’t over because the campaigns didn’t address the structural/institutional problems that face the state and nation. All I heard is people claiming for “fight for us” but that’s the claim that has been made repeatedly for as long as I can remember. What hasn’t been address is how to get more money in circulation so our economy can grow. For those who don’t know or have forgotten, the gross domestic product (GDP) is determined by the amount of money exchanged in a calendar year. For example, if I give you a dollar, and you give it to the next person, that makes two dollars in terms of the GDP. If that dollar changes hands ever day for a year, that adds $365 to the GDP. When all the politicians stand up and say let’s cut the budget and reduce the debt, they are threatening our economy because less money will circulate and less money will be available for exchanges among the people. This means less investment and fewer jobs. Because there is little money available, demand is down and for this reason businesses are not investing. Investment capital is fleeing the country to other countries e.g., Germany, China, Australia, where returns are higher and this doesn’t help us at all. Having bailed out the banks, they aren’t investing because there is no demand domestically so they hold on to their money. The only recourse is the government sharing the money on projects and payments to the people to stimulate spending and thus demand.

Now let’s think about how governments pay themselves back. When the government spends money, the person who receives the money pays say 30% in taxes. As that money is passed to the next person, that person pays 30% and so it goes. As the economy builds, when there are more investments, then the government, both state and federal, get well because of the increased velocity of money in the economy. Current politicians don’t want to think of this because they are financially supported by corporations, financial institutions, etc., who want to hold onto the money for themselves to seek their best returns even if it is investment overseas where the economic returns are stronger. Is this patriotism? Who will invest in our economy? I can think the government is our only resource. This is why we have government, to represent the best interest of the people, me included. The banks and business are going elsewhere with the cash.

Let’s think a bit about history. At the end of World War II with all of the veterans coming back, the national indebtedness was roughly 93% of gross national product (figured a little differently from the current GDP). And what did the government do? It spent like crazy sending people back to college on the GI Bill, it financed the building of houses in the hundreds of thousands, etc., and what happened? More money was in circulation reaching millions of people who build the now threatened middle class. In the process, we built the most significant technical/scientifically based power in the world, radar was invented, the basic electronics that made possible the current internet was developed, new materials were created, etc., all because the government put money in circulation. I fear for my state and nation because of the people taking and remaining in power don’t understand fundamental economics. In listening to the discussions, I found Ted Downing as the one who understood this dynamic but his arguments were too sophisticated for the channels of communication that modern campaigning allows. As Einstein noted, the kind of thinking that got us into our current mess will certainly not get us out. We need to rethink. Please interview Ted on his vision for the future.
crinkster says:

November 4, 2010 at 7:50 am

Now the Republicans have a couple of years to put up or shut up. In Arizona, they have to stop doing things like declaring their intention to secede from the Union, making laws against light bulbs and get down to governing in a sound, responsible way – without destroying public eduaction and public safety and without spending taxpayer dollars flailing at windmills by suing the federal government over health care. Use our money wisely please and get us out of our pit!
Edge says:

November 5, 2010 at 5:12 pm

Aside from your reference to a diety that may or may not exist, I choose the latter; I share your sentiment. I swear if I see another political ad or hear the phrase “…and I approved this message” once more, I’m going to run amock. I’m Edge and I approved this message 🙂