America First Economic Policy; Inflation...
Origins of the parasitic assault of inflation on our national sovereignty.
Prescott, AZ, June 15, 2024… We have heard about border security, cyber security, and election security, but what about financial security? I am not talking about individual financial security and financial planning, I am talking about the financial security of our nation and from that sovereign security.
The hot topic this election cycle, Resident Joe's obvious dementia notwithstanding, is inflation. Few Americans know the origins of it but feel it every day from the gas station to the grocery store. But has it always been this way? No, inflation was virtually nonexistent before 1913, then came the income tax.
The first federal income tax was created in 1861, during the Civil War, it was a flat tax implemented to specifically cover the cost of the war, and it was repealed in 1872. Income tax and the associated graduated income tax brackets didn't exist prior to February 3, 1913, with the ratification of the 16th Amendment and the Passage of the 1913 Revenue Act. And as the saying goes, “That’s when the fight started.”
At the same time, the Constitutional framework of checks and balancs was altered, and in my mind damaged, with the 17th Amendment, which changed how we select U.S. Senators. Prior to 1913, it was the State Legislatures that elected U.S. Senators.
The Seventeenth Amendment restates the first paragraph of Article I, section 3 of the Constitution and provides for the election of senators by replacing the phrase “chosen by the Legislature thereof” with “elected by the people thereof.”1
Are the two connected?
The original purpose of the People electing Representatives and the States electing Senators was to protect the interests of each state against the spendthrift self-centered interests of another. Consider this, why should Arizona be held responsible for California’s $78 Billion deficit, through the inevitable federal taxpayer bailout that will come because California cannot manage its financial affairs responsibly? The Senators representing fiscally responsible states, under the old construct, would say NO to a federal bailout. Today, who knows what would happen?
Is it a coincidence that the two are connected in time? Perhaps, but in politics, there are no coincidences. Unfortunately, Americans will not likely support the return to fiscal responsibility checks and balances by repealing the 17th Amendment. It is here to stay. However, the income tax is another story. With the elimination of the federal income tax, inflation virtually vanishes.
Inflation and the CPI (Consumer Price Index)…
Both the inflation number and the CPI are numbers that are put out by the federal government. Neither is truthful nor trustworthy. They are manipulated to frame those in power in the best possible light.
“In recent decades, many have criticized the way CPI figures are calculated, highlighting their limitations in accurately capturing real inflation, or even pointing to bias on the part of their publishers. Chief among these problems is the very basis of the calculation: the concept of a “fixed basket” representing a predetermined set of goods and services that reflects the average consumption pattern in a specific base year. This includes basic food and beverages, housing rental, clothing, transportation and medical care costs, as well as education, communication and recreational expenses.”2 Regardless, the consumers in America have seen a serious challenge presented to their ability to purchase goods and services that only a
Elimination of the federal income tax?
It is true that President Trump, a financial wizard and self-made billionaire out of the highly respected Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, has proposed the elimination of the federal income tax. Would Senators vote for such a plan? Probably not because they have grown accustomed to the globalist view of the easy way out of virtually everything.
The question you no doubt have is, how will we replace the needed revenue to operate the behemoth we are now saddled with? President Trump has advocated doing just that with tariffs on goods manufactured offshore in the “global economy.” On Twitter, @WallStreetApes posted a great 4-minute 51-second explanation of how to replace the income tax with tariffs.3
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