2016 Presidential Candidacy Declaration.

In my last blog update (11-3-2013/11-13-2013), I said, “I am not running again for public office.”  Well, after the midterm Democratic Party election disaster, I have come to the conclusion that we a leadership problem in the Democratic Party.  Therefore, I feel it is my civic and patriotic duty to declare myself as a Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States.  Today, April 6, 2015, I learned that there are five declared Democratic Party candidates for president in 2016.  Hilary Clinton has not yet declared her candidacy.  None of the declared candidates are what I would consider nationally known politicians.  So my running for president really isn’t that outlandish.

In my two previous campaigns for public office, I despised asking for money.  As a result, my political activities have caused me spend thousands of dollars of my own limited financial resources.  Despite this, I will not ask for political contributions.  I will try to finance my campaign and my living expenses through the sale of my art.  I will accept contributions if they are offered but I will do no political fundraising.  Below is the main plank of my campaign platform:

I am running on a Full Employment (with just compensation and benefits), Low Tax, Low Debt, Debt-Free Money platform.

   

The main plank of my platform is a permanent U.S. Constitution-based (article 1, section 8, paragraph 5), debt-free monetary solution to federal, state and local government funding problems. My proposal will require no tax dollars or government borrowing.  Social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) and the Veterans Administration will all be fully funded and made permanently solvent using United States Treasury issued debt-free money.  This legal tender currency is called United States Notes or U.S. Notes. 

Today, government funding is such a disaster that several private sector charities are making television appeals for money for our wounded and disabled veterans.  Wounded and disabled veterans have become charity cases!  This is a national disgrace!  For years I have been badgering our democratically elected politicians telling them to use unlimited United States Treasury issued debt-free money to fund ALL of the needs of our veterans.  Tragically, I have been stonewalled and ignored by the dozens of politicians that I have contacted.  United States Notes are the same currency that was issued under Presidents Abraham Lincoln in 1862 and John F. Kennedy in 1963.  Incredibly, all of their debt-free currency was withdrawn from circulation by Congress after these great presidents were assassinated!  And, shamefully, Congress never again permitted the Treasury to issue debt-free money.  The result is an $18 trillion national debt.  When I first proposed issuance of debt-free money to more than a dozen politicians in June of 2004, the national debt was $7 trillion.  Since then, $11 trillion of unnecessary debt has been loaded on the backs of American taxpayers.

Despite the stupidity of Congress, $300 million of this debt-free money is currently an unissued part of our national money supply.  Under the authority of the Legal Tender Act of 1862, Congress can increase this $300 million to whatever amount is needed to solve America’s fiscal and economic problems.  The U.S. Notes can be put directly into the federal trust funds to replace the trillions of dollars that have been stolen since the federal budget was unified in 1969.  Treasury issued debt-free money is the perfect, legal and practicable solution to America’s fiscal and economic problems.  This link to the U.S. Treasury web site: U.S. Treasury - FAQ: Legal Tender Status of Currency will verify that what I say about United States Notes is true and based on existing law.

I have populist, AMERICA FIRST positions on all of the issues facing America, both domestic and foreign.  Most of my platform is already stated plainly on this web site.  As a presidential candidate, the politicians can no longer refuse to acknowledge my correspondence and throw my letters in the trash.  And, when I request an interview in the media, they will have no choice but to comply.  The “establishment” has refused to debate the issue of debt-free money with me for more than ten years.  So, in the spirit of reciprocity, I will refuse to debate any national or international issue until the issue of U.S. Treasury issued United Stated Notes is resolved.  My proposals for a U.S. Note funded full employment economy (outlined elsewhere on this web site) are inextricably linked to the debt-free money debate.  Thus, that will also be part of the debate.  Compare my no tax, no debt, full employment proposals on this web site with the pie-in-the-sky “jobs bills” that are proposed by Congress and the president.

This post will serve as my formal declaration of my intention to run for the office of President of the United States.  Because much of this web site was written for my 2006 and 2010 campaigns for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, some of the text is out of date.  However, nothing in my policy proposals has changed.   This web site will be reformatted and updated to be more timely and relevant for the 2016 presidential election.  In the meantime, I challenge all presidential candidates, any politician, any reputable pundit, any academic, any government or Federal Reserve official, any business leader and any banking spokesperson to find anything that is in error, illegal or impracticable on this web site.  (Typos don’t count.)  All legitimate rebuttals should be sent to PO Box 815, Coraopolis, PA 15108.

Ray Uhric                                                                                                                   April 6, 2015  

UPDATE 11-3-2013

It’s the Stupidity, Stupid

Part 5

Actually, I’m not calling everyone who reads this blog update stupid (despite the attention grabbing title).  My objective is to warn people about the dangers and consequences of accepting stupid ideas as revealed wisdom.  After more than nine years of stonewalling and silence, it is obvious that I have to try harder to get the attention of the politicians, the pundits, the mainstream media (MSM) and the general public.  Calling people stupid will usually get their attention.  I am not running again for public office (calling people stupid is not a good way to get votes). As a non candidate, I don’t have to pander to anyone.  I have a populist message, that is: economic and social justice based on the U.S. Constitution and existing law.   

What is an example of the stupidity that I’m talking about?  The current budget “debate” is an exercise in stupidity that is a result of widespread ignorance.  It is ironic that the politicians who stuck us with the seventeen trillion dollar national debt are now frantically warning us about the dangers of public debt.  They say that, if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we will default and the financial markets will destroy America. And there is nothing they can do about it!  I think it is more realistic to think of the politicians not as public officials, but as loan originators.  After all, it was them, not the taxpayers, who borrowed the money that put us seventeen trillion dollars in the hole.  Politicians, as loan originators, serve the same function as did Mitt Romney when he owned and ran Bain Capital.  That function was/is: to borrow huge amounts money that other people have to pay back.  (Remember, it was the loan originators, working for the banks, who created the massive, unsustainable debt that caused the, quickly forgotten, subprime mortgage disaster.)  I hope everyone who reads this blog will write or call their Congressperson and ask them this question: If the Constitution and the law give Congress the authority to direct the U.S. Treasury to issue debt-free legal tender currency -- United States Notes (U.S. Notes), why do we have a $17 trillion national debt?   I recommend clicking on this link to the U.S. Treasury Department web site: U.S. Treasury - FAQ: Legal Tender Status of Currency.  There you will learn that everything I say about Treasury issued debt-free money is true and based on existing law.

Someone might think I have a lot of nerve calling people stupid.  Let’s see if I can back up this harsh characterization.  I hear politicians warning of the dire consequences and dangers of “jeopardizing America’s credit rating” by not raising the debt ceiling.  The U.S. Constitution (Art.1, Sec.8, Par.5,) and the law (the Legal Tender Act of 1862) grant the American government the exclusive authority to issue money, debt-free, in any amount.  Needless to say, the implications of this statement are staggering.  Specifically, it means the national debt and state and local government debt is a gigantic scam perpetrated against the taxpayers.  And it means government borrowing from the global bond market (aka the Bond Vigilantes) is stupid and unnecessary.  After more than nine years, no politician, pundit or academic has accepted my challenge to try to refute these statements.   

The debt-free money deniers claim that the government can’t issue money because the global markets won’t accept Treasury issued United States Notes.  Wrong!  U.S. Notes are interchangeable with Federal Reserve Notes, they have exactly the same value, they are both legal tender and they are both currently part of our national money supply.  So, what’s the problem?  Corruption is the problem.  Apparently, the global bond market/Bond Vigilantes control the politicians, the media, academia and religion.  Why else would we have an unnecessary $17 trillion national debt?  Why else would the world be drowning in debt? 

I actually heard worried politicians say that if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, “the government won’t be able to sell its debt.”  Did we elect politicians or bond salesmen (aka loan originators).  I think Goldman Sachs will always have a “job” for people like this.  Worrying about America’s “credit rating” is insanely stupid because America doesn’t have to borrow money!  The government borrows money because the Wall Street stooge politicians make the government borrow money.  The banksters have to get something for their campaign contributions.  The shocking reality is that the private sector should be borrowing money from the government, not the other way around.  How did the American taxpayers get sucked into this $17 trillion scam?

I would love to write to Ted Cruz, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Pat Toomey, Jim DeMint, Tom Cobern, Tom Price, Mick Mulvaney, Steve Scalise, James Lankford, Mike Kelly, Louie Gohmert, Jason Chaffetz, Mike Lee, Eric Cantor, Joe Wilson, Allen West, Ted Yoho, Herman Cain, Phil Gingrey, Randy Hultgren, Joe Walsh, Dan Burton, Mike Pence, Steve King, David Vitter, Pete Hoekstra, Michele Bachmann, Joe Barton, Virginia Foxx, Sue Myriek, Ed Royce,  Trent Franks, David, Schweikert, Paul Gosar, Matt Salmon, Jeff Denham, Tom McClintok, Gary Miller, Cory Gardner, Doug Lamborn, Sandy Adams, Gus Bilirakis, Ander Crenshaw, Rich Newgent, Dennis Ross, Steve Southerland, Cliff Sterns, Connie Mack, Trey Radel, Paul Broun, Lynn Westmorland, Raul Labrador, Todd Young, Tim Huelskamp, Lynn Jenkins, Jerry Moran, Thomas Massie, Rodney Alexander, Bill Cassidy, John Fleming, Jeff Landry, Roscoe Bartlett, Andrew Harris, Justin Amash, Tim Walberg, Kerry Bentivolio, Steven Palazzo, Vicky Hartzler, Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Denny Rehberg, Adrian Smith, Charles Bass, Mark Meadows, Richard Burr,  Howard Coble, Sam Rohrer, Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Tim Scott, Diane Black, Scott DesJarlais, Stephen Fincher, Phil Roe, Michael Burgess, Quico Canseco, John Carter, John Culberson, Blake Farenthold, Ralph Hall, Kenny Marchant, Randy Neugebauer, Ted Poe, Pete Sessions, Lamar Smith, Robert Aderholt, Rob Bishop, David McKinley, Cynthia Lummis and all the other Tea Party conservative, government-hating “deficit hawks” and challenge them to a public policy debate.  I would demand that they address point-by-point every grievance in this petition.  You know, per my Constitutional right to “petition the government for the redress of grievances.”  My primary grievance is that the politicians are stealing my trust fund money, adding the theft to the national debt and sticking us taxpayers with the liability. 

I wrote to the Justice Department to complain that the politicians were/are denying me my Constitutional right by ignoring me.  The Justice Department ignored me and my petition.  I’ve given up writing to politicians.  Every time I am ignored or I receive a worthless form letter, I get angrier.  So, I stopped writing to them.  I’m angry enough.  I don’t need another politician rubbing my face in my powerlessness.  My blog has received thousands of visits from all over the world (Germany, China, Israel and many more), but I can’t get a single politician, pundit or academic to engage me in a public debate on this blog.  

Tea Party conservatives are called “populists.”  I don’t think this term applies to the Tea Party.  I call myself a populist.  To me, populism means economic and social justice.  But Glen Beck, a member of the Tea Party, said populist calls for economic justice is Marxism.  When Glen Beck calls economic justice Marxism, I assume he means economic justice is bad.  This tells me that the Tea Party is not a populist movement.  Apparently, one of the reasons the Tea Party hates paying taxes is because taxes “redistribute wealth.”  But the original Populist Party of the 1890s “championed the graduated income tax as a way to redistribute wealth.”  The Populist Party wanted the people to “rise up and tame the power of the wealthy.”  And they “reviled blood-sucking plutocrats.”  This doesn’t sound like the plutocrat funded Tea Party to me.

If the Tea Party really is a populist movement, they would support my call for the U.S. Treasury to issue debt-free U.S. Notes.  The Tea Party wants lower taxes.  Debt-free money can lower taxes.  The Tea Party hates the national debt.  Debt-free money can lower or even pay off the national debt.  As far as I know, these are the two main issues that the Tea Party is against.  So, they should support me.  With this in mind, I challenge all Tea Party politicians to immediately introduce legislation calling on the Treasury to begin again issuing debt-free United States Notes.  How much money and where the money should go is specified elsewhere on this blog.  If any Tea Party politician writes to me at PO Box 815, Coraopolis, Pa. 15108, I will explain in detail exactly what he or she has to do in order to implement Constitution-based, debt-free monetary reform.             

  

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The cruel reality of the national debt

In 1968, in order to get more money to pay for the Vietnam War, the politicians “unified” the federal budget.  This means that social security money was spent on a war that had nothing to do with national security and everything to do with global capitalism.  At least two million Vietnamese and fifty-eight thousand American military personnel died in what Ronald Reagan called a “noble cause.”  Today, Vietnam is a hot investment location for American investors/capitalists and businesses looking for cheap labor and new markets.  Was Vietnam a noble cause or a capitalist atrocity?  What do Vietnam veterans think of their jobs being shipped to Vietnam?

As far as I know, there has never been an accounting of how much social security money was stolen up to the time of the Reagan/Greenspan Commission of 1983.  The theft was big enough, however, to gut the social security system to the point of bankruptcy.  In order to “save” social security, Reagan rolled House leader Tip O’Neill and the weakling Democrats into cutting benefits, raising the retirement age and raising the payroll “tax.”  At this point, I must repeat again, the FICA payroll deduction is NOT A TAX!  It is a premium payment to a government administered insurance program.  Anyone who calls the FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act) payroll deduction a tax is either ignorant, stupid or a liar.  For some reason (ignorance or stupidity or corruption), nobody demanded that the politicians stop stealing the money and repay what they stole and spent.  This outrage continues to this day and because the stolen money (IOUs) is added to the national debt, the politicians claim that this “justifies” the bi-partisan attack on “entitlements.”  What a grotesquely perverse and diabolical argument.  Politicians can’t seem to grasp the fact that American workers are entitled to the “trust fund” money because it is OUR MONEY!  I demand that every penny be repaid with Treasury issued, debt-free United States Notes.  Also, I demand that the FICA payroll deduction be subsidized with U.S. Notes so that older workers can retire with dignity and enjoy the last years of their lives.

Incredibly, the American people have accepted the notion that stolen trust fund money can be “replaced” with future tax dollars and money borrowed from China.  This is a myth because that only compounds the theft.  Several years ago I asked my Congressman, Tim Murphy, why the politicians don’t replace the money raided from the trust funds.  He said: “I would have to raise your taxes to do that.”   How nice, a politician tells the truth.  But it is an ugly truth that people can’t seem to grasp.  The politicians are robbing Peter (taxpayers) to pay Paul (social security beneficiaries) the money that was stolen from the social security “trust” fund.  When will the American people demand that the politicians STOP STEALING OUR MONEY?!  After Wall Street wrecked the American and world economies with the subprime mortgage disaster/global credit crisis, FICA payments went into the red, and the shortfall is made up with tax dollars.  And since there is a budget deficit, social security benefits are paid partially with money borrowed from the credit markets.  What a scam!  The ugly truth is that our free market “Christian capitalist” (according to televangelist Pat Robertson) system never paid the American workers enough money to properly fund the social security and Medicare systems.  Incidentally, I would like to remind Pat Robertson that Jesus said: “loan not expecting to get it back.”  Obviously, Jesus proposed an act of kindness, not a blood sucking “business.”  Business, the finance “industry” and the insurance “industry” fought social security and Medicare from the first day that they were proposed.  Now, the national debt gives them the weapon they need to slowly kill what they always hated.

The average monthly social security benefit is $1,230.  In a land where people pay $12.5 million for a 1957 Ferrari and $40 million for a painting, $1,230 a month stinks.  Contrary to popular belief, America is not a rich country.  It is a poor country where some very rich people live.  A subsistence retirement after a lifetime of work proves that our “Christian” capitalist system is fatally flawed.  That’s why I propose using Treasury issued debt-free money to significantly RAISE social security and Medicare benefits to a level that provides dignity to old age rather than a financial nightmare.  And, while we are at it, we must fully fund the Medicaid system.  The elderly poor desperately need this financial support.  If our politicians can’t figure out how to do this, they can write to me a PO box 815, Coraopolis PA 15108.  I will explain exactly how it can be done.        

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Universal Healthcare

Today, October 30, 2013, politicians and the mainstream media are in a frenzy over the Affordable Care Act aka “Obamacare.”  If they would talk to me, I would tell them that there is a simple debt-free money solution to the healthcare crisis.  An expanded Medicare system in conjunction with an expanded IRS would subsidize qualifying businesses for full healthcare coverage for all of their employees from the first day of work.  Based on their tax filings, the IRS can easily determine which businesses need the subsidy.  No Treasury robbing, government destroying tax breaks would be part of this plan.  The subsidies would be paid with U.S. Treasury issued, debt-free United States Notes directly to the healthcare providers.   The subsidies would be based on strict, fair but generous guidelines.  The government can afford to be generous because it doesn’t have a profit motive or greedy, non-productive shareholders.  The debt-free money, government funded, full employment program that I propose elsewhere on this site would virtually eliminate unemployment because all Americans desiring work would be employed.  Thus, if you are employed, you have full healthcare coverage.  The full employment program would use U.S. Notes to pay the wages, salaries and benefits of the new people hired for the Medicare system and the IRS.  The full employment program would also fund an expanded and properly staffed SEC, CFTC and many other well paying government jobs.

It is a national disgrace that the Democratic Party’s effort to get universal healthcare exploded into an ugly national debate.  I find the “pound of flesh” ideology of the conservative politicians disgusting.  I disagree with the market-based approach of the Affordable Care Act, but at least it is something.  This is infinitely better than the Republican, conservative, free-market “alternative,” which is NOTHING.  That adolescent for the ages, Rush Limbaugh, perfectly defined the purist right wing approach to the healthcare problem.  He scorned Republican talk of an alternative to the ACA.  He said, “Just say no.”  There you have it, nothing.  I know, the Republicans make vague references to health savings accounts.  From my personal experience, I say a health savings account is the same as nothing.  It was a self-imposed death panel and a paperwork nightmare.  I hated it.  Of course, the conservatives love HSAs because they can rob the government of tax revenue.  Something this diabolical had to be dreamed up by a conservative “think” tank.  I wonder what kind of healthcare “American” multinationals provide for their sweatshop workers in emerging market economies like Vietnam.  Whatever it is, I assume it is the conservative ideal that they would like to impose on American workers.

Global debt-free monetary reform

Constitution based, debt-free monetary reform can reduce or even eliminate poverty and unjustified income equality not only in the United States, but all over the world.  The solution is simple: pay people for work based on its value to society.  This flies in the face of free market capitalism.  In the debt based capitalist system, someone can instantly become a millionaire, multimillionaire, billionaire or multibillionaire just for being born.  No work is required.  You just have to be plugged into the financial/debt market.  The money managers will do the rest.  Obviously, it is stupid and dishonest to call our economic system a “meritocracy.”  What a cruel myth!    

Unlike the debt based free-market capitalist system, the debt-free government funded supplemental system that I propose would be generous.  The government haters, conservatives, Republicans and many neoliberal Democrats will say, “You can’t be generous to the workers, that will cause inflation.”  Let’s examine this stupid statement (that is taught in every economic text book in the world).  If this statement is true, global poverty is necessary for monetary stability.  I don’t accept that vicious, greedy logic.  If a government paid workers good wages and benefits, with debt-free money, why would that cause inflation?  The cost of doing business wouldn’t go up.  So, why would prices would go up?  If they go up, it would be because under our current free-market system, we have a systemic problem that I call Greed Inflation.  This is the real cause of inflation, and it has nothing to do with printing money.  I explain this fact in detail elsewhere on this blog.   

The debt-free money deniers and the Bond Vigilantes will say, “If the government prints more money, that devalues the currency.”  The so-called law of supply and demand says: if you have more of something, it is worth less.  Is this true?  In the case of United States Notes, the answer is NO.  Why?  U.S. Notes are not a commodity.  They are a medium of exchange and the supply is unlimited.  The concept of supply and demand does not apply.  In the case of U.S. government debt backed Federal Reserve Notes, the supply is limited by the amount of money that can be bled from the American taxpayers.  (This situation does not apply to quantitative easing because the Fed only increases its balance sheet.  Don’t ask where the money goes.)   Also, dollars are not a commodity because they have no intrinsic value other than the value of the paper.  Dollars get their value from the law and the law gets its authority from the U.S. Constitution. 

But, the deniers and the Bond Vigilantes will say the currency traders will drive down the value of the dollar in the global currency markets if the Treasury issues debt-free money.  Really, on what authority could they do that?  The Constitution says that only Congress has the authority to control the value of the dollar, “regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin.”  This means that only Congress has the authority to regulate the value of the dollar, domestically and relative to foreign currencies.  In defiance of the Constitution, Congress gave their power to control the value of the dollar to Wall Street!  Can Congress give away their authority to currency speculators without a Constitutional amendment?  The answer, of course, is NO.

I explained on this blog over and over and over that the national debt is a scam and a scandal.  I explained that we don’t have to be debt slaves.  I explained that the politicians are stealing our “trust fund” money.  I explained that politicians stealing tax dollars and/or borrowing money to pay social security benefits doesn’t replace the stolen money, it only compounds the theft.  I explained that the only way to truly, actually, really replace the stolen trust fund money is with Treasury issued, deft-free United States Notes.  Over the last nine years, I’ve gotten this populist message out to thousands of people.  I ran for public office twice, and I was even interviewed on the radio twice.  But, the results of my effort are non-existent.  I’m astounded by this lack of public interest.

I watch televised Congressional hearings, and I hear the Wall Street moles who run the SEC and CFTC give the excuse that the world financial system blew up in 2007/2008 because they were/are under staffed and underfunded.  Since June of 2004, I have been telling politicians that they can fix all government funding problems with Treasury issued, debt-free U.S. Notes.  No government borrowing or tax increase is required.  The response has been DEAD SILENCE.  Nobody can be that stupid.  There must be another explanation.  Could the chance for a six or seven figure “job” at Goldman Sachs, some worthless “think” tank like the Heritage Foundation or other “delayed compensation” keep the politician’s mouths shut?  I wonder what “heritage” the Heritage Foundation is promoting, the legacy of the Robber Barons or the Roman Empire or both?

I said debt-free monetary reform can reduce or even eliminate poverty and unjustified income inequality all over the world.  How can this be done?  The debt-free monetary reforms that I propose for America can be implemented by any country with a central bank and a constitution that authorizes the government to issue money.  The money can go into the banking system and the government can spend the money directly into the economy for the benefit of the citizens.  This can be done without a major disruption to the economic system.  The money supply can be increased with no inflation as long as the government controls the Greed Inflation.  The smaller and emerging market countries will be dependent on outside money, as they are now.  (The dollar would remain the world’s reserve currency.)  But, debt peonage could be eliminated because the money can be spent by the government directly into the economy without incurring any debt.  Also, banks and the governments could make loans with low or no interest because they are getting money debt-free from the world’s central banks.  Of course, banks could charge fees for their many services.  The size of loans would depend on the ability of the borrower to pay back the money.  Risk would not change the interest rate.  Risk would only determine the size of the loan.  The purpose of the loans would be to justly reward work and enterprise, not usury.  The debt-free monetary ideas that I propose would not overthrow the global capitalist/banking system.  Debt-free money would only reform a private sector bureaucracy that has spun, totally and dangerously, out of control. 

Well, I’ve established that the politicians are stupid, or worse.  I’ve established that the national debt is a scam on us taxpayers and a national scandal.  I’ve established that U.S. Treasury issued debt-free United States Notes are the solution to our national economic and fiscal problems.  I challenged the Tea Party to support me so we can lower taxes and reduce or eliminate the national debt.  And I outlined how debt-free monetary reform can be implemented anywhere in the world to reduce or eliminate poverty and unjustified income inequality.   If any reputable pundit, politician, policy maker or academic would like to dispute anything that I have written in this blog Update or anything on this web site/blog, please send a rebuttal to PO Box 815, Coraopolis, Pa. 15108.  I will publish the rebuttal on this blog.  We will then debate the issues publicly.  Everything will be in the historical record.