Did this Really Happen??
In late Dec, 2014 House Speaker John Boehner and the troubled Majority Whip and other House leaders met behind closed doors with a delegation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and to lay out what should and should not happen during the upcoming 114 th Congress. While they provided key talking points to the media for CYA purposes, there was a major discussion on budget, monetary and fiscal policy and only a small portion was released for public consumption; no more budget ceiling games by far right proponents of ideologically foolish obstructionism..
"Our No. 1 focus is to make sure, when it comes to the House and Senate, that we have no loser candidates," said Scott Reed, the top political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told the Wall Street Journal. "That will be our mantra: No fools on our ticket."
Republican House Speaker John Boehner signaled this shift earlier this month when he chided conservative activist groups that opposed the Spending Bill. The Speaker's deputies also worked behind the scenes to quiet internal dissent by warning committee chairmen that opposition to the deal could jeopardize their committee posts.
"The Speaker, and the entire leadership team, urged all House Republicans to support the [budget] agreement, which ignores the deficit and eschews raising taxes," said Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel.
This sharp turnaround is notable, first, because it signals to the rest of Washington that Republicans have spent too much time on ideology instead of legislation. Second, they have something else brewing, since they've written off whining about deficits and spending.
That 'something else' is contained in a brief prepared by the COC informing the House leadership that continuing to harp on the need for spending cuts during a recession will have serious consequences for campaign strategy leading to the 2016 elections. The COC, warned that there are elements in the public prepared to totally discredit any candidate who continues to deny the need for Federal Public Sector spending when consumer demand is now marginal and which would alleviate deteriorating economic and social conditions for more than one third of Americans.
This closely held, leaked, document lays out the rationale for backing off the traditional Republican tactic to lower taxes for the rich, and cut benefits for the middle class and poor. COC warns that " .. soon, Republicans will be challenged to explain why they insist on telling America that it can't afford to spend when it knows that there are no real constraints when inflation is low and unemployment so high ..." Buried in the document was this, "More and more academics on both sides of the political divide have grudgingly, accepted the fact that the Federal Government can no longer operate as it did under the gold standard. Fiat currency is here to stay and because it can be spent without reference to revenues, Congress will be blamed for not appropriating to serve the needs of all Americans."
It continued, "Ironically, if Congressional leaders publicly acknowledge this fact, the public will question the need for Federal tax revenue. Any response will need to be truthful but carefully parsed to avoid outcries of misleading the public and indeed distorting the facts on the need for austerity. We advise all members to become familiar with the concept of monetary sovereignty, so that they can begin to develop appropriate responses for media and constituents."
Since the Republicans have been 'warned' to become familiar with the concept of monetary sovereignty' what about the rest of us. Who gains and who loses the most by knowing this???
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