Posted on 09/28/2020 8:38:10 AM PDT by Kaslin
Did you know that the consumption of the poorest 20 percent of Americans is roughly equal to that of the average Dutch or French person, and higher than that of the average Brit, Swede, Dane, or Japanese person? Our poor people are richer than the middle class of most nations! But how do we keep it that way?
Capitalism has allowed our nation to prosper. But it is always being pulled in different directions, usually to the left, as the government intervenes by increasing taxes, spending and regulations. America is being taken over by cronyism, which is based on connections rather than merit and thus is antithetical to capitalism. Socialism is cronyism on steroids.
Ralph Benko, one of the last living Kemp Supply-Siders and a Reagan White House deputy general counsel, is alarmed by how the Republicans have fallen into merely paying lip service to capitalism. So last year he co-authored, to great critical acclaim, The Capitalist Manifesto. It pulled together the 10 most popular policies that have been proven to work. He goes into greater detail in The Ten Commandments of Capitalism, explaining why they are crucial and how they work.
Benko begins the book by explaining that the fundamental doctrine of communism is class warfare, which we are seeing take place in our country today, as the left pits the working class against the middle class and wealthy. Benko calls this “an imaginary hobgoblin.”
The truth is, “cooperation is the source of mutual prosperity.” We saw it work in practice after the supply-side revolution of the 1980s. Benko emphasizes that it wasn’t a right-wing phenomenon, Democrats came together with Republicans. One end of the capitalist spectrum is ordoliberalism, “socially conscious free markets” supported by Democrats. The income tax rate was reduced by 30 percent for everyone, followed by reducing the top rate to 28 percent. These moves supercharged America’s growth. Capping the top rate at 28 percent is Benko’s First Commandment (today it’s at 37 percent).
Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, asks politicians to pledge not to raise taxes. During an appearance on 60 Minutes, host Steve Kroft badgered Norquist into admitting that he tries to get rid of anyone who breaks the pledge. Norquist responded in the affirmative, “To encourage them to go into another line of work, like shoplifting or bank robbing, where they have to do their own stealing.”
Benko’s Second Commandment addresses an aspect of this, “There shall be no reduction or elimination of income tax deductions and credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates." Getting rid of deductions and credits is nothing more than a sneaky way to raise taxes.
Benko explains how it’s unfair that the government taxes the sale of investments because this doesn’t take into account inflation. The $1,000 you invested 20 years ago would have to increase to $1,500 now in order to break even selling it. Confiscating capital is right out of The Communist Manifesto. So his Third Commandment would index assets to inflation for the purpose of taxing capital gains.
Benko puts forth a strong argument for returning to the gold standard in Commandment Six. Did you know that President Donald Trump, Steve Forbes, Alan Greenspan, Lewis E. Lehrman and Ron Paul all support it? There was an effort to return to the gold standard awhile back but it fizzled because of foolishness. “A cult-like dystopian subculture preached that the paper dollar standard would collapse, imminently.”
The Bank of England published a white paper a few years ago which revealed that if we’d remained on the gold standard, “The average person’s real income would be nearly 50% higher, the increase in prices would be nearly 50% lower” and other economic benefits.
Reagan once said about Congress, "I made a speech a while ago comparing their spending habits to those of drunken sailors. And then a number of my staff members told me that that was unfair to drunken sailors because they at least were doing it with their own money.” Commandment Seven would limit spending by adopting a balanced budget amendment that requires a supermajority to suspend.
The Eighth Commandment prohibits civil asset forfeiture. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Seizing people’s property before they’ve had a trial clearly violates this; it is perplexing that these laws have been allowed to remain on the books. Fortunately, there is a growing movement to eliminate them.
The left pretends to sound patriotic by frequently declaring that America is a democracy (that characterization isn’t even accurate, we are a hybrid democratic republic). But the reality is, “It sneakily prefers to use the government institutions least responsive to the will of the people to advance its socialist agenda.” The left uses bureaucrats and judges to “cram its socialist policies down our throats.” The Ninth Commandment would require regulations affecting more than $100 million to be passed by Congress and signed by the president (the REINS Act).
The final Commandment eliminates government controls over wages and prices, including telecommunication services, rent and setting a minimum wage. Benko provides several examples of how repealing these laws has resulted in lower prices and higher wages. Reagan decontrolled oil and gas prices, and there was no spike in gas prices.
In recent years there has been a push for a “net neutrality” law, which would prohibit telecommunications companies from charging companies like Netflix, which use a significant bandwidth of data, more than a company merely delivering email. “The seductively framed ‘net neutrality’ would have taken us back toward dial-up rather than letting us vault ahead to the power to download a movie in less than 10 seconds rather than 7 minutes.”
In 1950, nearly half the world’s population lived under Marxist governments. Reagan changed all that, by starting the overthrow of those governments. But are we turning back? Benko warns against the current love fest with “democratic socialism” sweeping the youth, observing that the 2016 Democratic national platform leaned toward or adopted all six of the still-relevant 10 planks of The Communist Manifesto.
Fortunately, we have a resurgence of interest in capitalism as well with Make America Great Again. The Capitalist League, founded by Benko and William Collier, has already drawn 137,000 Facebook followers worldwide in just a few months. Capitalism is “the secret recipe for equitable prosperity.” Let’s hope Congress believes in these Ten Commandments.
My bone to pick. The ‘poorest’ 20% are not all poor. Confine the study to the poorest 10% and then see the results. Probably good but not the same.
Since “Capitalism” is a marxist term, I prefer the designation “Free Enterprise.”
It has a nice ring to it.
This is a salient point. Leftists prattle about “systemic racism,” but in their terms their own philosophy is “systemic consumerism” - they have absolutely no sense of the privations which are commonplace elsewhere but are practically unknown here.
I agree and try to stress that in conversations. The fact of the matter is that in its purest form, "capitalism," isn't really even an, "-ism."
The unfettered exchange of goods and services, supply reconciling with demand, innovation sparking new demand, individuals with the freedom (and responsibility) to balance their consumption with their production, etc. is no more directed or systemized than water seeking its own level.
Amen!
And as George Orwell demonstrated in “1984”, he who controls the language controls the culture. (I don’t have the exact quote, but you know what I mean.)
Good stuff!
1. The highest marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses shall not exceed 28 percent.
2. There shall be no reduction or elimination of income tax deductions and credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
3. All assets will be indexed to inflation for the purpose of calculating capital gains.
4. No gift, estate or inheritance tax shall have a top rate of more than 10 percent and no such tax shall be imposed on any such transfers of $10 million or less, annually adjusted for inflation.
5. The federal government shall generously fund research and development, which are the foundation of the nation’s prosperity, skilled jobs and material quality of life.
6. The dollar shall be defined as a fixed weight of gold legally convertible thereunto by any person or entity, foreign and domestic.
7. The Treasury and any other instrumentality of the United States shall not incur any additional bonded liabilities except upon approval by two-thirds of the legislatures of the states.
8. Civil asset forfeiture to the federal, state or any municipal government is prohibited and criminal and civil fines shall be proportional to both the ability of the adjudicated party to pay these and to the severity of the infraction.
9. No regulation affecting more than $100 million in economic activity shall be adopted until enacted by the Congress of the United States and signed by the president.
10. No government shall exercise control over wages or prices, including the pricing of telecommunication services, rent or imposition of a minimum wage.
I like!
Thank you. You are exactly correct.
The term "Free Enterprise" accurately identifies the element that makes the system successful: freedom.
Indeed.
It is remarkable how much of our language is derived from communism. “Capitalism”, “Dialectic”, “Social Justice”, and even “Racism” come from various communist writings over the years.
I know that Freepers are all supposed to loathe McCain-Feingold. Back then we thought corporations were the last stand for conservative support so we wanted corporations to be as influential in the election process as labor unions.
However, now we see that major corporations are woke and are working against the average Joe. But we always knew that they spent millions, or even billions, lobbying politicians to do their bidding in and out of election years.
In a totally free market it is OK for corporations to purchase politicians and legislation. So it seems that if we don't want free enterprise to degenerate into crony capitalism that we need to make some purchases illegal, namely the purchasing of politicians and legislation.
How we go about doing this is a difficult problem, but I believe is workable.
‘Dialectic’ came from Hegel who wasn’t a communist.
Only ten? Where are the remaining 275 Rules of Acquisition?
I realize that, but Marx popularized it by linking it with “Materialism”.
The Ferengi already have one.
First Commandment: Cap the top income tax rate at 28 percent.
The truth is, “cooperation is the source of mutual prosperity.” In the 1980’s the income tax rate was reduced by 30 percent for everyone, followed by reducing the top rate to 28 percent. These moves supercharged America’s growth.Second Commandment: There shall be no reduction or elimination of income tax deductions and credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
Getting rid of deductions and credits is nothing more than a sneaky way to raise taxes.Third Commandment: Index assets to inflation for the purpose of calculating and taxing capital gains.
Benko explains that it’s unfair how the government taxes the sale of investments because this doesn’t take into account inflation. The $1,000 you invested 20 years ago would have to increase to $1,500 now in order to break even selling it.Fourth Commandment: No gift, estate, or inheritance tax shall have a top rate of more than 10% and no such tax shall be imposed on any such transfers of $10 million or less, annually adjusted for inflation.
Fifth Commandment: The federal government shall generously fund research and development which are the foundation of the nation’s prosperity, skilled jobs and material quality of life. Sixth Commandment: Return to the gold standard.
The Bank of England published a white paper a few years ago which revealed that if we’d remained on the gold standard, “The average person’s real income would be nearly 50% higher, the increase in prices would be nearly 50% lower” and other economic benefits.Seventh Commandment: Limit spending by adopting a balanced budget amendment that requires a supermajority to suspend.
Reagan once said about Congress, "I made a speech a while ago comparing their spending habits to those of drunken sailors. And then a number of my staff members told me that that was unfair to drunken sailors because they at least were doing it with their own money.”Eighth Commandment: Prohibit civil asset forfeiture.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Seizing people’s property before they’ve had a trial clearly violates this; it is perplexing that these laws have been allowed to remain on the books.Ninth Commandment: Bureaucratic regulations are limited to affecting no more than $100 million.
Any regulation affecting more than $100 million must be passed by Congress and signed by the president.Tenth Commandment: Government shall not control or set wages and prices.
Benko provides several examples of how repealing these laws has resulted in lower prices and higher wages. Reagan decontrolled oil and gas prices, and there was no spike in gas prices.
↑↑↑THIS↑↑↑
Thank you for your affirming words, null and void. :-)
Bookmark
Slightly different version:
We Offer The Ten Commandments of Capitalism to Create Prosperity
The members of the Capitalist League are united in support of the Ten Commandments of Capitalism:
The Capitalist Manifesto calls for the adoption of these ten commandments of true Capitalism to replace those of The Communist Manifesto:
1. The highest marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses shall not exceed 28%.
2. There shall be no reduction or elimination of income tax deductions and credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
3. All assets will be indexed to inflation for the purpose of calculating capital gains.
4. No gift, estate, or inheritance tax shall have a top rate of more than 10% and no such tax shall be imposed on any such transfers of $10 million or less, annually adjusted for inflation.
5. The federal government shall generously fund research and development which are the foundation of the nation’s prosperity, skilled jobs and material quality of life.
6. The dollar shall be defined as a fixed weight of gold legally convertible thereunto by any person or entity, foreign and domestic.
7. The Treasury and any other instrumentality of the United States shall not incur any additional bonded liabilities except upon approval by two-thirds of the legislatures of the States.
8. Civil asset forfeiture to the federal, state, or any municipal government is prohibited and criminal and civil fines shall be proportional to both the ability of the adjudicated party to pay these and to the severity of the infraction.
9. No regulation affecting more than $100M in economic activity shall be adopted until enacted by the Congress of the United States and signed by the president.
10. No government shall exercise control over wages or prices, including the pricing of telecommunication services, rent, or imposition of a minimum wage.
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