Yet again this week the news items are more of the same only more so. And yet again, the usual solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:
• A Jumpstart on Saving? People are all agog about the so-called “Trump Accounts” and we can’t really figure out why. This past Wednesday’s blog posting noted a few problems, but there is a much deeper set of problems that we didn’t address. As described in the media, “[The ‘Trump Accounts’] function as a type of tax-deferred savings account for those under 18, and they come with a starter package for any U.S. citizen born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028: a $1,000 deposit from the government. The intended goal is to allow young people access to a tax-deferred investment that will earn and grow and later be used for things like college or buying a first home. . . . ‘With additional donations and the $1,000 contribution from this administration, every eligible newborn U.S. citizen is set up for long-term financial security, giving the next generation a meaningful stake in our economy,’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X [the social medium formerly known as Twitter].” Problem 1) This isn’t “real” investment, which is oriented toward accumulating income-generating assets. The Trump Accounts are oriented toward mere saving for consumption. Instead of creating rentiers (small investors who live off the dividends and interest generated by their investments), the Trump Accounts simply make it easier to defer consumption from now to the future. This is not wealth-building, but a timing difference. Problem 2) It relies on charitable contributions and tax subsidies; this is not wealth-building, but straight redistribution. Problem 3) Most people cannot afford to cut consumption, even for a tax-deferred savings plan; witness the lack of IRAs among the lower income brackets. Problem 4) Cutting consumption to save to “invest” (or for anything else) reduces consumption (duh) which means that there is less incentive for producers to invest in new capital whether with their own savings (hahahahahaha), newly created money (usual), or what Louis Brandeis called “Other people’s money.” There are many more problems, but why belabor the point? The only real solution to the lack of wealth is the Economic Democracy Act.
William Crosskey
• Campaign Finance Limits. First, what on Earth is the United States Supreme Court doing getting involved in campaign finance? As described by AI, “The Supreme Court’s role in the Constitution is to serve as the highest court and guardian of the Constitution, interpreting its meaning and ensuring that laws and government actions comply with it. Through judicial review, it has the power to declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional. The Court also protects civil rights and liberties, resolves disputes between states, and acts as the final arbiter in legal matters to ensure consistent interpretation of federal law.” Okay, how does campaign finance fit into this? Or into what the Constitution really means? According to William Crosskey in Politics and the Constitution in the History of the United States [1953], “judicial review” was expanded after Marbury v. Madison (1803) to preserve slavery, culminating in Scott v. Sandford (Worst. Decision. Ever.), overturned by the 14th Amendment . . . which was nullified by the Slaughterhouse Cases in 1873. The Supreme Court and the Executive branch (the president) have been locked in a power grab ever since, with Congress losing power to both. Campaign finance? Just another move to shift power away from the people who elect Congress and vest it in the financial and political elite. The solution? Return power to people by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Administration Contradiction. The first principle or law of reason on which rational thought is based is that nothing can both “be” and “not be” at the same time under the same conditions. Unfortunately, the current administration in Washington does not seem to be aware of this. President Trump claims to be addressing people’s concerns about rising prices and the ability to afford to live and at the same time ridicules those concerns as “con job.” Yeah, we hear yuh, Mr. President. You feel our pain except when you don’t. Let ’em eat cake. Why not get a grip on reality and adopt the Economic Democracy Act?
• More Administration Doubletalk. President Trump has declared his farm bailout wouldn’t be possible without his tariffs. We — along with some of his critics — agree . . . except that you need to change the word “possible” to “necessary.” If Trump hadn’t singlehandedly waged war on American agriculture with his tariffs, farmers might not need to be bailed out. Of course, we believe the solution is the rational tax reform package which is part of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Bring Me Your Rich, Powerful, and Greedy. Do you know what is on the Statue of Liberty? “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887): Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,/ With conquering limbs astride from land to land;/ Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand/ A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame/ Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name/ Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand/ Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command/ The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame./ “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she/ With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/ I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Well, skroo that. To discourage the undesirables, the current administration says you can get entry to the U.S. by forking over a million of the best. Why not adopt the Economic Democracy Act. so we can create our own millionaires instead of importing them?
• Rise of the Machines . . . Part 1,645,496. Nothing to fear from AI? The rich create jobs? No, you’re both wrong. Every dollar the rich reinvest “creating jobs” cuts consumption by that much and then some. Consumer demand drives the demand for new capital and thus more jobs, producing more goods that no one can afford, so the government creates money to create artificial demand. As for AI, as this video shows, it replaces workers who consume with machines that do not consume . . . requiring the government to create more new money to generate yet more demand artificially, accelerating the decline. What’s the solution? The rich should spend on consumption, not reinvestment, while ordinary people should own capital and thus become productive and thereby generate their own demand. Adopting the Economic Democracy Act would go a long way to solving the problem.
• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially minute-and-a-half commercials for The Greater Reset. There are two versions of the videos, one for “general audiences” and the other for “Catholic audiences”. Take your pick.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law is, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOT to CESJ.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication (now with an imprimatur), Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.
• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., 52 or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to info@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series. The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human persons place in society.
Those are the happenings for this week, at least those that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and well see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent and intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
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