Nathan Becker
@netbacker
Why do we accept shortages in healthcare, education, and childcare, but never seem to run out of money for tax cuts, unending wars or big corp bailouts? The way we talk about public money shapes the world we live in. Notice the disconnect.
The federal government doesn't need to collect your dollars before it can spend dollars. When the government spends, dollars enter the private sector. When it taxes, dollars leave the private sector. That's how the monetary system actually works.
I keep thinking about Ursula K. Le Guin quote from 'The Dispossessed' “The individual cannot bargain with the State. The State recognizes no coinage but power, and it issues the coins itself.” She wasn't making a monetary argument. But there’s an interesting connection to the “taxpayer money” myth
Apologies to Ursula K. Le Guin. I took the liberty to rephrase the quote.
NY Times chart is made to look scary. Here is the same chart with 45+ years of data. Comparatively it’s a blip fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgr...
Yale confirms M4A saves money. But affordability was never the barrier. The money exists. Congress creates it every time they pass a funding bill. The barrier is willingness to prioritize people over profits. Stop asking how we pay. Ask why they won't.
Money is always there for corporate handouts, tax cuts, wars. But for healthcare, housing, or kids? Suddenly we're broke It's not about affordability. It's about who they choose to fund Fiat currency means Congress doesn't need our tax dollars first Stop believing the myth. #DSA #Democrats
To be clear: Seed was sowed under Clinton, surpluses drained savings, working class loaded up on debt ('Let Them Eat Credit'). Money flowed to Epstein Class. Bush tax cuts supercharged their net-worth. But the financial crisis wasn't about debt/GDP. It was deregulated banking & subprime that did it.
💯👏 Drop the "tax money" mindset. Gov doesn't need tax dollars, just willingness to fund a program. It's never about finding the money, it's all about finding a backbone to do the right things. Pass your 3-part test? Congress should just do it. Tax billionaires to fight inequality and burn it.
Tell me about it. It’s never about the Dollars. We have the money, all we need is willingness to do things So all this “we as a country’s broke and going bankrupt” because of few nonwhite single moms(they claim) or the slogan “tax the rich” are just lip service. All we need is a willing Congress.
Republicans give the game away. They know deficits benefit whoever receives the money. Now it is just the top 1% and large businesses. Spend the same on healthcare or childcare, and the bottom 90% win. So they lie about deficits being bad and push the ‘taxpayer money’ myth. Sadly, the left buys it.
You’re both right and this is exactly why Silicon Valley’s TechBros™ seized control of our government. Like in 2008, they’re angling for another taxpayer-funded bailout so they can cash out while we pay the price. #PrivatizeProfits #PulbicLoss
Big fan of cc_router! CCR + Openrouter = money left in the bank. 🤑 Sonnet 4.6 is 11 times more expensive than DeepSeek V3.2 for Input and 36 times more expensive for Output.
This is the right instinct. The money is there for war but "not there" for healthcare, education, housing. We should tax the sh*t out of the rich, not to close a budget gap, but to dismantle the political power that chooses bombs over beds. You can't buy Congress if you don't have a billion dollars.
Right. And here's the part they don't want you to see: the rich get richer when deficits and debt rise. Why? Because that 'debt' is their savings - bonds, bailouts, subsidies. The deficit was never the crisis. It's who the money flows to first. Dems need to stop apologizing and start aiming it at us
Agreed. But 'aiming big' means killing the myth that hold Dems back: that we need to find the money first. We don't. Our Government creates our currency. Real limits are inflation and resources, not revenue. Next time, spend first on what works. Let the wealthy and bond markets catch up #Econsky
lol! Treasury auctions aren't desperate payday borrowing. They're interest-bearing accounts to manage bank reserves. Confusing the issuer with the user is the entire misunderstanding. Government isn't a household or business.
They don't want you to see these two images side by side. 👀 (Left): "We shouldn't do wealth taxes—just give to charity!" (Right): America's richest people… aren't actually giving much. Let's do the math. 🧵
A century of proof on one side, a century of propaganda on the other. The experiment succeeded. The "emergency" is a political ritual to prevent us from institutionalizing the success. They fear a future where their crisis script has no power.
👇👇 This right here. 👇👇 The real cost is human. The question isn’t "Can we pay?" but "Do we have the doctors, hospitals, and medicine?" The limit is capacity, not money. The obstacle is political will—controlled by billionaires insulated from the human cost. #EconSkt #Healthcare #Universal