Tag: U.S. Govt

The Dollar’s Power: Beyond Military Might

The foremost superpower of the United States is not its military. More powerful than the military is the United States sovereign currency, the dollar. Most of the world conducts transactions using dollars. Other sovereign nations use our currency as their own. Other nations, corporations and individuals buy U.S. treasury bonds. The U.S. sets the rate of return and issues more dollars when it is in the U.S. economy’s best interest. The world envies this power!

Why do others trust the value of the U.S. dollar? It is because the full faith and credit of the U.S. economy backs the dollar. U.S. Treasury gold reserves backed the dollar until the late 1960’s. We removed the “Gold Standard” and now the world relies on the stability of the U.S. government. Our superpower is being threatened both outside and inside the country. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates are members of the BRICS nations. They are coalescing around the Chinese renminbi as a trading currency. If the world started trading using the renminbi, that would end the United States as a superpower.

Our superpower is being dismantled from inside our country. Donald Trump has allowed Elon Musk and a DOGE group of programmers to access the U.S. treasury departments’ accounting systems. The White House can’t confirm if any of these people, including Musk, have security clearances. You heard the phrase, “follow the money.” Every adversary and even friendly nations of the United States would pay any cost to know how much the U.S. is spending on defense and all other categories. If you thought Julian Assange’s leak was a threat to U.S. security, it pales in comparison. The treasury data is no longer secure.

Further undermining the security of the United Sate is the firing of multiple inspectors’ generals, removal of the whistle blower law, the removal of White House and Pentagon media outlets. All of these are checks and balances that provide stability the world relies on to have faith in the United States.

The seizure of the U.S Treasury is a Constitutional Crisis. The constitutional authority of Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, to control government spending by approving or denying budget appropriations, essentially acting as a check on the executive branch’s ability to spend money; it is considered a key element of the system of checks and balances within the US government. Five former Treasury Secretaries recently wrote, “We were fortunate that during our tenures in office no effort was made to unlawfully undermine the nation’s financial commitments.”

No Republican in congress has objected to the damage to the United States foremost superpower, the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Jesus says this while on the cross, “Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” which is found in the Bible, Luke 23:34, , asking God to forgive those who are crucifying him, implying that they are acting out of ignorance and not fully understanding their actions. Republicans’? Not so much.

From the War of 1812 to Modern Democracy: A Reflection

Earlier this Summer I had the pleasure of sailing up the Patuxent River, Maryland. This was the route the British cunningly used to attack the United States Capitol in 1814. The goal was to undermine the fledgling United States’ democracy. United States patriots avenged the foreign army that burned and pillaged our Capitol. We won the War of 1812. 207 years later, another army attacked our Capitol. This time, it was not a foreign army. It was an armed mob assembled at the Capitol by a sitting United States President, Donald J. Trump. The goal was to stop the peaceful transfer of power and, like the British, undermine democracy. Capitol Police were bear sprayed and beaten with Trump flag poles. 140 police officers were assaulted. One officer died the next day. Several took their own lives soon after and many are now maimed for life.

In my neighborhood, there are vehicles with the Thin Blue Line flags. The black line on the top of the flag represents the public. The black line on the bottom of the flag represents criminals. The thin blue line in the middle represents law enforcement that separates the two. These neighbors’ vehicles also have Trump 2024 stickers. Trump, who led the assault that maimed and killed law enforcement officers. Trump who racketeered across multiple states to undermine the will of the people. Trump who is still trying to remove the foundation blocks of our country. This house of democracy is where we negotiate our differences. Not by armed force, but by voting. Take a Republican to lunch today. See if you can persuade them to purge the MAGA out of their party. For the good of their party. And the good of our country. Just like we won the War of 1812. We will win this war too. This time you are the Thin Blue Line. This time, vote blue!