At your urging I've come to understand MMT. But what good does it do? The conversation is not framed around MMT. I have no idea what Congress believes or understands about the economy.
Congress knows how it works. What they understand is that their political future depends upon not letting the people know how it works. Their opponents would rip them apart with myths and outright lies that are widely believed among voters. That's why it will be up to those voters to bring about a collective epiphany and force their representatives to adapt.
The fact remains that real wages are being funneled off to payroll taxes while the promise of a future retirement income is in question. It make no difference how money works when 12.4 percent of your earnings are taken from you.
There will always be some level of benefits from present workers, but it will be as little as Republicans can make it. FDR established the payroll deduction to give beneficiaries a "legal" right to benefits, not to pay for the program. The false concept of taxes directly paying for government programs really wasn't a thing until '80 when Raygun made it central to his campaign.
It does not matter to me that the government as the ability to meet all it financial obligations by issuing more currency if the people in charge refuse to do so. Conservatives are dead set of killing Social Security.
They have almost completed that mission, with considerable help from neoliberal Democrats who have failed to offer any pushback. If they did, they would find they could win more elections.
You know that Republicans understand MMT. It is the reason they are so bold in granting tax cuts. Cheney even said out loud once that deficits don't matter. You would think it would be Democrats championing MMT econ, but it is Republicans who are using it to the benefit of the investor class.
My dismal viewpoint is that most Americans are not capable of doing that and how do you ever get started with a 12.4 percent drag on your paycheck.
The goal is to harvest as much of middle class wealth as possible via bank debt before we die. I think that goal has been realized already. One hospital bill, even with Medicare, will wipe out the average retiree's home equity.
