Public Banking, the Green New Deal and Medicare for All
by John Lawrence
Check out the article by Ellen Brown in truthdig or as republished today in the California Free Press on public banking and the progress that is being made all over the country - particularly in the states of California and Washington - to establish public banks. This is exactly the way to fund the Green New Deal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' brainchild which is supported by most progressives. The need to get away from a fossil fuel based economy here and around the world is paramount, but most critics say "it will cost too much". This is what they say about Bernie Sanders' issue, Medicare for All, as well. But a public bank at the Federal level is the perfect way to fund it. States have figured out that funding projects through Wall Street doubles their cost because of interest on loans paid to the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. A public bank cuts out the middleman.
The Federal Reserve, through its policy of quantitative easing (QE) is printing money and giving it to Wall Street and the big banks. These banks get the money interest free, but it does not filter down to Joe Six Pack. The banks turn around and pay no interest on savings accounts, but charge exorbitant interest on credit cards and student loans. Thank you, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton. Thank you, Hillary Clinton for sitting on Lloyd Blankfein's lap and accepting a payment of $250,000. for whispering in his ear. The Democrats' association with Wall Street has to go. This is so status quo.
Ellen Brown has written extensively about public banking which serves the needs of the people while cutting out Wall Street as the middleman which rakes off huge profits. There is no need for that. A public bank like the Bank of North Dakota (BND) - the only one in the nation at this time - can provide the funding for infrastructure projects at a fraction of the cost that Wall Street charges for their loans. In addition the BND provides student loans and business loans at interest rates below those of Wall Street and at the end of the day returns all profits to the public treasury. This makes a Green New Deal and Medicare for All feasible.
The US Congress was granted the right by the Constitution to create money. Instead it delegated this function to the privately owned Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve's main purpose is to serve the banking system and their owners, not to serve the public. This sits right with the presently constituted Congress because they have already been bought off by lobbyists and their wealthy corporate interests. Instead we need a Congress that outlaws lobbying and large campaign donations from wealthy interests, and we need a public bank at the Federal level to fund a Green New Deal so that the planet can be saved from global warming. A wartime like effort is required to do this because we only have 12 more years before global warming hits the runaway level and it's too late.
The conversion from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy has to be done in such a way that oil and gas workers, many of whom earn well over $100,000 a year are guaranteed jobs in the green industries at the same income level. Otherwise they will be the chief opponents of a Green New Deal. Someone who graduates college with a 4 year degree in petroleum engineering can start out at a salary of over $100,000. Some thought has to be put in to how this conversion from fossil fuels to renewables is to take place, what types of jobs will be created at what salary levels and how the conversion can take place with the least disruption to the economy including family income levels.
The states are well on their way to the establishment of public banks which will decrease their indebtedness and allow them to pursue projects including affordable housing and housing for the homeless. Now the same thing has to be done at the Federal level to support a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Public banks will cut out the middleman - Wall Street - which has destroyed cities from Birmingham, Alabama to Milan, Italy with their interest rate swaps. If this cannot be pulled off at the Federal level, it will be up to the states to proceed with green infrastructure building and a humane form of Medicare for All.