Tell me if this is a Republican or Democrat view. I'm not sure, but I know we need to get serious about fixing our problems. Here's what I think we should do:
1. Raise taxes by creating more tiers above $500K and $1mil and $100 mil.
2. Treat Capital Gains and Dividends and Interest the same as income. Too many very rich people don't pay what they could because of investment income being treated differently.
3. Cut Defense by A LOT!!
4. Cut Welfare by A LOT – make people work. We have welfare generations. Get crazy and penalize people on welfare when they have more kids rather than award them. How – make it simple. If you are on welfare and have another kid, your welfare payment goes down. But, if you give up your baby at adoption and have drug tests that prove you were off drugs and alcohol during the pregnancy, give the woman a bonus. (yes, fanatical, but we need to do crazy things)
5. Cut Social Security – no increases for 5 years. No ifs, ands or buts. Make it "means tested" so that people who don't need social security don't get it.
6. Cut Medicare by a lot – why do people with a bunch of money get medicare when they get a certain age.
7. Let private markets dictate pay for public employees – they are paid too much. Disallow unions for government works. They are not fair. Here's why. If I am in the UAW and work at Ford, my union leadership has to fight hard for my pay and benefits, but they also know that if they push too hard they could ultimately make Ford non-competitive forcing them out of business. As such, we have seen private sector unions offer concessions in recent years. On the flip side, government works have no customer that can choose. Therefore, they don't need to worry about their employer going out of business and only negotiate to get more without any thought or conseration to what the customer wants.
8. Invest a lot in roads and all infrastructure.
9. Invest in charter schools.
10. Find a way to reward people who move economic classes. I don’t know what this means or how to do it, but people that can grow up in a terrible environment and turn out ok should be cheered for and rewarded. Instead, we reward welfare moms!
11. Cut more and more government funded social programs, but allow more than a 1 to 1 deduction for charity contributions. Here’s the reality. Locally run charities that aren’t saddled with all of these government rules make better use of the money that they have because they know that next year, Joe or Sue may give their money elsewhere. If we can further encourage people to give to local charities, much of the government can disappear and resources will go where they are needed and where people want them to go. A lot of giving is done because of the deduction, but make it 1.5 x and we'll see giving go up. The tax revenue lost can be replaced by the cuts made to the programs.
I'll write more on some of these at a later time.
What I have never understood, is why people who believe that it is OK for the government to spend money they do not have and pass the debt on to future generations, just don't go out and borrow a couple of hundred thousand dollars in their kids and grandkids name and then live the good life.
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