The current proposed stimulus package is an embarrassment. I've been impressed with Obama's actions so far, but I can't believe he's promoting such a lame bill. I mean, birth control? daycare for military bases? re-sodding the Mall? Worthy little projects perhaps, but hardly a major stimulus package.
Okay, some better ideas on the jump...
- REAL MONEY Into Our Pockets, Now.
For 1 trillion dollars you could write a check for $20,000 to the 50 million households with the lowest incomes (the cutoff would be somewhere under $100,000 per year). Think what these people could do with that money. Families behind on their mortgages could catch up. They could pay down their credit cards. They could send their children to college. Start small businesses. Buy cars. Put on a new roof. Put a down payment on a house. Invest in the stock market. Start a savings account. For those on unemployment, the payment could be in lieu of those benefits, helping to reduce the cost. Results: A big jump in consumer spending; reduction in foreclosures/bankruptcies; get unemployed people off the dole and help them start a business, get some job training/education, or move to a new location where job prospects are better.
- Build the Energy Grid of the Future, and Automate Medical Records
These are the only parts of the current plan that are worth a damn. Keep those.
- Save Energy, Save Money, Create Jobs.
Start a program where you can have your home or apartment made more energy efficient, with the cost on a sliding scale according to income, and the government picking up the rest of the tab. Results: A flurry of work for the construction industry; a greener America; lower utility costs for everyone going forward.
- Save the Auto Industry
Have the government become a partner with the auto industry to help it move into the future. But they need to sell those corporate jets, slash executive salaries, bring on some fresh-thinking CEOs, and produce a viable plan for making cars so good, so energy-efficient, so safe, and so inexpensive, that everyone in the world will want to buy them. Don't tell me it can't be done. This is America. And just like any partner, the government will share in the profits.
- Corporate Tax Reform
Make a simple sliding scale for individual income taxes and take it out of each paycheck. End of story. No yearly returns. No tax deductions. Your W-2 allows for dependents. Corporations and the self-employed would still need to file, but on a simplified basis. Most importantly, get rid of overseas tax shelters. If you want to be an American company, you need to do business here, hire workers here, and pay taxes here. Results: Slash the size of the IRS, which would save millions of tax dollars. Lower rates for the poor and middle class, coupled with higher rates (and no loopholes) for corporations, would put more money in the pockets of the people who actually drive this economy, and would likely result in a net revenue gain. And corporations would have to bring all those outsourced jobs back to the U.S.
- No More Bank Bailouts
Let 'em fail. A bank that can't manage money, frankly, shouldn't be in business. They're not lending anyhow from what I hear; not even to each other. There are plenty of sound local banks that would welcome your deposits.
Hopefully, this diary will stimulate more discussion and ideas. C'mon all you smart people, let's come up with some better ideas and then send them to President Obama.