I've been thinking for awhile about a few things that might fix some problems that we, as a society, are facing. Since 1980, the Republican Party has shifted the Overton Window so far to the Right that we have lost our compass on the Left. They have bankrupted our economy, the world's economy; they have shredded our Constitution; they have raped our Natural Resources; they have ripped apart the fabric of Society itself, all so that a few hundred families could amass obscene wealth, and so that the rest of us will fight eachother to lick the breadcrumbs out from between their toes. Unions, feh, who needs 'em? I mean, if they aren't willing to work for 3 cents an hour, we'll find someone in Bangladesh to do it. All the while, pitting us one against the other: based on skin color, accent, the shape of the eyes, whether we sit or stand to pee, whom we choose to spend our lives with, really, anything will do. So long as they get to count their millions and we have strata that are so thin that lives change at every 10k of income. Or less. We are losing our Arts, our Sciences, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructure, who cares?
I care.
And here's what I would like to see.
- The tax code changed and simplified. I really don't think that there is any differentiation in how you could possibly live your life if you make $10m a year or $50m. I think that, after a certain point, it's just a number and a contest of who has more, and I don't think that contest is worth destroying society. So, here's the deal. The first $250k of income, no tax. After that, until a million, 10% flat tax. They like flat tax, they'll love this. After two million, 20%. After three million, 30%, and on and on, until 10m where it's 100%. No one makes more than $10m/yr. No one.
- No corporate bail-outs for any corporation where the top paid person makes over $1m, or where the top 5 make over $3m combined. This includes farm subsidies. Time to bring back the old family farm.
- The military budget to be no more than 90% of the next three nations military expenditures combined. And, all wars that Congress itself has not declared, get fought out of that fund.
- All government contracts will show preference to corporations whose world headquarters are in the United States, and 70% of whose employees and 70% of whose payroll are paid to American citizens living within the United States and who pay at least 70% of their taxes to the United States.
- With the now obvious surplus, 1/3 goes to rebuilding the commons, 1/3 goes to paying down the debt, and the remainder is divided into identical shares and sent to everyone who voted in the most recent election national election. Want to see more people voting? Pay em.
- Resources taken out of the public sector, oil, timber, water, etc., will pay a 10% bonus to the company taking the resources, and the remainder of the profit to be put into public funds to be distributed as described above.
- All prisons will be public, not private, and the inmates, at census will be counted as being at the last address on their driver's license rather than where they are incarcerated. Time to put the funds into the blighted areas instead of exurbia.
- All ballots will be paper, and all paper ballots will be kept for 5 years.
- The government will offer jobs to all seekers with the minimum paid by the government at 4x the poverty level. If people want to keep their employees, perhaps it's time that they are paid more. If not, there's always a government job waiting for them. And, if the government can't find enough for them to do, I have a list.
- All seniors living in their own homes and receiving only Social Security will have solar panels put on their roofs for free, with any excess electricity being fed into the grid to lower everyone else's electrical bills.
Well, that's 10 right off the bat. Who else has ideas?