I will start with the deficit problem. The best way to deal with the deficit problem is with cutting defense spending and increasing taxes. How should the US cut defense spending? First, is by removing troops from Iraq. Second, is by ending the conflict in Afghanistan and removing troops from Afghanistan. Third is by removing troops from foreign countries including Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Fifth is through nuclear arms reduction treaties with Russia and China. Even without those treaties the US should be able to reduce nuclear arms to about 10% of what the US currently has and still destroy the planet. Sixth is to cut out all US spending on stupid weapons systems ranging from new fighter jets to extra unnecessary parts. We should also increase foreign language training for troops. With such reductions the US defense budget can be cut to less than 20% of what it is now. This alone will go a long ways towards curing the budget crises.
Everyone admits that health care is a serious issue that needs to be contained in the federal budget. This is relatively easy. Go to single payer medicare insurance for all US citizens. Allow insurance companies to sell protection for costs not covered by medicare. Over a hundred billion dollars a year can be saved through such a simple prescription.
Moving on to taxes. First, let us truly simplify the tax code. The tax code should be no longer than fifty double spaced pages in 12 point type with one inch margins all around. Second, make social security a flat tax on all earned income including bonuses. Third, make the marginal income tax on income from 250 thousand to 1 million dollars be 40%. Make the marginal income tax on income from 1 million dollars to 5 million dollars be 50%. Make the marginal income tax on income from 5 million to 20 million dollars be 60%. Finally make the marginal income tax on income above 20 million dollars be 70%. Compared to taxes after WW II these would be low. Inheritance tax on inheritances above 5 million dollars should be at 60%. Capital gains should be considered income. Loop holes on industry should be eliminated. Banking in foreign countries that do not reveal account information to the federal government should be eliminated. Tax rates to industry should be reduced, but the rate set so that company's are contributing 20% of profits to the federal treasury.
With these adjustments, retirement age may be lowered to sixty and eventually to fifty five. Social security can be increased. COLA increases given to social security should also be given to the marginal tax rates. Such changes will not only reduce the deficit, but will also create surpluses.
Employment requires spending. In today's dollars the US spent 5 trillion dollars a year for 6 years during WW II. WW II cost 30 trillion of today's dollars. The US should spend 5 trillion dollars over the next 4 years to solve the US unemployment problem and make the US more competitive in the world. The first issue is education. Education for children should begin before birth with the education of parent's to be. After birth until Kindergarten children should be exposed to music, foreign languages, other children, art, museums, light shows, reading, and simple arithmetic and logic. When each child enters kindergarten then should be able to understand simple sentences in two or three foreign languages. They should know the alphabet. They should know how to deal with their peers. They should have been heard and enjoyed all types of music from classical to the current pop music. They should know what and, or, either-or, not, and if then mean. By this I mean simple constructs such as "Jack and Jill went up the hill . . ." or "If it is raining then take an umbrella."
Of course starting in kindergarten the education should become more rigorous with smaller class sizes. In elementary school the class size should be kept at no more than 10. In middle school class size should be kept below 15 and in high school below 20. This will enable more individualized training and much higher learning by the students. College tuition should be free. Room and board should be 25% the cost of room and board. This should be the rates through graduate and post-graduate school. Such dramatic changes will start having a payoff in 5 years with an ever increasing payoff over the next 30 years. Education is a key to competitiveness.
Another key is great infrastructure. This means investment in everything from rail systems to sewer systems. Better housing is needed for all. Our infrastructure is crumbling. This results in higher costs for everything from taking a piss to having a drink of water. These costs are just starting to cost us. Without improvements the cost will make the US uncompetitive.
Another key is inexpensive energy. Right now our energy comes primarily from coal, oil and gas. We need to figure out how get energy less expensively from non-carbon sources. Yes to better solar. Yes to wind power. Yes to energy saving devices based on electric motors and LED lights. Yes to walking. Yes to building better buildings where people can live close together with better amenities, (swimming pools, garbage shoots, built in internet, . . .) without hearing the neighbors or even people in next room. Yes to more and better teleconferencing. All of this will either save energy or produce cheap energy. Cheap energy will all cheap goods to be produced.
How do we get to better jobs. Better jobs will require us to deal with foreign countries. First, we should not enable any foreign country to gain a monopoly on a commodity we need. One case of this is with rare earths. The US enabled China to gain a monopoly on the production of rare earths. We did this by allowing the production of rare earths in the US to cease. Now we are dependent as is the world on China. We must end this dependence immediately.
Next, we should insist that foreign countries we trade with give minimum living wages to all employees and that they must allow for the formation of labor unions. These two factors alone will make our workers more competitive with foreign workers. we must insist upon open markets. If the foreign country sells cars to the US then the US must be able to sell cars to them. Even better, all products from a foreign country should be able to sold to the US and the US should be able to any product to a foreign country. Finally, we must insist on currency reform. No country should be allowed to keep their currency artificially cheap.
The US should go one step further and create new markets, particularly in undeveloped countries. This may be best done through education particularly of women, and micro loans again particularly to women. Why women, because women show a propensity to use their education and money better than men. Sad, but true. Finally in this arena, we should provide any woman who want's it with birth control including the morning after pill and abortions. This alone will reduce the population explosion and create a more stable world.
After the US reduces on unemployment problem to 0 and the deficit has turned into a surplus, then we should focus on ways to raise everyone's standard of living in the world to that of the US. This can be done by creating infrastructure, providing inexpensive green energy, and education to everyone in the world. No the US cannot do this alone, but, with the help of the world's developed countries this can be achieved.
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