Was reading the "Vote for None of the Above thread" and also considering the ridiculousness of the "Change" Candidate vs. the "Maverick" candidate and just getting a little annoyed with the reality that all they are doing is tweaking the same old stuff. That we're even talking about whether high income earners should get taxed more or less just irritates me. In the big picture, its a drop in the bucket.
So, if I were President. Though, most of these things would require me to be a dictator, I suppose (Stupid Congress, all getting in the way
), here's what I would do and why:
(Note that I'm keeping this to things that I think are A. Systemically broken and B. Will have a measurable
long term impact on Americans. Its not that I don't care about Abortion, the Death Penalty, Gay Marriage, the War, etc. Okay, maybe I really don't care about those things, who knows. Anyway, I'm trying to keep this pretty high level. I realize there are problems in some of the details. Fell free to poke away at it.)
1. Trade and the Global Econmy.
I suppose this is a current campaign issue and one that I've heard both candidates present half assed solutions to "fix." On one hadn Obama wants to close the loopholes in corporate taxes, on the other, he watns to reward companies that keep jobs in America. McCain is free trader and wants to reduce the corporate tax. I'm not sure all these things aren't steps in the right direction... but half steps at best.
(Before you freak out, this will be tied into the next topic). One thing I hear is things like, NAFTA isn't fair to American workers and all that stuff. I don't disagree, necessarily. But, putting up trade barriers and pursuing protectionist policies have all but failed in the past. The problem is that US companies (Large and small) are competing on an uneven playing field. I'd move my jobs and my production base to the cheapest place too. This uneven field impacts the corporations, the employees and the shareholders. Unfortuntately the employees end up bearing a disproportionate share of this burden. Both from jobs moving overseas AND (Maybe more importantly) domestic companies closing their doors because of competition.
I would eliminate the corporate tax completely and replace it with a national sales tax. The problem here is that we're taxing American goods on the front end and not taxing foreign goods really at all. This is different than a tariff. But, think about it. You tax Mattel (let pretend they are a MAde in the USA company) for making toys and making money, then you tax Wal-Mart for selling it and making money. So, what does Wal-Mart do becaues Mattel's stuff is too pricey? They buy their stuff from China, then you still tax Walmart for selling the Chinese stuff anyway.
Toys may not be the best example. But, point is that the American companies here are bearing the extra costs and paying for US employees (which do and will cost more) and still getting money taken from them at the front end. Bottom line is that we need to reduce the direct costs of doing business in the United States. And generate revenue from all companies doing business here equally.
This should stimulate job growth (or at least help ease the out flow of jobs).
Remember, cheaper labor overseas isn't the only factor here. Rising fuel costs are going to significantly impact the costs of shipping htings from Asia to the US. So the time is now to give American companies the incentive to produce things here.
2. Domestic Economy. Don't like that the evil coporations that are just out for profit and growing the value of your 401k? Don't worry You're next. Bye, bye, INcome tax. (Yeah, raise the National Sales tax more). Of course, We're not gong to tax food, housing probably reduce tax on clothing and other "necessities." Sorry, Flat Screen Plasma TV's... still get taxed. So does most of the stupid extraneous [censored] that is made in China that you buy at Walmart. Though, don't worry too much about it, your paycheck just got bigger.
Things too expenseive now? I have an idea, save your money first.
Not only would this help everyone decide how and when to give the government their money. If we're going to have a consumption driven economy, we should have a consumption driven tax code.
3. Immigration. 3 Words. Guest Worker Permits. And, just so you don't think I'm all 'Pro Business" I'd require these permits to be taxed and sponsored by the entity that is using the workers. Minimum wage applies, obviously.
4. Healthcare and Social Security. Healthcare, I'm kind of unsure about, honestly. Considering all the changes above... in the short term, I'd consider leaving things as they are and see how things turn out. Social Security on the other hand, if it is to stay in place, needs to have the 'SS' tax divorced from the number of workers who are working now and revenue generated from the sales tax. Hopefully the increased money that goes directly to the pocket of the workforce will be some incentive to save for the future. (notice I never got rid of the capital gains tax, and there is a reason. If you really want to tax "the rich" there's a good place to do it. But, I think there should be, in addition to 401K a number of tax free vehicles for Americans to both reinvest in the economy and save for the future. Obviously capped as to amounts... details, details)
5. Energy and the Environment-- Well another tricky one. First, lets just get rid of carbon credits. Its a stupid idea, its just another tax that not everyone (globally) is subject to. Now, I'm sure someone has come up with this before... (Or there's a really bad idea here I haven't thought of). But, I think there needs to be "Charges" on emissions/carbon/inefficient energy uses. Of course it will be a bureacratic nightmare, but, hey All those IRS types I just put out of work will need jobs, so don't say I'm not being fair to them.
.
Now, the "Charges" (Wait for it) don't go to the government. They go into an account to be used later. (Let make it hurt a bit, the interest on the aco[censored], we'll give to the Feds... so we can make it a bit more, umm, urgent.) Now, the company/industry/utility/whatever can get their money back if they invest it in both a more energy efficient AND more eco friendly alternative to whatever the activity was that incurred the charge in the first place. For entities that do not/will not use the contributions in a certain time frame, that money would be used to subsidize the develpment of clean/more efficient power sources in conjunciton with energy companies.
This would encourage both efficiency and diversity (both keys to energy independence and marginalizing the importance of a whole bunch of 3rd world desert loons in the process) as well as reducing the stuff in the environment that many people think is bad.
6. Foreign Policy- Just a note. Most of the things above will actually impact many of our foreign policy relationships. But, we mus continue to invest in, and encourage the growth and stability of 3rd world economies and emerging markets. If we are going to revitalize the American economy and continue to be a leader, we'll need to establish markets for our goods and services. Global prosperity is the best keeper of the peace. This includes helping our Arab Friends to diversify their economies to not rely totally on oil exports for revenue to stabilize that region after the oil is gone or in less demand. Its not a zero sum game.
