And that would just be the start
Without a doubt, one of the most frustrating things about living in this demented timeline is the knowledge that there are many straightforward solutions to our American “problems” that we refuse to implement. We do not do so not because they will not work, but because they do. We are too uninformed as a population to do so. Or rather, more correctly, the rich oligarchs who now run things in our society can’t be bothered to do what’s right because of their insatiable greed.
But make no mistake, there ARE solutions. I’ve lived in seven different countries, and I’ve seen many of these solutions in action. They are not just theory. The US ranks last out of the seven countries I have lived in, in all metrics: quality of life, security and safety, public transportation, and many other areas.
We don’t have to live this way. We choose to live this way because, fundamentally, Americans are selfish.
So today, I’m going to play, “If I were king for a day.” Here are the 25 things I would wave my magic wand and impose upon this nation. In this post, I will list them for brevity’s sake. My next post will explain why they are needed.
Taxes:
- I would lift the cap on income on the Social Security Payroll tax. All income would be taxed for Social Security. The maximum benefit from social security would remain the same, however.
- Add a 0.5% Social Security surcharge on Capital Gains transactions for individuals making over a certain threshold (e.g., $500,000). This is designed to ensure that rich slime like Elon Musk, who are paid in stock, contribute to their nation’s social safety net.
- Repeal the Trump Tax cuts of 2017 in their entirety. Corporate tax rates would increase, with an important caveat — companies that provide health insurance to all their employees would receive a break on corporate taxes. ( The health insurance would have to meet the minimum requirements of the ACA).
- Impose a 2 percent wealth tax on all individual or household net worth above $100 million (the exemption threshold).
- In the long term, after a thorough investigation and study, revise the federal income tax system along the lines proposed under the Simpson-Bowles plan. Eliminate most deductions and reduce the overall marginal tax rates for all tax brackets while still maintaining a progressive tax structure. New Marginal tax rates would be 10%, 18%, 28%, and 35%. Corporate Tax rates would be 28% and 21% for those providing approved health insurance plans. Lower marginal rates would still have higher revenue through the elimination of deductions.
- Increase the gas tax by 15 cents per gallon to cover the necessary transportation infrastructure improvements.
- Maintain the estate tax and lower the threshold a bit.
8. Keep the child tax credit and earned income tax credit.
Healthcare:
There are two ways to go into Healthcare:
9A — Medicare for All. This would mean that Medicare taxes would have to be adjusted, since people are now paying for Medicare services throughout their working lives. The devil is in the details, but MEDICARE premiums would go up, but this would be offset by the fact that it generally would be a better deal than most of the health insurance premiums you now pay. ( And would no longer have to pay) The net effect is that you have more money in your pocket. Healthcare organizations would have no choice but to accept Medicare. And the government would negotiate and set drug prices and medical prices for providers.
9B. Preserve private insurance — but strengthen the ACA and undo all of the trickery the GOP has done to fuck up the ACA. The difference in my plan is that there would also be a “public option” that people could opt into. Small businesses could be offered the opportunity to participate in the public option or provide their own private insurance, provided it meets the required standards. ALL businesses would HAVE to provide health insurance to their employees. There would be severe penalties for companies that try to cheat. ( This would obviate the tax caveat above.) Perhaps we could adopt a tiered system, similar to Germany’s, where insurance companies are prohibited from generating a profit on the basic tier and everyone is required to participate.
Personally, I like the Medicare for All insurance approach and putting health insurance companies out of business. Doctors would hate it, of course, but they would still be well paid, just not AS well paid.
TRANSPORTATION
10 Improve our national rail system. Develop over ten years of high-speed rail focused on corridors where it could do real good. For example, the improvements could begin with a corridor running from Louisville to Mobile, passing through Nashville, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. Do one out west running from Wyoming south to Albuquerque.
Others would be along current AMTRAK routes from DC to Florida.
Keep and strengthen AMTRAK. Divide the big company into up to three regional semi-public companies. Focus on corridors and feeder lines to the corridors. Really work to incentivize rail travel for short-haul travel.
11. Upgrade our Air Traffic Control system, but not along the way that Elon Musk wants.
12. Utilize additional revenue to improve the interstate road systems, but consider adopting a model similar to Japan’s, which features more toll sections. The goal is to reduce the usage of automobiles.
13. Enhance public transit in metropolitan areas in collaboration with the state and local cities. They won’t have the option to say no.
14. Enhance infrastructure to support electric vehicles (EVs). Big oil will get on board or be pushed aside. Reduce fossil fuel usage.
Energy and environment.
15. “Drill baby drill” dies the death it deserves. More solar, wind, and other renewable energy. There is a middle ground where oil usage can be balanced, but climate change is real and must be addressed.
16. Preserve those lands that need to be preserved.
17. Acknowledge that we are late to the game in addressing climate change and pursue proposals that make sense. Take all of Trump’s ideas and trash them.
Education
18. National Education standards are the same in all the states and territories. Increase teacher salaries.
19. All states need to allocate more funding to their state universities, and the tuition at public universities should be either free or nearly free. Put the student loan apparatus out of business by making public university education genuinely accessible and affordable. Establish a national apprenticeship program for the trades and make it a viable alternative to traditional college education.
20. NO VOUCHERS for private schools. If you want to send your kid to a religious or private school, pay for it yourself. You still have to pay property taxes for public schools.
Defense and Homeland Security
21. Abolish DHS. Get rid of it. Return agencies to the departments from which they originated.
22 Reform ICE and remove the thugs.
23. Implement comprehensive immigration reform with significantly higher legal quotas, a guest worker program, and a coordination center that collaborates with charities to facilitate the relocation of individuals throughout the states. Increase immigration judges and border patrol, and target driving immigration flows to entry points.
(Put Stephen Miller on a raft in the middle of the ocean)
24. Put Space Force back in the Air Force.4
25. Reform DoD ( this is 25 items itself, but a key factor is flattening our chain of command and reducing grade inflation. Fewer flag officers.)
And that’s just the start. But all of the things listed above would make for a better country than the one we have now. More details in the next post.