Well, it's finally over...50+ years of great players on good teams, a few great teams, who just couldn't get over that last little hump. The San Francisco Giants are finally...the very best team in baseball. Bar none. A cast of incredible characters; good solid defensemen, some timely bats (NO Lazyboy recliners in the clubhouse), and a baby-face anchor behind the dish leading one of the very best top-to-bottom pitching staffs in the last 40 years (ALL under contract for at least another four years!) left no doubt. These boys are the real deal and will be around for many years to come...The Championship Parade begins at Washington and Montgomery at 11AM tomorrow, heads south to Market, then turns up towards City Hall, where Mayor Gavin Newsome will present the team with a key to the City. I'll be leaving for the festivities from the Pleasanton BART station around 9ish, so if you want to join me, meet me there...
Whiners beware...I have a few friends who simply refuse to give any teams other than their own the credit they deserve. At the end of the baseball season, one in particular provided constant FB posts were all about how the Braves were going to crush the Giants. Then after they manhandled the Braves and headed for Philly, it was "now you're going to face a real team", forgetting to acknowledge that his Cincinnati Reds were now couch-bound, having been swept three straight in the first round. During the entire NLCS, everytime a Philly passed gass, he was posting..."Yeah, now watch the Giants fold" and other such nonsense. Even last night, when a mutual friend posted "Now we've got a ring!", he posted "Yeah...1", as if to say, ONLY one, but look how many my team has. You just have to feel sorry for people who can't acknowledge accomplishment. Well, right now, and for the next year, MY San Francisco Giants ARE the best team going. Period...
From The 'Oh Yeah" Dept: In case it got lost among all the Championship hubub, today is Election Day. And those of you who visit the Lounge would probably call the paramedics if I didn't address this fact, so here are a few thoughts...
Ears Are Important Too...like many, I am so very tired of the staunch bickering, nay-saying, "I'm absolutely right / you're absolutely wrong" arguing. Debate is fine, disagreement is expected, even a little snarkiness every so often can be understood. But I believe the one biggest problem all of us, from the elected elites in D.C. to the milk men and accountants and everyday folk have is that we, almost by habit, refuse to listen to anyone who has a differing viewpoint. This continues, and we're all doomed...
Nostradamus Redux: It looks like Brown, Boxer, and McNerney will win. Porbably Pelosi too, although I'm holding out hope she gets rightfully bounced. I long ago accepted that most politicians are out for themselves, but she doesn't even hide it well and she wouldn't know well constructed law if it sucked all the Botox out of her forehead. Fortunately, if she does lose, she'll probably resign all-together, as her predecessors Hastert and Gingrich did, so that's an extra added bonus for voting against her. The Reid/Angle contest in Nevada is truly the hardest to call; not because it's close but because both candidates are so pitifully unqualified for the job, which is saying something since Hotel Harry has been the Senate Majority Leader for several years now. But while Reid is a straight partisan guy, which is exactly what every congressional district needs to get rid of, his opponent, Tea Party jack-wagon Sharron Angle is so woefully incompetent and unknowledgeable about anything past her soundbite talking points, she makes Sarah Palin look like a Stanfoo professor. God help us, every one...
The Final Countdown...there aer a couple of old, dear friends I have ben politically sparring with for the better part of six months, mostly through that nemesis of time management, Facebook. They are good Americans, who love their country and truly believe that their "just right of Atilla the Hun", Tea Party, anti-Government, hell-bent-for-leather political posturing is exactly what this country needs. And while I fully and vehemently support their rights to hold and express these opinions and would be the first person to stand beside them should anyone try to keep them from excercising these rights, the fact of the matter is that, people from either side of the political spectrum who, as they do, refuse to accept anything other than the complete annihilation of opposing viewpoints and policies, render themselves irrelevent and so, after long, arduous debate, I have decided to leave them to their dillusions.
That said, I would like to offer them a final note of reality, in the hope that it makes the inevitable a little easier to swallow...
The political game, be it in Sacratomato or Washington D.C., is past the point of no return. The job of the elected official in our country has de-evolved from one purpose (representing their constituents) to two (Getting elected and getting re-elected). The rest is all just window dressing. I do not offer this sad mea culpa as anything other than a precursor to what you will someday realize yourselves: Regardless of which party holds office, no matter what percentage of "professional politicians" get bounced to the curb today, even if the Dems were to lose control of both houses of Congress (not likely), nothing significant will change. For today's politicans are no longer made up with the intestinal fortitude of Washington, the "country before party" determination of Lincoln, or the "ask what you can do for your country" enthusiasm of Kennedy. Today, they are almost all born of the cloth of P.T. Barnum, believing there is a sucker born every minute.
And to follow blindly behind the rhetoric and chutzpah of the Karl Rovians of the Tea Party, just as those on the left drank every drop of the Obama kool-aid two years ago and let the solutions to the massive problems left us by the previous administration go unchecked, it will only further prove Mr. Barnum's point, and drive our nation further and further from where it began, all those many years ago.
Now...what's on YOUR mind?
Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Solution Stew - The U.S. Congress
THIS BEING HUMP DAY, I was looking for ingredients for this week's "Solution Stew"; a situation requiring a solution, preferrably one not connected with the federal government. Originally leaning towards offering my always stellar *cough* picks for the NCAA Tournament which begins on tomorrow, I was stopped in my tracks.
Yesterday afternoon, I read, sadly, that the Democratic Leadership, pushed to the brink by a non-cooperative, equally non-representative Republican House and Senate members, had delved into the depths of parlamentary procedure and discovered a way to pass the Healthcare Reform bill without even having to cast a vote. We'll get into the details in a moment, but for now let me say, as I have been saying to Republicans (at least the obstructionist buffoons among them) that the process is far more important than the outcome, and if all you can do is find little hidden tricks and subvertive measures to get things your way, then you should all be sumarily dismissed, replaced, and allow the Nation to continue as it was meant to.
OK...here's what happened. Some stories racing through the Internet have implied that there would not be a vote.
This is true in the sense that there would not be a DIRECT vote. But the health-care bill would be voted on INDIRECTLY, tucked into what's known as "the rule." The rule essentially outlines the rules for an upcoming vote -- in this case, it would be the vote on the package of reconciliation fixes.
By passing "the rule," the House also would "deem" the Senate bill passed (with a "hereby" statement. "We hereby deem..."). The House would then vote on the package of reconciliation fixes. But the Senate health-care bill would be considered passed even if they never vote on the reconciliation fixes.
The "rule" can be written several different ways to include passage of the Senate bill. Though no decisions have been made -- including whether or not the rule will be used -- there are two scenarios most often discussed, according to a Democratic aide knee-deep in the process.
Scenario No. 1: The Senate bill is deemed passed with the passage of the House Rule for debate. So once the House passed the rules for debating the reconciliation package, the Senate bill could immediately be sent to president for his signature.
Scenario No. 2: The Senate bill is deemed passed with the House's passage of the reconciliation bill. Since the vote on "the rule" happens before the vote on reconciliation, this would delay the bill being sent to Obama.
Under any scenario, the aide says, the bill must be signed by the president before the Senate takes up the reconciliation.
Now, there is a great deal more that could be said, a great many more points offered in support or opposition to this process. But for me, it ends here because the healthcare issue has now become secondary to what members of the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle have done, and continue to do, that would be far more harmful to our Nation than having to pay for the poor to receive access to adequate healthcare insurance.
Members of both parties are engaged, albeit for reasons they each believe righteous and good, in subverting not only the letter of the Constitution, but also the core principle on which this Republic was founded: honest, sincere representation of their constituency; the citizens of the United States of America.
And that is not something you mess with.
History
"Deem and Pass" has been used often and by both parties. Democrats point out that Republicans used it quite a bit in the 1990s for tax cuts for the wealthy and already profitable corporations, as well as for numerous lots of corporate welfare, a reduction of oversight for the financial sector, and little things like warrantless wiretaps and exemptions for certain companies to do business with countries like Iran, where such allowances were made a federal crime by the same Congress just months prior. In this Congress, Democrats used "Deem and Pass" for raising the debt ceiling, which was tucked into the PayGo bill. So both sides have played this card, and no one is blameless.
But once again, it is the incessant hunger for power, the inability to give and take for the good of all, and the unfortunate need of those in power to acquiesce to those interests who can and will fund their next campaigns, that has led us to the point where our representative government, of either fashion or flavor, in reality, no longer exists.
Yes, this country desperately needs and should be wholly embarassed for not having an optimal healthcare system that is accessible to every one of its citizens.
Yes, the elected officials who have been saddled with the daunting task of finding a way, the best way, to make this a reality have some tough decisions to make and yes, some of those decisions will put their congressional seats in jeopardy, because they will not be popular.
So what?
As per the Constitution, those representatives are required, by law, to represent the people in their Districts or States and vote in the light of what is in the best interests of ALL whom they represent.
Not just of those who agree with them.
Not just those who will vote for them in the next election.
Not just those who will donate funds for their next election.
And certainly NOT for their party.
The solution? It's a two parter, and quite simple really...
First: Each one of you reading this, pass it on to everyone you know. And as soon as you do that, send a letter to your Congressperson and to your Senators and explain to them what you believe is the right thing to do. Explain to them that you are embarassed by the manner in which their body has performed (or not) thus far and regardless of what the eventual outcome on this issue is, that if you see one hint of further political subterfuge and games being played and that if they do not start acting honorably, in the manner of our Founding Fathers, that come the next time their name is on the ballot, they will not receive your vote.
Second: Follow through. Regardless of how this ends up, if your elected representatives don't pull their collective heads out and start acting with the proper intent and motivation, they should become 535 added to the millions of unemployed they helped create the next time election day rolls around.
Oh and by the way...if you don't follow this procedure, or in some way let your elected officials know they are going to be held accountable for their actions...then please, and with all due respect...sit down and shut up.
Because this is no longer about healthcare reform, or about progressive vs. conservative.
This has now become about the preservation and sanctity of the foundation of our nation. This is about protecting that one unique element that makes America...well, America. This is now about maintaining a representative form of government, where We The People actually means something.
And if you're going to be silent now, you have no right to complain later.
Yesterday afternoon, I read, sadly, that the Democratic Leadership, pushed to the brink by a non-cooperative, equally non-representative Republican House and Senate members, had delved into the depths of parlamentary procedure and discovered a way to pass the Healthcare Reform bill without even having to cast a vote. We'll get into the details in a moment, but for now let me say, as I have been saying to Republicans (at least the obstructionist buffoons among them) that the process is far more important than the outcome, and if all you can do is find little hidden tricks and subvertive measures to get things your way, then you should all be sumarily dismissed, replaced, and allow the Nation to continue as it was meant to.
OK...here's what happened. Some stories racing through the Internet have implied that there would not be a vote.
This is true in the sense that there would not be a DIRECT vote. But the health-care bill would be voted on INDIRECTLY, tucked into what's known as "the rule." The rule essentially outlines the rules for an upcoming vote -- in this case, it would be the vote on the package of reconciliation fixes.
By passing "the rule," the House also would "deem" the Senate bill passed (with a "hereby" statement. "We hereby deem..."). The House would then vote on the package of reconciliation fixes. But the Senate health-care bill would be considered passed even if they never vote on the reconciliation fixes.
The "rule" can be written several different ways to include passage of the Senate bill. Though no decisions have been made -- including whether or not the rule will be used -- there are two scenarios most often discussed, according to a Democratic aide knee-deep in the process.
Scenario No. 1: The Senate bill is deemed passed with the passage of the House Rule for debate. So once the House passed the rules for debating the reconciliation package, the Senate bill could immediately be sent to president for his signature.
Scenario No. 2: The Senate bill is deemed passed with the House's passage of the reconciliation bill. Since the vote on "the rule" happens before the vote on reconciliation, this would delay the bill being sent to Obama.
Under any scenario, the aide says, the bill must be signed by the president before the Senate takes up the reconciliation.
Now, there is a great deal more that could be said, a great many more points offered in support or opposition to this process. But for me, it ends here because the healthcare issue has now become secondary to what members of the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle have done, and continue to do, that would be far more harmful to our Nation than having to pay for the poor to receive access to adequate healthcare insurance.
Members of both parties are engaged, albeit for reasons they each believe righteous and good, in subverting not only the letter of the Constitution, but also the core principle on which this Republic was founded: honest, sincere representation of their constituency; the citizens of the United States of America.
And that is not something you mess with.
History
"Deem and Pass" has been used often and by both parties. Democrats point out that Republicans used it quite a bit in the 1990s for tax cuts for the wealthy and already profitable corporations, as well as for numerous lots of corporate welfare, a reduction of oversight for the financial sector, and little things like warrantless wiretaps and exemptions for certain companies to do business with countries like Iran, where such allowances were made a federal crime by the same Congress just months prior. In this Congress, Democrats used "Deem and Pass" for raising the debt ceiling, which was tucked into the PayGo bill. So both sides have played this card, and no one is blameless.
But once again, it is the incessant hunger for power, the inability to give and take for the good of all, and the unfortunate need of those in power to acquiesce to those interests who can and will fund their next campaigns, that has led us to the point where our representative government, of either fashion or flavor, in reality, no longer exists.
Yes, this country desperately needs and should be wholly embarassed for not having an optimal healthcare system that is accessible to every one of its citizens.
Yes, the elected officials who have been saddled with the daunting task of finding a way, the best way, to make this a reality have some tough decisions to make and yes, some of those decisions will put their congressional seats in jeopardy, because they will not be popular.
So what?
As per the Constitution, those representatives are required, by law, to represent the people in their Districts or States and vote in the light of what is in the best interests of ALL whom they represent.
Not just of those who agree with them.
Not just those who will vote for them in the next election.
Not just those who will donate funds for their next election.
And certainly NOT for their party.
The solution? It's a two parter, and quite simple really...
First: Each one of you reading this, pass it on to everyone you know. And as soon as you do that, send a letter to your Congressperson and to your Senators and explain to them what you believe is the right thing to do. Explain to them that you are embarassed by the manner in which their body has performed (or not) thus far and regardless of what the eventual outcome on this issue is, that if you see one hint of further political subterfuge and games being played and that if they do not start acting honorably, in the manner of our Founding Fathers, that come the next time their name is on the ballot, they will not receive your vote.
Second: Follow through. Regardless of how this ends up, if your elected representatives don't pull their collective heads out and start acting with the proper intent and motivation, they should become 535 added to the millions of unemployed they helped create the next time election day rolls around.
Oh and by the way...if you don't follow this procedure, or in some way let your elected officials know they are going to be held accountable for their actions...then please, and with all due respect...sit down and shut up.
Because this is no longer about healthcare reform, or about progressive vs. conservative.
This has now become about the preservation and sanctity of the foundation of our nation. This is about protecting that one unique element that makes America...well, America. This is now about maintaining a representative form of government, where We The People actually means something.
And if you're going to be silent now, you have no right to complain later.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Solution Stew: The Federal Government
HUMP DAY: Middle of the week. The Center.
I have long believed the main reason the nabobs in WADC can't get anything accomplished is because the nut jobs (the 10% at either end of the spectrum) are yelling so loudly, no one can hear the semi-sensible 80% in the middle, including themselves. So, beginning today, the menu for Hump Day at The Lounge will be Solution Stew. We'll take a single topic for which there is a current disagreement, and we'll solve it. Your comments at the bottom of every column are, of course, more than welcome.
Today's topic: The Federal Government
"WOW!", you say to yourself as you read this. "Either this guy is an absolute genius for being able to correct the inefficiency and incompetence of the Federal Government, or a blithering idiot for believing he can".
While I am quite certain you'll find more people who believe the latter rather than the former, if we look at the actual cause of the problems in Washington, the answer is really quite simple. I took the "Backwards Approach", defining the problem, and then taking the logical steps backwards to where I wanted to end up.
The problems stem from the quite understandable desire of those interested in serving in elected office to be re-elected. This desire, combined with the high level of competitiveness for these relatively few positions, leads to an increase in the effort and thereby the resources (read: money) that are necessary to attain victory on election day.
Being that money does not grow on trees, persons wishing to win said election need to raise necessary financial resources, and therefore look at what they have that would be of value to those who can provide it. The answer: Should these candidates be victorious and attain a seat in either house of Congress or the Oval Office, they would then be in a position to vote for or support legislation that would be looked upon favorably by those heavy ticket contributors.
This has completely changed the dynamic of our political sysytem as it was meant to be. The individual is no longer a "representative", but a "politician", and the priority for the politician is no longer about representing the constituents of their district, state or nation, but rather about getting elected (or re-elected). The decisions they make, the votes they cast, and the laws they sign or veto are now at the behest of those individuals, organizations and large corporate interests who can help insure their continued stay in washington, instead of the electorate, and now you have the mess that currently exists.
So, how do we fix it?
Well, if the problem is created by the financial influence of the special interests, then that is what needs to be eliminated.
So the question now becomes: "How can the electoral process be financed so that these special interests have no influence?"
The answer is to make the electorate the only special interest. In other words, if "the people" fund the elections, then that is who the repesentatives will be beholden to.
So the question now becomes: "How can the people (the government) afford to finance the elections?"
To find that answer we need to ask one other: "Where do the government's funds that would be used for such a purpose come from?"
The answer of course is, from the individual and corporate taxes we pay.
"Oh!", but you say, "we're already paying too much in taxes, we can't aford any more and we certainly can't afford to put our nation deeper in debt. How do we do it?"
This is the easy part. And you'll be amazed to find the answer is to actually lower the tax rates on virtually all Americans and corporate interests. Now I can hear those of oyu on th efar left already screaming about "Trickle Down" and taking food from the plates of the poor. Relax, nothing could be further fromthe truth. And here's why...
In 2007, presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign did a massive study on what the effects of a flat tax system. The study found that the current Federal Tax Code was made up of nearly 80% of exemptions, set-asides, deferments, and deductions for a very small number of qualifying citizens or corporate entities. The results of this study, that the federal government would be much more financially solvent were they to elinimate these special interest deductions and simply lower everyone's taxes to a set, flat rate, were corroborated a year later when Mobil/Exxon posted 92 BILLION dollars in PROFITS for fiscal year 2008 however, because of the more than 3,400 pages devoted specifically to corporatins of which they were the only one fully qualified to take advantage of them, paid less than 112 million dollars if federal income tax in that same fiscal year.
Paul's idea in theory was brilliant, however being that he was running for office, the proposal was skewed just enough to hopefully attract voters, but also to make it wholly ineffective. Now, using Paul's research, I have devised the following Flat Tax Program:
1. Eliminate ALL individual and corporate tax incentives, deductions, set-asides, deferments and exemptions and reduce the Federal Income Tax Rate to 15%. This will now include ALL business done, world wide, by any business or corporation based in the United States. If those businesses choose to relocate outside the US, there will be a 22% tarriff on all goods and service transactions here in the US.
Small businesses (those with less than 100 employees and or a profit of less than $1 million), will have a FITR of $12%.
Individuals earning between $14,000 and $19,500 will have an FTR of 10%, with those earning between $9,500 and $13,999 will have an FTR of 5%.
Those earning less than $9,500 will be exempt from Federal Income Tax. Social Security, pensions, and 401k will also be exempt from taxation.
With regards to inheritance taxation, liquid assets (cash, stocks, bonds, real property, and saleable goods will be taxed at a rate of 10%, with non-durable goods (transportations, machinery, etc.) will only be taxed at the time of any future sale of the asset by the assignee.
Capital Gains tax will also be reduced to a flat 15%.
By making the stated tax burden for everyone the actual tax burden for everyone, and by eliminating the tax advantages for the privelaged few, conservatives will be getting what they have been clamoring for, for as long as anyone can remember...a fair and equal taxation system. Progressives will in turn, be getting what they have been shouting about for just as long, profitable corporations to pay their fair share.
What the American people will receive from this is the following:
1. Funding to rebuild or update EVERY public elementary, middle and high school as well as to provide states with subsidies to start ALL public school teachers at 100K per year, with raises (and job security) to be based on performance. Tenure no longer exists.
2. Funding for research into alternative fuels and 100mgp hybrid engines.
3. Permanent solvency for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid as well as a government funded universal healthcare coverage for those who can not afford coverage themselves. The universal "public option" will create a "real" competition in the insurance market, causing ALL insurance rates to drop and with the drop in lower and middle class FITR's, evryone should be able to afford their own coverage, thereby reducing the financial burden to the government.
4. Funding for transportation and utility infrastructure, those jobs helping to thereby decrease the unemployment rolls and welfare entitlements AND increase governmental revenue.
5. Increase funding for local, state and federal law enforcement as well as to our military and border patrol efforts.
6. And most important, full funding for all congressional, senatorial and presidential elections, thereby returning the jobs of our elected officials to be as they were always intended, to repersent the electorate.
The only real downside to this is the temporary increase by 65,000 to the unemployment rolls, as the lobbyists onK Street will now be out of work.
Now for the bad news.
This will never happen, because it does not benefit one very small group of American citizens.
The American Politician.
Were this to come to fruition, there would be no more tax payer funded flights for officials and their families to exciting, overseas locales, where they have no business in teh first place; no "junkets" to the golf courses and resorts on the islands while they research the rising tides and their effect on the economy of Jakarta; no more African safaris to help determine the need for protection of the three-toes sloth.
If the blowhards in the Tea Party want to make a difference, do this. If the American people want to get their government back and see the American dream truly be a reality accessible to ALL its citizens, here's your answer.
Continuing to vote for the next politician who tells you what you want to hear and expecting his or her fairy tales to come true...that will just make YOU the punchline at the next Georgetown cocktail party.
Note: We are grateful for the many, MANY e-mails we have received on this new blog. However, we would greatly appreciate if you would add your comments or questions to the "Comments" section at the bottom of each day's postings and if you would encourage others, through your FB or MySpace or your personal e-mail list, to join, visit, and participate. The more the merrier...
and the next round is on us.
I have long believed the main reason the nabobs in WADC can't get anything accomplished is because the nut jobs (the 10% at either end of the spectrum) are yelling so loudly, no one can hear the semi-sensible 80% in the middle, including themselves. So, beginning today, the menu for Hump Day at The Lounge will be Solution Stew. We'll take a single topic for which there is a current disagreement, and we'll solve it. Your comments at the bottom of every column are, of course, more than welcome.
Today's topic: The Federal Government
"WOW!", you say to yourself as you read this. "Either this guy is an absolute genius for being able to correct the inefficiency and incompetence of the Federal Government, or a blithering idiot for believing he can".
While I am quite certain you'll find more people who believe the latter rather than the former, if we look at the actual cause of the problems in Washington, the answer is really quite simple. I took the "Backwards Approach", defining the problem, and then taking the logical steps backwards to where I wanted to end up.
The problems stem from the quite understandable desire of those interested in serving in elected office to be re-elected. This desire, combined with the high level of competitiveness for these relatively few positions, leads to an increase in the effort and thereby the resources (read: money) that are necessary to attain victory on election day.
Being that money does not grow on trees, persons wishing to win said election need to raise necessary financial resources, and therefore look at what they have that would be of value to those who can provide it. The answer: Should these candidates be victorious and attain a seat in either house of Congress or the Oval Office, they would then be in a position to vote for or support legislation that would be looked upon favorably by those heavy ticket contributors.
This has completely changed the dynamic of our political sysytem as it was meant to be. The individual is no longer a "representative", but a "politician", and the priority for the politician is no longer about representing the constituents of their district, state or nation, but rather about getting elected (or re-elected). The decisions they make, the votes they cast, and the laws they sign or veto are now at the behest of those individuals, organizations and large corporate interests who can help insure their continued stay in washington, instead of the electorate, and now you have the mess that currently exists.
So, how do we fix it?
Well, if the problem is created by the financial influence of the special interests, then that is what needs to be eliminated.
So the question now becomes: "How can the electoral process be financed so that these special interests have no influence?"
The answer is to make the electorate the only special interest. In other words, if "the people" fund the elections, then that is who the repesentatives will be beholden to.
So the question now becomes: "How can the people (the government) afford to finance the elections?"
To find that answer we need to ask one other: "Where do the government's funds that would be used for such a purpose come from?"
The answer of course is, from the individual and corporate taxes we pay.
"Oh!", but you say, "we're already paying too much in taxes, we can't aford any more and we certainly can't afford to put our nation deeper in debt. How do we do it?"
This is the easy part. And you'll be amazed to find the answer is to actually lower the tax rates on virtually all Americans and corporate interests. Now I can hear those of oyu on th efar left already screaming about "Trickle Down" and taking food from the plates of the poor. Relax, nothing could be further fromthe truth. And here's why...
In 2007, presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign did a massive study on what the effects of a flat tax system. The study found that the current Federal Tax Code was made up of nearly 80% of exemptions, set-asides, deferments, and deductions for a very small number of qualifying citizens or corporate entities. The results of this study, that the federal government would be much more financially solvent were they to elinimate these special interest deductions and simply lower everyone's taxes to a set, flat rate, were corroborated a year later when Mobil/Exxon posted 92 BILLION dollars in PROFITS for fiscal year 2008 however, because of the more than 3,400 pages devoted specifically to corporatins of which they were the only one fully qualified to take advantage of them, paid less than 112 million dollars if federal income tax in that same fiscal year.
Paul's idea in theory was brilliant, however being that he was running for office, the proposal was skewed just enough to hopefully attract voters, but also to make it wholly ineffective. Now, using Paul's research, I have devised the following Flat Tax Program:
1. Eliminate ALL individual and corporate tax incentives, deductions, set-asides, deferments and exemptions and reduce the Federal Income Tax Rate to 15%. This will now include ALL business done, world wide, by any business or corporation based in the United States. If those businesses choose to relocate outside the US, there will be a 22% tarriff on all goods and service transactions here in the US.
Small businesses (those with less than 100 employees and or a profit of less than $1 million), will have a FITR of $12%.
Individuals earning between $14,000 and $19,500 will have an FTR of 10%, with those earning between $9,500 and $13,999 will have an FTR of 5%.
Those earning less than $9,500 will be exempt from Federal Income Tax. Social Security, pensions, and 401k will also be exempt from taxation.
With regards to inheritance taxation, liquid assets (cash, stocks, bonds, real property, and saleable goods will be taxed at a rate of 10%, with non-durable goods (transportations, machinery, etc.) will only be taxed at the time of any future sale of the asset by the assignee.
Capital Gains tax will also be reduced to a flat 15%.
By making the stated tax burden for everyone the actual tax burden for everyone, and by eliminating the tax advantages for the privelaged few, conservatives will be getting what they have been clamoring for, for as long as anyone can remember...a fair and equal taxation system. Progressives will in turn, be getting what they have been shouting about for just as long, profitable corporations to pay their fair share.
What the American people will receive from this is the following:
1. Funding to rebuild or update EVERY public elementary, middle and high school as well as to provide states with subsidies to start ALL public school teachers at 100K per year, with raises (and job security) to be based on performance. Tenure no longer exists.
2. Funding for research into alternative fuels and 100mgp hybrid engines.
3. Permanent solvency for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid as well as a government funded universal healthcare coverage for those who can not afford coverage themselves. The universal "public option" will create a "real" competition in the insurance market, causing ALL insurance rates to drop and with the drop in lower and middle class FITR's, evryone should be able to afford their own coverage, thereby reducing the financial burden to the government.
4. Funding for transportation and utility infrastructure, those jobs helping to thereby decrease the unemployment rolls and welfare entitlements AND increase governmental revenue.
5. Increase funding for local, state and federal law enforcement as well as to our military and border patrol efforts.
6. And most important, full funding for all congressional, senatorial and presidential elections, thereby returning the jobs of our elected officials to be as they were always intended, to repersent the electorate.
The only real downside to this is the temporary increase by 65,000 to the unemployment rolls, as the lobbyists onK Street will now be out of work.
Now for the bad news.
This will never happen, because it does not benefit one very small group of American citizens.
The American Politician.
Were this to come to fruition, there would be no more tax payer funded flights for officials and their families to exciting, overseas locales, where they have no business in teh first place; no "junkets" to the golf courses and resorts on the islands while they research the rising tides and their effect on the economy of Jakarta; no more African safaris to help determine the need for protection of the three-toes sloth.
If the blowhards in the Tea Party want to make a difference, do this. If the American people want to get their government back and see the American dream truly be a reality accessible to ALL its citizens, here's your answer.
Continuing to vote for the next politician who tells you what you want to hear and expecting his or her fairy tales to come true...that will just make YOU the punchline at the next Georgetown cocktail party.
Note: We are grateful for the many, MANY e-mails we have received on this new blog. However, we would greatly appreciate if you would add your comments or questions to the "Comments" section at the bottom of each day's postings and if you would encourage others, through your FB or MySpace or your personal e-mail list, to join, visit, and participate. The more the merrier...
and the next round is on us.
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