Forum Post: How 'Bout This?

Close off corporate donations from poltics, outlaw PACS, institute federal funding of elections with to-be-agreed minimum thresholds for inclusion.

Get some really smart s.o.b.'s to write regulations that ensure that the financial industry can never bring America to its knees again.

At the same time, America must realize that every American does not deserve, and in a lot of cases, cannot afford to own their own home. Keep lending underwriting strict, government doesn't get involved in pushing home ownership.

Make it in America Act- incentivize private sector through whatever means necessary to establish factories in America, with the highest incentives going to those industries with the highest paying jobs (lower paying ones still get incentives as well, but incentivize to encourage good paying jobs). Get rid of traditional union structure because it eventually leads to the companies moving overseas again, however, align worker and company goals and risk/profit sharing.

Lower corporate taxes, close loopholes, and institute fair and progressive tax structure where every citizen pays something (say 2% at the lowest end), and maybe up to 50% on anything over $25 million.

Establish a dedicated Pay Off the National Debt program with an electronic banner (like in Times Square) in every major city in America showing a running total. This could be a huge psychological and patriotic thing. Americans can voluntarily give to reduce this debt and watch the numbers start dwindling. And being a dedicated fund rather than a tax stream, it can't be wasted by the government, which is one of the primary arguments conservatives have about giving tax dollars to the government that supposedly are to pay for one thing, but end up getting spent on another (like SS) or wasted.

Put caps on college tuition costs. We realize that buildings and professors are not free, but $30k/year to send one kid to school? Get real. We might as well be playing Monopoly.

Severely curtail foreign military involvement and spend majority of military dollars for defensive and intelligence gathering purposes. Don't need any shiny new toys at the moment. No one is going to be stupid enough to invade the U.S. We still have thousands of nukes to deter any that would be so inclined. We can easily lop off 20% of military expenditures.

Realize that Social Security trust fund is not there. We have too many old people and not enough young people. Something is going to give. Raise the cap for collections by 50%, and gradually raise the age by a year or two over the next 40 years or so.

Healthcare- A toughie. Only thing that seems obvious is that drug prices should be negotiated, they are ridiculous, even for the cost involved in producing the drug. The bottom line is that healthcare is priced at a level that most individual americans cannot afford. You can't afford the drugs, the tests, the surgery, or the hospital stay. So, the government, the insurance companies, the doctors, and the drug companies play a game to see which of them is going to take the hit on paying for it when someone gets sick. So, either the cost of the drugs and services are going to have to come down, we're going to have to institute a separate health care tax (which will just start increasing) but realize that no everyone is going to get that transplant when they need it, or we're going to have to stay with the insurance system and try and cobble together a fund to subsidize people who can't afford the premiums. I prefer the first one, but somehow I don't think it's going to happen. Your thoughts are welcome.

Cut Expenses- Institute a balanced budget amendment with carve-outs in the case of emergencies like natural disasters. There are entire departments in the national government that are really just bureaucratic red tape dispensaries. We have a $1.5 trillion ANNUAL deficit in spending versus income. We're not going to double income taxes (nor should we), so obviously we need to stop spending so much. I've outlined reduced spending on military, a bit of new tax revenue, lower corporate taxes and incentivizing manufacturing concerns which will grow the pie and gain more tax revenue. I've also tweaked social security a bit to provide a bit more income. With the war tax below, we shouldn't have to worry about new, large debt burdens being placed on the people, or at least not without our consent. But the only way to control the pols in Washington is to place handcuffs on them, real tight.

Institute Mandatory War Tax- anytime the president of congress wants to institute new military action around the world, they have to budget for it, and be willing to send a bill directly to the taxpayers for it. This should curb their appetite, or at least be really, really sure of what they are proposing.