Forum Post: Suggestions for Change
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 4, 2011, 3:20 a.m. EST by songteller
(3)
from Toronto, ON
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I love this movement. This is exactly what the US has needed since I was born, and finally it's happening. So here's some of my contribution, the changes I've wanted to see for a long time, in order to break down corporate control of the US:
1) Make it impossible for corporations to be defined as people under the law. This removes their ability to lobby, to donate to politicians or political partners, right to habeus corpus, etc.
2) Tax the wealthy (the top 1%) to the tune of 50% or more of their income, with extremely heavy capital gains taxes. This removes their ability to use money to heavily influence government even if they find loopholes that let them donate.
3) Bring back heavy estate taxes on large estates. This helps to break down the increasing development of a wealthy American aristocracy.
4) Outlaw lobbyists.
5) Heavily regulate companies, and increase regulatory fines to levels where those who commit illegal acts like knowingly polluting waterways or releasing killer pharmaceuticals will be charged 200% or more of the profit they could make on these acts rather than a paltry 10% or less.
6) Break up corporate conglomerates. Particularly, make it illegal for any corporation to own a media company. Corporate control over the media is an enormous danger, as should be obvious by how little media attention these protests have been getting in the US.
7) Do not allow any member of the board of directors of one major corporation to also be a member of the board of directors for any other major corporation as well.
Just suggestions. I hope they help.
Yours in Solidarity,
Richard Baldwin
http://visionofsolutions.blogspot.com/
I like all of these proposals. I would add though that for the 99% to be truly successful in reforming the government the government must be more accountable to the people. We do this by making the government more democratic. This is difficult because our system of government is highly anti-democratic in that the senate, house, and president all need to agree for reform to move forward. When one of those parties is controlled by radical anti-government extremists (like the current house) everything goes to hell. Eliminating the filibuster and other absurd Senate roadblocks is a small step in the right direction. We also need a president who will stand up to Republican bullshit.
We should try to get the money out of politics, but this is difficult in the short term and extremely difficult in the long term (money will find a way). But there are other ways of making government more democratic.
Not really related, but everyone should know that the Fed could massively improve the US economic situation if they started fighting unemployment hard and stopped worrying about non-existent inflation.
1) that is a Supreme Court decision. Do you understand what it takes to reverse that??? (hint: constitutional amendment) 2) Don't expect entrepreneurs to risk their capital and time creating small (or large) businesses if most of what they make will be taken by the govt to fund wasteful spending. (Hint: they are the ones who create jobs) 3) This is too nebulous to comment on 4) agree 5) Okay, sounds good but understand that those regulations will increase the unemployment rate. (If you don't understand why, then you need to learn why) 6) Agree 7) Agree
Why not keep it simple and productive? Can we start with getting money out of politics and breaking the back of a corrupt system?
1) Yes, a Constitutional Amendment is needed. Sometimes they are. 2) Entrepreneurs (most of whom are not in the top 1%, so wouldn't be affected) will for sure risk capital and time creating small or large businesses. They risked this back when the tax rates I'm talking about applied to many more than the wealthiest 1% of Americans. They do today, in Hong Kong, where the tax rates for the wealthiest are even more extreme. 3) Low estate taxes on the very wealthy mean the very wealthy can pass on most of that money to their children when they die, creating a "natural" aristocracy. High estate taxes remove this risk. 5) Increased regulations in fact often increase jobs. If nothing else, they increase the number of jobs for regulators. As for higher fines . . . this will discourage companies from some choices, which may cut jobs. I'd rather see people out of work than in jobs that involve killing for profit.
It would be wonderful if the productive answer was to keep things simple, but to get money out of politics and break the back of the corrupt system is a complex task because the money comes in to politics in a number of different ways. Any productive response has to cover the bases, and there are at least as many bases as I brought up in my post.
You are one of the smartest people on this site.
Thanks!
Stop the 1% from controlling the fourth estate. CNN is kicking the American public while they're down. We are pro 99%.
Let's BLACKOUT CNN! Turn the channel off. Give a chance for smaller stations, publications, online media to tell the real stories without bias.
BLACKOUT CNN!