We are being given to understand that our country is facing some problems that can not be solved, at least easily. We have a housing foreclosure crisis with millions of homes affected. We have a deficit of one trillion dollars a year with a cumulative total approaching $16 trillion. We face bankruptcy in Social Security and Medicare within the next 30 years. We have an unemployment rate of close to 8%, almost twice normal. We have had troops in Afghanistan for more than a decade and can’t leave until the people are able to run their own country. We have a tax code that everyone agrees is too complex and unfair with half of the taxpayers paying nothing at all in federal or state income tax and the rich paying at very low rates. Our government is too large trying to do too much for too many. We have at least 12 million families of illegal immigrants needing jobs and government services. We have one party whose members are at war with members of the other doing what they can to see the President fail. We have elections that are being bought by unidentified influence peddlers.
What can be done?
We can dramatically reduce foreclosures by getting lending banks to allow families facing foreclosure to pay only the current interest rate (around 3.5%) on their current balance until ready to assume full payments again or sell their home without a great loss.
Our deficit can be significantly reduced by doing the following:
We could close many of our foreign military bases and aid. The money, tens of billions of dollars, we spend there stays there instead of circulating here. We are also less likely to go to war and not as prone to offending our hosts, if our foreign military footprint were reduced significantly.We can begin to immediately withdraw from Afghanistan and curtail our foreign aid to them. We could review all of the $51 billion we spend on foreign aid giving only where it will be put to best use and for only a short term.
We could reduce fraud and waste in government agencies. We could review each federal program to see if any can be eliminated, reduced or combined with similar ones, especially in national defense and regulatory agencies. We should revise the tax code to generate at least $200 billion more a year with the top 2% paying for half the increase. We could stop producing the penny and nickel both cost more to produce than they are worth. We could end our unsuccessful war on drugs, especially marijuana which is less harmful and more beneficial than are alcohol, tobacco or even coffee, all of which are legal. This would save billions a year.
There is much we can do to save Social Security and Medicare. First, we can raise the FICA payment from 7.65% of the first $110,000 of earned income paid by the employer and the employee, to 8% or as much as 10% from both for earnings up to $250,000. This would add significantly to the trust funds for both and help make current payments. The retirement age could also be raised slightly over time - we are living longer and healthier. Medicare costs could be reduced by focusing on the small percent of people using the majority of medical services. It is claimed that 5% use 50% of services while 10% use two thirds of it. Who are they and how best could they be served? Are some costing money while being kept alive artificially? Are patients too old or sick being treated as though they would recover when it is clear that they won’t? Can the cases of cancer and heart disease be identified and dealt with before they become expensive or life threatening? Can we reduce obesity, smoking, drug and alcohol abuse as well as stress in our culture?
We have an unemployment rate that is twice as high as normal with about 13 million people unemployed. At the same time we have millions of American jobs performed in other countries like India, China and Pakistan. We have another eight million American jobs currently held by document-free workers here from other lands. We are also importing thousands of foreign workers for technical jobs that Americans could be doing. By making changes in these job drawing scenarios, we could recapture millions of jobs for Americans in need of them. To this end we could eliminate all incentives for outsourcing jobs and pressure companies like Apple, Polo, United Airlines and AOL to do all of their American business in America. We could insist that all employers run EVerify on all of their employees to ensure that their jobs are taken by eligible workers and ensure that jobs that skilled Americans can do are not going to imported technicians.
We have a tax code that can be simplified, made more fair and produce much more revenue. We can start by eliminating all itemized deductions for individuals, except for the self-employed. There would be a standard deduction like $20,000/$40,000 for each head of household individual/couple. There would be no credits for education, dependents, childcare or earned income. Then we could have all sources of income considered equal and combined - Social Security payments, dividends, interest, capital gains, unemployment insurance, earned income, etc. There would then be a few tax brackets that could range from 10%-35%, less than the current 39.6% rate. The tax code would exist for the sole purpose of collecting taxes and not to encourage or discourage social or economic behavior. Helping students, the poor and the disabled can be done directly, as it currently is with food stamps, Medicare, Pell Grants, Stafford loans and Social Security. These programs can be expanded to directly assist participants and recipients. All income sources would be counted at 100% of actual except for earned income. In this case the FICA withheld would be deducted from the gross earnings for the net taxable earned income. These changes would raise at least $200 billion a year, half of which would come from the top 2% of income families.
Finally, we have a political system that has been co-opted by big business interests. These interests use armies of lobbyists, salesmen, to persuade elected officials to pass laws favorable to them by offering them money for their re-elections. Politicians become distracted from their original goal and mandate - to represent their people. Corporations are now considered people with first amendment rights to free speech which includes spending unlimited amounts of money to sway politicians. The solution to this problem is clear but not easy - end all campaign financing. Primary and general election campaigns should be much shorter and could be limited to position papers, televised interviews and debates. We should be able to learn what the candidate has done, what positions have been taken and what the person would do if elected to solve the problems that face the country at the time. Then an informed electorate could decide for themselves who should represent them. Elected officials would not owe allegiance to fundraisers and large contributors. There would be no advertising and no lies or false allegations because everything would be publicly fact checked by non-partisan organizations.
These "unsolvable" problems can and must be solved, soon.
