How would you turn around the economy?

[BDBoop]

Legalize marijuana, prostitution and all gambling and tax it.

Agreed. Your work here is done.

 

[Big Fitz]

1. Simplify the tax code to a flat 12% for all incomes, no deductions outside of mortgage, health related costs and a base exemption of 10k (plus inflation from enactment) for cost of living. Income will then also include capital gains and gifts over 10k (plus inflation from enactment), but not inheritance or death.

2. Reduce corporate taxation to a flat 15% with exemptions for depreciation on materiel and property. No taxation on foreign made profits. End all subsidies to all businesses.

3. Freeze the Budget at 2006 levels, including ending all new programs, departments and agencies created after this point, for 12 years. Require a balanced budget amendment with the requirement that tax increases used to balance any budget cannot be more than 2.5% of the total value required to balance the budget.

4. Assign the CBO to audit the budget and find all duplication of effort, then cancel/consolidate all of them under their appropriate cabinet departments.

5. Gradually privatize Social Security a la the Ryan Plan.

6. Phase out government involvement in all medical care payments save for those for the military, elected officials and direct employees, and phase it over to the states. Require medical providers to use open pricing for all services. Re-ban prescription drug, procedure and equipment advertising.

7. Tort reform to a 'loser pays' system and requirement of proof for direct harm to all litigants in class action lawsuits. Cap lawyer contingency fees in class action suits to 10% of total case winnings.

8. Reinstate Glass-Stegal, and empower the FTC to regulate derivatives.

9. End all energy moratoriums for the production of hydro, petroleum, coal and nuclear power. Use the justice department to cut through the judicial red tape and streamline the process of approval for new energy infrastructure construction, by restructuring the EPA to be pro safe growth, not anti-growth.

10. Make health insurance a national, not state market, allowing consumers to shop a larger pool of coverage similar to car insurance. End health insurance tax incentives for businesses and give it to the individual.

11. End our involvement with NATO, SEATO and shut down our foreign military bases on foreign soil. Return to a Washingtonian foreign policy.

12. End NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA and most favored trade status to all nations using unfair trade practices (based on slave labor, intellectual theft, espionage or government subsidies to unfairly undercut US industry) Apply reciprocal tariffs to those nations till such time they open markets to us as well. Conversely, extend free trade status to all nations that do compete equally with the US and have equally open markets with us.

13. Presidential line item veto.

14. Sell off all newly acquired government property since 1992 to immediately pay off debt directly. This money cannot enter the general fund, nor be spent on any other purpose.

15. End CAFE standards.

Yeah, that'd be a huge start.

 

[KissMy]

Or the weirdest answer so far... How are you going to pay for all of this? I bolded what I like, but the rest seems a bit, unrealistic... Education becomes free, how?

You save the $Trillion worth of student loan debt. The USG only needs a few professors to create the online education content. It would only need to fund this one virtual university that creates online content that Americans could watch & learn from on their own time at their own pace around their jobs. The savings would be enormous & per citizen education levels would rise.

Look at all the tech companies that were started with college drop-outs. These people only need to access the high tech classes they need to create their product. Innovation would speed up. After their company grows they would study management. Learn as you go or as you need.

Your ideas are not all bad but in the end you seem to believe that it will cost next to nothing. If its Government run it will cost more than you can imagine. I believe if Government got out of education we would see something like you describe but when done on a privet level you would get much better education and a lower cost.

Your idea is already bad because you forgive all student loans but of course that is a lie... You have tax payers pay for all of this, even the monthly internet services. And again what's to stop people from just going back to school? Who will pay for their housing/food that current loans cover? Now that its considered "free" and Government has a full monopoly, I'd bet tax payers cover 2k a month rent for people, hell kids living at home would end up paying their parents because now the Government is covering the cost vs just living at home.

More or less your "idea" is open to amazing amount of exploitation and in due time someone will make it law to do these things because it buys them votes. If you believe the program will stay small, hell, if you believe it will start small then you really have not followed what Government does to programs.

I never said to forgive student loan debt. I said cut the program & cut the grants also. The student loans are currently funding lifestyles for deadbeats. It is just a welfare program in disguise. A virtual education system can be contracted out to the lowest bidding university that meets the high standards. Publishing classes on YouTube is dam near free. Parents would have to house there own kids instead of dumping them onto the current student loan & grants university system.

 

[Oddball]

Legalize marijuana, prostitution and all gambling and tax it.

Agreed. Your work here is done.

State issues.

Your work here is a towering failure.

 

[G.T.]

There's a som,etimes enforced sometimes not enforced Federal ban on mj.

 

[Oddball]

Outside of that idiocy, it's still a state issue....As would be all recreational drug policy, were the idiotic federal "war" on (some) drugs ended.

 

[Big Fitz]

I'm just curious BD... Do you realize that point 12 of mine would get rid of ANWR in it's entirity as well as all the protected land over oil shale and dozens of other clinton era 'protected' lands used to keep energy companies at bay (who would be the ones purchasing most of it?

 

[G.T.]

Outside of that idiocy, it's still a state issue....As would be all recreational drug policy, were the idiotic federal "war" on (some) drugs ended.

and no States are federally subsidized?

 

[BDBoop]

Okay - but if the states do that, then the fed won't have to help the states. Right?

 

[Sallow]

4. Assign the CBO to audit the budget and find all duplication of effort, then cancel/consolidate all of them under their appropriate cabinet departments.

7. Tort reform to a 'loser pays' system and requirement of proof for direct harm to all litigants in class action lawsuits. Cap lawyer contingency fees in class action suits to 10% of total case winnings.

8. Reinstate Glass-Stegal, and empower the FTC to regulate derivatives.

11. Shut down our foreign military bases on foreign soil. Return to a Washingtonian foreign policy.

12. End NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA and most favored trade status to all nations using unfair trade practices (based on slave labor, intellectual theft, espionage or government subsidies to unfairly undercut US industry) Apply reciprocal tariffs to those nations till such time they open markets to us as well. Conversely, extend free trade status to all nations that do compete equally with the US and have equally open markets with us.

Yeah, that'd be a huge start.

Well you made a reasonable stab at it. I chopped it down to the stuff I agree with.

 

[Seawytch]

invest what? stupid? isn't that just buzzword retardeddimocrat talk for another stimulus package up the azz of America? Why do you hate America so much?

It isn't my fault that you don't understand basic economics. Infrastructure investment creates jobs which increases revenue. People with jobs BUY stuff (and pay taxes).

From whence are the funds for these "investments" supposed to come, Santa Claus?

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

 

[Big Fitz]

4. Assign the CBO to audit the budget and find all duplication of effort, then cancel/consolidate all of them under their appropriate cabinet departments.

7. Tort reform to a 'loser pays' system and requirement of proof for direct harm to all litigants in class action lawsuits. Cap lawyer contingency fees in class action suits to 10% of total case winnings.

8. Reinstate Glass-Stegal, and empower the FTC to regulate derivatives.

11. Shut down our foreign military bases on foreign soil. Return to a Washingtonian foreign policy.

12. End NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA and most favored trade status to all nations using unfair trade practices (based on slave labor, intellectual theft, espionage or government subsidies to unfairly undercut US industry) Apply reciprocal tariffs to those nations till such time they open markets to us as well. Conversely, extend free trade status to all nations that do compete equally with the US and have equally open markets with us.

Yeah, that'd be a huge start.

Well you made a reasonable stab at it. I chopped it down to the stuff I agree with.

Without the other points, you're still sinking. Tax reform plugs the hole, spending reform bails the ship. The rest (that you liked) trims cargo to keep us from capsizing till we're stable again.

 

[Oddball]

It isn't my fault that you don't understand basic economics. Infrastructure investment creates jobs which increases revenue. People with jobs BUY stuff (and pay taxes).

From whence are the funds for these "investments" supposed to come, Santa Claus?

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

I'm approaching it form the "money doesn't grow on trees" angle, you simpleton.

 

[Big Fitz]

It isn't my fault that you don't understand basic economics. Infrastructure investment creates jobs which increases revenue. People with jobs BUY stuff (and pay taxes).

From whence are the funds for these "investments" supposed to come, Santa Claus?

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

Uhhh... we're borrowing to pay for those wars, therefore we're broke. We're still broke. All you're suggesting is dropping a few expenses so that money can be applied to increasing expenses in things you want. This solves nothing.

 

[Seawytch]

From whence are the funds for these "investments" supposed to come, Santa Claus?

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

I'm approaching it form the "money doesn't grow on trees" angle, you simpleton.

Did I call you a name that I'm not aware of? Why would you feel it necessary to call me one?

Stimulus works to get a stagnant economy going and we NEED desperate infrastructure building and repair. Put people back to work and PAYING taxes and we no longer have a money problem.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

 

[Oddball]

Then quit talking like a simpleton.

Ever heard of "opportunity costs"?

Seems the economic courses you took were taught by alchemists.

 

[Oddball]

From whence are the funds for these "investments" supposed to come, Santa Claus?

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

Uhhh... we're borrowing to pay for those wars, therefore we're broke. We're still broke. All you're suggesting is dropping a few expenses so that money can be applied to increasing expenses in things you want. This solves nothing.

Yes....All we have to do is take the money that we don't have being wasted over there, and waste it over here, and Utopia will ensue!

 

[KissMy]

Harwood projected that societies cost of alcohol abuse in 1983 was $116 billion. Yet we only collected $3 billion in alcohol tax in 1983.

What will marijuana cost our society & how much do we plan to collect in marijuana taxes?

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

You're approaching it from the we're broke angle. We aren't. End the occupations of our military in other countries and we can easily afford rebuilding our OWN.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

I'm approaching it form the "money doesn't grow on trees" angle, you simpleton.

Did I call you a name that I'm not aware of? Why would you feel it necessary to call me one?

Stimulus works to get a stagnant economy going and we NEED desperate infrastructure building and repair. Put people back to work and PAYING taxes and we no longer have a money problem.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

*sighhhhh*

If stimulus works, why are we still in this mess?

 

[Oddball]

I'm approaching it form the "money doesn't grow on trees" angle, you simpleton.

Did I call you a name that I'm not aware of? Why would you feel it necessary to call me one?

Stimulus works to get a stagnant economy going and we NEED desperate infrastructure building and repair. Put people back to work and PAYING taxes and we no longer have a money problem.


The thing that annoys me most about Republicans is that they make vote for Democrats.

*sighhhhh*

If stimulus works, why are we still in this mess?

Because they didn't spend enough, soon enough!!