1. Taxes. Don't raise 'em, not yet anyway. Wipe out the most egregious tax breaks and loopholes and cut the rates to even it out. Revenues are going to go up with rates as they are.
Removing the tax perks, especially for corporations, is a no-go, at least right now but is still being negotiated I hope. That's why the deficit commission's final plan landed in the toilet. Congress would have no part of it.
I dunno, could be some work done in this area.
2. Spending. We've gotta come up with a budget plan to establish fiscal sanity and a long term debt management. You've all heard about the various entitlement programs going broke and that "unsustainable" word. Well, it's true and if we don't work out something we're fucked.
That's the toughest of all, again, because you can't do anything that is going to affect people already receiving benefits the way the programs were designed. So then the problem becomes the younger generations who will feel discriminated against because they will deem cuts in their benefits down the road as being unfair. With the Big 3 entitlement programs, don't forget that DoD takes a huge chunk. Again, Obama himself is looking for a way to get out of Afghanistan even faster because those two wars alone are still costing about $3 billion per week, but most Republicans in Congress and some Democrats want to stay until we finish the job (whatever that is).
I dunno how they're going to manage the amount of spending cuts that Boehner is talking about without getting into the entitlements. Obama is not going to give in on his healthcare plan, maybe a fix to Social Security could happen. And yes, cuts in defense too.
3. Energy and gas prices. We gotta start drilling. Right now. Oil and gas commodity prices are based on future expectations, and that means an energy plan that reeduces and eventually eliminates our dependence on foreign oil. Which by the way significantly cuts into our trade deficit. Stop screwing around with that ******* high speed rail shit and the ******* windmills, they are not and will not be economically feasible for quite some time.
No, the private sector needs to start investing more in alternative energy projects, which means nothing but jobs jobs jobs. Not everyone who needs employment can go to work for an oil drilling company.
Here's where we disagree, alternative energy has to be economically viable, without any subsidies. Right now, none of 'em are, and if Uncle Sam isn't footing the bill then this sector is not going to be creating many jobs. And a lot of those jobs are overseas in foreign companies rather than here.
4. We gotta deregulate, it costs too damn much money to comply with the blizzard of rules and regs comingout of Washington, and more on the way. It's ridiculous, we do need effective regs and strict enforcement with some teeth, but we can't be strangling business.
Regulations protect the public from all sorts of potential problems, from tainted food and water to fraudulent lending practices. Any "deregulation" needs to be done on an agency-by-agency basis. I still think businesses that complain about too much red tape are using it as an excuse, since there have been "regulations" in place for eons, and in better economic times, they have just learned to deal with it.
5. The EPA and NLRB need to stand down a little bit.
6. No more bailouts, there needs to be a clear understanding that if you screw up you pay the price of failure. No matter who you are.
The government won't do any more bailouts, so when will the private sector begin investing (bailing out)?
The private sector is sitting on a ton of money, but we're not going to see any of it until the business climate improves and employers know what the costs of creating new businesses or expanding existing ones are going to be. They're profitable now, no need for them to take chances until they se more upside and less risk.
7. No more adjustable rate mortgages. No more federal programs to change the mortgage principle or helpmake the payments. It's between you and the bank, the gov't should be out of the picture. We need to let the housing market find the bottom without any more idiot gov't programs.
And that's what's happening. The initial assistance to help reduce foreclosures was temporary, but it was also two-fold. Keep people in their homes if possible, which would reduce the number of properties the banks would own. Banks don't want the buildings; they want the money. Lending remains a Catch-22 situation: Banks are reluctant to loan, even when a person might qualify, because the economy is still on the edge. But if they don't begin lending, the housing market will remain dismal until they do.
I'm sure I forgot some stuff, but the things we need to do are not expensive. It requires a change at the top though, Obama is not going to do any of these things. He'll say it to get votes, but he won't do it.
