With Obama and Paul 'don't call me Rex' Ryan's competing debt reductions plans making all the news we thought we'd throw our hat into the ring to try to cut 3 trillion from the national debt
I will say that Obama's message was right although I agree with Brooks that he will have to ask the middle class for shared sacrifice, it can't all be on the back of the rich and a tax rate approaching 40% is ridiculous. The issue is that many people in that tax bracket don't pay anywhere near that because of the write-offs.
The Righetti fix would include the following
- Lower the overall tax-rate for individuals
- Lower the overall tax-rate for businesses
- Introduce a consumption tax on consumer goods.
- Get rid of all write-offs for charity and other such contributions If you want to give to charity then give to charity out of the goodness of your heart.
- Make the tax code much more simple.. The fact that the average person has no idea is ridiculous
- don't allow for any overseas tax shelters for personal money.
- rewrite the corporate tax code to avoid the scheming done with creativity by firms with huge tax departments to lower liability.. Sort of like a AMT for corporations
- lower corporate tax rate BUT get rid of tax holidays for people like EXXON for drilling in the gulf
- make all US corporations pay a fair percentage based on overall business done in this country not allowing for them to funnel money to places with lower tax rates.
- tax dividends at the same rate as income
- increase Medicare and Social Security to 70 gradually
- increase the maximum threshold on taxable SS income substantially
- get rid of idiotic rules that don't allow the US Government to use it's purchasing power to negotiate pricing for entitlement programs. Why VA plans get better rates than Medicare/Medicaid is idiotic
- have anybody who collects welfare work.. Whether it's cleaning sidewalks, filing paperwork, working in food kitchens.. Have them do something
- allow for insurance to be sold across state borders
- cut the defense budget. the total US defense budget is equal to that of the next 20 countries combined
- decrease the size of federal government workforce by 20%.. I am convinced there is a ton of redundancy
- increase minimum wage every-year as a function of consumer pricing index
- find ways to cut back on foreign aid, especially military aid
- get rid of farm subsidies.
- tax marijuana
- tax sugar.
On a local level,
- combine municipalities
- put caps on property taxes..
- Phase out tax abatements on property.
- eliminate 20% of the local workforce (maybe through the combination of municipalities)
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