Why the fuck is it that the first thing off the table in every single one of these cases is raising the taxes of the wealthy? I knew they had the real power in this country but to be this god damn blatant about it is amazing. If they did what they've always done, let taxes get raised and then dodge them with shelters and shell companies and the like they could keep their precious gold but not give the rest of us a reason to arm ourselves with pitchforks and hunt them the fuck down. This type of shit is seriously how Socialism comes about by force, the rich not just flaunting their wealth but acting like it's their fucking birthright to rule over us poor stupid peasants.
What I really don't understand is why so many non-rich always seem to support the agenda of the rich. Wake the fuck up you retarded assholes, you will never be rich so you don't have to worry about protecting your future. As if the rich need protecting. Don't like paying taxes? Move to the Caymen Islands. Stanley tools did it in name only and hasn't paid taxes in decades. Hell if you're rich enough you already don't pay taxes, just look at General Electric.
Which reminds me, if low taxes are the road to job creation why is it GE is actually shedding jobs when they didn't pay a single cent in taxes. Maybe Trickle Down Economics is bullshit believed only by the rich and their lackeys. But that can't be, it's worked so well to eliminate our debts as a nation since it was implemented under Reagan. Oh wait no, our national debt has done nothing but get worse since that rotten piece of lying shit took office and slashed taxes on his rich buddies. And slashed spending on everything from healthcare for veterans to road repairs. Way to go Ronnie!
The truth is our infastructure is crumbling, we're in 2 massive foreign wars with a side order of war in Libya, we need jobs today and medicare/medicaid is costing us an arm and a leg for what it's giving us. The solutions are simple, but will never happen.
Raise taxes on the rich and corporations to their pre Reagan levels. This would generate much more than the 1.4 trillion that would be raised if we went to pre W levels, I don't have an exact number but I wouldnt' be surprised if it was at least twice as much.
Leave Iraq and Afghanistan, not send some of the troops home and leave tens of thousands of overpaid contractors. Stop this bullshit action in Libya, sorry but we shouldn't be involved.
Cut pentagon spending in half. This would be the first real cut to Pentagon spending in decades, hell when Obama wanted to limit the increase it was fucking called a cut. We should cut weapon program spending while raising the wage and benefits of all service personel. And of course increase the GI Bill since it will currently buy you 1 new textbook and a 10 pack of blank CDs. The only things they want to cut are the benefits for veterans, which is one of the few things they spend money on even a "commie" like myself can get behind.
Start the largest program of infastructure projects since the Great Depression. That crisis gave the country an opportunity to build its infastructure will all those unemployed, this crisis can do the same. Replace bridges, convert roads from blacktop to concrete, lay down fiber to replace existing phone and internet lines. Think about it, newer bridges would be safer and would cause less wear and tear on vehicles. Concrete roads need repair less than asphalt especially in places like Minnesota where the air temperature varies by as much as 130 degrees a year. Our internet service is the joke of the modern world, we pay more for less than any other first world nation. In Japan they pay $20 a month for 50 megs a second, we pay $55 a month for 20 megs a second. Improved internet, at lower prices, makes it easier for small businesses to compete with big ones. It also makes telecommuting possible for more people. Which would save them and their employer money, not to mention the environment some wear and tear.
Nationalize healthcare. If you look at Canada and all of Western Europe they spend less per capita on healthcare than we do, by a lot. If we had a system like Canada's we could all get healthcare for what we spend on medicare/medicaid. Let me say that again, if we had a system like Canada's we could all get healthcare for what we spend on medicare/medicaid. Every cent we spend beyond that would stay in our pockets. This would benefit people already have health care and corporations as much as it would benefit people without healthcare. It would also ensure that the elderly don't have to choose between eating or buying medicine. It would also let those people who have mental health issues get help, because currently only the rich can afford to get it. And generally their problems are minor compared to those who really need help.
Spend more on education. College is too expensive, you shouldn't spend your first 10 years out of college paying it off. And that is if you can qualify for the loans to go in the first place. Also high schools should better prepare students for college. The only way to do that is to stratify the students. I know many educators and parents think different levels is wrong, but under the current system the smart students are forced to go at a pace so slow they lose all interest in school and if they try to go to college don't have the habits required to be a success. And the slowest students still can't keep up. If you break the students into groups based on what speed is right for them then you can give help to the kids who need it while giving the more capable kids the chance to thrive. But the only way to do this without creating knowledge ghettos is to be willing to spend the money. You have to figure out how to get everyone to perform to the best of their abilities. But to do that you need to figure out what that is. And as self serving as this will sound since I want to go into teaching you have to give teachers a reason to stay teaching. Pay them more and give them better benefits. Because honestly teachers can make more money running training programs for corporations than they can teaching the future of this country, and that makes me fucking sangry.
To finish off my Utopian vision lets also create good homeless shelters with job training programs. Create factory jobs by taxing the fuck out of foreign imports, and help stop gun violence by making hand guns, assault rifles of all kinds and certain types of ammo illegal. We should also increase funding for police forces, fire departments and libraries while making it illegal for the public to fund sports stadiums for professional sports teams.
Exactly none of this will happen, but all of it should.
Labels: budgets, fixing America, government
