Seriously, How Would You Handle The Economy?

If it’s still possible to have a remotely semi intelligent and serious thread, I wanted to solicit people’s unbridled ideas on how to solve the problem with our company.

Our unemployment/underemployment rate is 25%. We now spend over 100% of our GNP yearly. Our deficit has more than doubled in the last 2 years and we’re on the cusp of the largest entitlement program that is guaranteed to cost more than Medicare and Social Security put together. We’re poised to default on our obligations. Clearly, our financial model is broken. So what is your answer? If you had the ability to put forth a plan in Congress, what would it include?

Since this is my thread, I’ll start with a few basic thoughts:

1) Taxes. End our current system and we would go to a flat tax. Based on studies I’ve seen, it would probably 4-6% with no deductions. Whatever income is received, the Fed gets that percentage. This is, to me, 100% fair and ensures that everyone who has skin in the game pays.

2) Budget/Debt. First, attack entitlement programs and reassess who is eligible and how best to better fight fraud/waste/abuse. End subsidies. Repeal Obamacare and simply give cash grants to the individual states to promulgate their own healthcare plans, thus ending what is to be the largest bureaucracy in the nation. Eliminate Dept of Education and others. Let natural attrition cut the number of federal employees down 25-35%. Deliver mail 3 days per week, saving billions there alone. Lastly, a mandatory balanced budget plan that allows us to have a certain size deficit when the economy is down and a mechanism to pay the debt off when times are better. One aspect to it is that if the Congress/president fail to strictly adhere to the plan for any 1 year, they become legally ineligible to run for their next reelection.

3) Deficit. A 3% national sales tax solely for the purposes of paying off the deficit. It should take 9-12 years to pay off, and thus making us solvent.

 

I will first address problems I see on your idea, then I will give my own opinion on the subject.

Will these healthcare grants be based off the national average, or will each state have one amount based off the state average for funding?

Will there still be a national benchmark for students to reach? Will each state have their own department of education, or does that get cut as well? Will they get any federal funding?

Is this national sales tax on all goods, or does it exclude food? If it excludes some food, does that count fast food and alcohol, or just groceries? Sales taxes are often disproportionately harder on the lower class because everyone spends roughly the same amount on food within a factor of 2 or 3 but not everyone makes a factor of 2 or 3 times in wages.

 

I would have some tax incentives for any company that hires new employees for at least one year. Incentives to companies with CEOs that make no more than 20 times their lowest paid worker annual salary, including bonuses. I would also place include a national 3% income tax that goes directly to pay off the debt. Oh and I'd dramatically cut back on military spending while increasing the number of projects of scientific research (but that's my own bias).

 

Healthcare grants will be based solely on the population of the state.

Benchmarks will be set by the states for education. One would hope states will have a dept of Education.

The national sales tax would exclude food, second hand clothes, RX, all other medical care...

 

I'm not an economist by any means... but we need to break up some of these corporations. Companies like Monsanto are killing the farming industry, which has been the backbone of America since the beginning. I don't like the idea of four or five companies running everything. It's not good for business. The government needs to give tax breaks and incentives to small businesses to stimulate growth, new ideas, etc.

Kill the unions.

Kill the corporations.

Downsize government.

Start making things again instead of shipping jobs overseas.

Take it back old school. I'm tired of sustaining a global economy. Why are we giving 80 billion to Israel when we're trillions of dollars in debt? The world isn't full of orphan Annies and we sure as hell ain't Daddy Warbucks.

 

I pretty much agree with all this.

 

This site is 114 billion.

http://wrmea.org/component/content/...rect-us-aid-to-israel-almost-114-billion.html

 

I see a lot of good ideas that I agree with here. One more thing that no one ever talks about and would in the long term help our economy and nation as a whole would be to make our higher education system affordable for the average person again. Tuition has recently skyrocketed due to a system similar to the deregulated housing market and it is burrying our youth in debt. When my father went to college his out of state tuition in hawaii was hundreds of dollars. My 2 and 3 year old nephews college tuition is projected to be around $500k at the current rate of increase......

I dont really have an answer to how to fix this but I feel like it should be in the same discussion.

 

I'd also kick out all the illegals. send the military after them if no one else would. don't give them any public benefits at all.

Have to attack entitlement programs. Get people on paths out of being leeches and cheating the government. I would hire private consulting companies to determine where to cut back and optimize results in the government to eliminate efficiency.

 

I didn't say it was. It was an example of giving out billions of dollars and seeing nothing in return.

 

I'd take over a unionized car company and make electric vehicles that go 40 miles on a charge my centerpiece.

 

start making things in america again, and not just at the for profit prisons, and make it harder for china/the world to flood our market with cheap fucking garbage

 

This. I think tariffs should be raised on things made by American companies that have to be made overseas. Reduce the profit margins for companies like Nike. I'm sorry but I don't feel bad for a company that makes $150 on a pair of sneakers that cost them $5 to make.

 

Unions make that impossible in this country.

 

Yup. Unions are strangling this country. Not just in production of goods, but also in education.

 

Or BOTH!!