Before you can fix anything, you have to identify the problem. If you car quits running, in order to fix it you have to know if its not getting fire, heat or air. From there you can diagnose the problem and make the repairs.
With the United States, we have numerous problems. Let's start with the economy. What's wrong? We aren't growing. Why? Imports out weigh exports, enormous government debt, falling wages and an undereducated society.
Fixes:
Step 1: Slowly remove all corporate taxes. In order to counter the ridiculously low wages of 3rd world countries, we must entice businesses to bring jobs back to the US by incrementally removing all corporate taxes. With taxes eliminated, the cost of doing business in the United States shrinks, and the ability of a US based business to compete with a foreign based business increases without reducing wages for American workers. Then, instituting a national sales tax will garner taxes from foreign and domestic business that sell products in the US.
Obviously, there will be a loud chorus of "Corporate welfare" and other attacks on a plan such as this. I just want people to keep in mind that no corporation any where in the world pays taxes. In the end, the end consumer pays all of the taxes. By having a national sales tax, the consumer still pays the tax, but at least we get tax dollars for anything manufactured outside of our borders.
In addition, a small tariff must be placed on ALL imports. This should be an amount that offsets the cost of living and/or government subsidies of foreign nations. It shouldn't be so high as to be prohibitive to import goods into the US. Just high enough to make all goods (foreign and domestic) similarly competitive.
In the end, this will help to lessen the need for government debt. Since we've been importing everything and exporting nothing, we've had to find a way to sustain our economy. The only way the government could do that was to borrow foreign money and reinsert it into the economy. That isn't sustainable. With the corporate taxes eliminated and fair tariffs in place, jobs and products will return to the US and exports will climb back up to meet imports, allowing for the government's debt to be reduced.
The reason for the slow draw down in taxes is so as not to shock the system. We don't want a spike and fall. Reducing the corporate tax burden by 20% of today's rate year over year will allow the full removal of all taxes within 5 years while allowing for a steady climb in new domestic jobs and manufacturing.
Some taxes do need to remain, however. Taxes that punish excessive pollution and other undesirable activities are necessary.
Step 2: Seriously address the illegal immigration problem. Several sub steps need to be made, including serious fines for hiring or housing illegal immigrants and jail time for habitual violators as well as strong border security. In addition, we should increase the number of immigrants that are issued work and living visas so as to reduce the need for violating the laws. However, no amnesty or preference should be given to anyone living within our borders without proper documentation or citizenship.
By addressing the illegal immigration problem, we will drive up wages, reduce the cost of education and health care.
Step 3: As we build new schools, we need to place an emphasis on small. Rather than building massive, prison like schools with no sense of community (and consequently, no sense of responsibility), we should concentrate on building learning centers that encompass only a handful of children. These learning centers can be repurposed homes, abandoned strip malls, or even newly built building with similar designs. The point will be to reestablish the small classrooms that allow teachers to easily communicate with the students and their parents so that all involved feel they have a real role in education.
If you are questioning the validity of smaller classrooms, keep in mind that disadvantaged and minority students stand to benefit the most from reduced classroom sizes. See the Robinson and Wittebols cluster study of 1986. Targeting inner cities and areas with a high minority population density would be the fastest means of improving over all education.
Traditional issues of food and athletics can be solved through school coops that pool resources.
With the United States, we have numerous problems. Let's start with the economy. What's wrong? We aren't growing. Why? Imports out weigh exports, enormous government debt, falling wages and an undereducated society.
Fixes:
Step 1: Slowly remove all corporate taxes. In order to counter the ridiculously low wages of 3rd world countries, we must entice businesses to bring jobs back to the US by incrementally removing all corporate taxes. With taxes eliminated, the cost of doing business in the United States shrinks, and the ability of a US based business to compete with a foreign based business increases without reducing wages for American workers. Then, instituting a national sales tax will garner taxes from foreign and domestic business that sell products in the US.
Obviously, there will be a loud chorus of "Corporate welfare" and other attacks on a plan such as this. I just want people to keep in mind that no corporation any where in the world pays taxes. In the end, the end consumer pays all of the taxes. By having a national sales tax, the consumer still pays the tax, but at least we get tax dollars for anything manufactured outside of our borders.
In addition, a small tariff must be placed on ALL imports. This should be an amount that offsets the cost of living and/or government subsidies of foreign nations. It shouldn't be so high as to be prohibitive to import goods into the US. Just high enough to make all goods (foreign and domestic) similarly competitive.
In the end, this will help to lessen the need for government debt. Since we've been importing everything and exporting nothing, we've had to find a way to sustain our economy. The only way the government could do that was to borrow foreign money and reinsert it into the economy. That isn't sustainable. With the corporate taxes eliminated and fair tariffs in place, jobs and products will return to the US and exports will climb back up to meet imports, allowing for the government's debt to be reduced.
The reason for the slow draw down in taxes is so as not to shock the system. We don't want a spike and fall. Reducing the corporate tax burden by 20% of today's rate year over year will allow the full removal of all taxes within 5 years while allowing for a steady climb in new domestic jobs and manufacturing.
Some taxes do need to remain, however. Taxes that punish excessive pollution and other undesirable activities are necessary.
Step 2: Seriously address the illegal immigration problem. Several sub steps need to be made, including serious fines for hiring or housing illegal immigrants and jail time for habitual violators as well as strong border security. In addition, we should increase the number of immigrants that are issued work and living visas so as to reduce the need for violating the laws. However, no amnesty or preference should be given to anyone living within our borders without proper documentation or citizenship.
By addressing the illegal immigration problem, we will drive up wages, reduce the cost of education and health care.
Step 3: As we build new schools, we need to place an emphasis on small. Rather than building massive, prison like schools with no sense of community (and consequently, no sense of responsibility), we should concentrate on building learning centers that encompass only a handful of children. These learning centers can be repurposed homes, abandoned strip malls, or even newly built building with similar designs. The point will be to reestablish the small classrooms that allow teachers to easily communicate with the students and their parents so that all involved feel they have a real role in education.
If you are questioning the validity of smaller classrooms, keep in mind that disadvantaged and minority students stand to benefit the most from reduced classroom sizes. See the Robinson and Wittebols cluster study of 1986. Targeting inner cities and areas with a high minority population density would be the fastest means of improving over all education.
Traditional issues of food and athletics can be solved through school coops that pool resources.
