or king, gender not important, and you got to do whatever you wanted to change the current economic system?
I like playing the What if game, it's always so much more hopeful than the What new fresh hell is the government serving up now game.
So here goes.....
1) Medicare for all, private insurance outlawed, dental included, Hyde amendment lifted.
2) Everyone who is unemployed or under employed gets a full ride to college, including living expenses and child care costs without having to jump through stupid hoops OR taking crappy certificate courses approved by Welfare. It takes a huge chunk of people out of the labor market (thus eliminating the current glut) AND trains workers to replace the baby boomers in high skill fields who are all about to retire. It also throws a shit ton of feed money into the educational budgets of states who are cutting secondary funding left and right. And all those people getting living expenses will be spending money on food, transport, books, etc.
I'd also allow community colleges that use PhD's to offer 4 year degrees. Education doesn't have to be prestigious, it just has to be effective.
3) Mortgages - upside down, in foreclosure, whatever get renegotiated to 1) their current market value or whatever is owed on the home, whichever is lower and 2) not to exceed 30% of the borrowers income. That should teach the banksters to stop playing fast a loose with the world economy.
4) The tax system gets a serious overhaul and simplification. No more deductions except for the standard deductions. No more itemizing. These things only ever serve as a way to make the rich pay less, really. And then I'd implement a real progressive tax system. The rich have gotten a 400 percent increase in their incomes over the last 10 years, perhaps it's time they had a 400 percent increase in their tax payments.
And no more fucking capital gains shit. It's income, pay taxes on it like it's income. You shouldn't get to slide out of half your taxes just because you don't have to work for your money.
As far as business taxes, the only deductions they get to take are labor costs for people working in the US and goods and services bought or provided in the US. Deductions are an incentive, let's make paying people well and buying local economically worthwhile.
5) it doesn't have much to do with the economy as a whole (though it has a shit load to do with home economics) I'd lift DOMA and DADT and include homosexual couples in all benefits currently provided to hetero couples. Then I'd remind the states that the full faith and credit act of the constitution says they have to suck it up an honor marriages they don't approve of.
6) I've said this before (I've said most of this before) but I'd eliminate Social Security, Welfare, and Unemployment benefits all together and replace them with a mandatory minimum income that puts people just above the poverty line regardless of why they aren't working and tag the payout to inflation.
7) Require deadbeat parents to do the same Welfare to Work activities the poor (mostly) single moms have had to do for a decade. Don't want to sit through 8 hours a day of job search and lectures by social workers? Pay child support.
So that a pretty fucking long list, and it doesn't include universal childcare (but it would really!)
What would you do?
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