- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 10,990
- Reaction score
- 13,078
- Points
- 113
Awhile ago I posted a few thoughts I had about how politics could be made respectable again.
These included capping representatives salaries at the per-capita income of their state + 10% (to make it a palatable job.) as well as barring any politician from passing legislation that affects them differently than the general populace of the country. I also recommended that representatives use the same retirement and health plans that the general public use.
Now, I want to talk about the HARD stuff. Oh ya. Strap in, some of you will hate this.
- Student Loan Forgiveness. You Bet! You want a grant to help you pay back your student loans, or you want them simply "expunged" from the books, we can do that. However, in order to receive a grant or have your loan expunged, you need to sign a form that allows the government to tax your pay an additional 10 to 15% until that loan/expunge amount is repaid. At that point you will be expected to continue on that tax rate for an additional 5 years to help "seed the fund" for other people. In short, you can get your loans taken care of, but it's no free ride. As for interest on your 'repayment' it freezes when you are employed and paying. Even if you are employed at a low-income job, you'll still be taxed at your 10 or 15% and thus your interest freezes. If you are UNEMPLOYED, however interest kicks in. Thus you are highly incentivized to find SOME kind of job.
- Economic improvement. Ok, the new buzzwords for the repressed millions is "1%". Ultimately what everyone is up in arms about is the fact that some folks make a CRAZY amount of money, most likely through their corporate stock holdings as well as great salaries. So. (Take a deep breath here.) Rather than force a minimum wage (which will ultimately increase the cost of goods across the board.) or tax the living **** out of successful corporations or individuals, we can look at it from a different angle. We will cap the amount of profit a company or corporation can make in a year. Once a company exceeds that cap, they must reinvest in their own employees and infrastructure (set percentages for each) in the form of stock options or straight up bonus payments. This is hard to push through as folks will argue that you are punishing success. (This is not true. You are STILL able to retain your profit up to the cap and the rest you are injecting into your venture and ultimately into the economy.)
What IS true is that a corporation or individuals ability to rapidly accrue wealth will be dampened. I can't argue that. However it does NOT prevent any company or individual from gaining wealth and growing their economic base. What it does do is slow the economic growth of the infamous 1 to 10% (That's slow, not stop.) while speeding up the growth of the middle and lower class.
- Healthcare reform. The same essential principle applies here. Insurance companies and healthcare providers may profit to an agreed upon cap. After that, any additional profit will be returned to the insurance company members in terms of end of year reimbursements. The same is true of pharma companies. If they profit above a specified point, they must contribute profit margin back to those insurance companies that provide their members with access to the pharma companies medicine.
Ultimately this will create a health industry that is (pun intended) healthy, and that attracts more and more members because they may be able to receive an end-of-year bonus if they do what they can to stay healthy and contribute to the financial success of the insurance company.
All this can be done WITHOUT increasing anyone's taxes at all. It merely caps the potential profit for an individual or company and requires them to reinvest into their own people and services.
----------------
And now, I duck.
These included capping representatives salaries at the per-capita income of their state + 10% (to make it a palatable job.) as well as barring any politician from passing legislation that affects them differently than the general populace of the country. I also recommended that representatives use the same retirement and health plans that the general public use.
Now, I want to talk about the HARD stuff. Oh ya. Strap in, some of you will hate this.
- Student Loan Forgiveness. You Bet! You want a grant to help you pay back your student loans, or you want them simply "expunged" from the books, we can do that. However, in order to receive a grant or have your loan expunged, you need to sign a form that allows the government to tax your pay an additional 10 to 15% until that loan/expunge amount is repaid. At that point you will be expected to continue on that tax rate for an additional 5 years to help "seed the fund" for other people. In short, you can get your loans taken care of, but it's no free ride. As for interest on your 'repayment' it freezes when you are employed and paying. Even if you are employed at a low-income job, you'll still be taxed at your 10 or 15% and thus your interest freezes. If you are UNEMPLOYED, however interest kicks in. Thus you are highly incentivized to find SOME kind of job.
- Economic improvement. Ok, the new buzzwords for the repressed millions is "1%". Ultimately what everyone is up in arms about is the fact that some folks make a CRAZY amount of money, most likely through their corporate stock holdings as well as great salaries. So. (Take a deep breath here.) Rather than force a minimum wage (which will ultimately increase the cost of goods across the board.) or tax the living **** out of successful corporations or individuals, we can look at it from a different angle. We will cap the amount of profit a company or corporation can make in a year. Once a company exceeds that cap, they must reinvest in their own employees and infrastructure (set percentages for each) in the form of stock options or straight up bonus payments. This is hard to push through as folks will argue that you are punishing success. (This is not true. You are STILL able to retain your profit up to the cap and the rest you are injecting into your venture and ultimately into the economy.)
What IS true is that a corporation or individuals ability to rapidly accrue wealth will be dampened. I can't argue that. However it does NOT prevent any company or individual from gaining wealth and growing their economic base. What it does do is slow the economic growth of the infamous 1 to 10% (That's slow, not stop.) while speeding up the growth of the middle and lower class.
- Healthcare reform. The same essential principle applies here. Insurance companies and healthcare providers may profit to an agreed upon cap. After that, any additional profit will be returned to the insurance company members in terms of end of year reimbursements. The same is true of pharma companies. If they profit above a specified point, they must contribute profit margin back to those insurance companies that provide their members with access to the pharma companies medicine.
Ultimately this will create a health industry that is (pun intended) healthy, and that attracts more and more members because they may be able to receive an end-of-year bonus if they do what they can to stay healthy and contribute to the financial success of the insurance company.
All this can be done WITHOUT increasing anyone's taxes at all. It merely caps the potential profit for an individual or company and requires them to reinvest into their own people and services.
----------------
And now, I duck.
