OpEdNews - Page 2 of Article: Proposals to Save America, Part II

When we eliminate the income and payroll taxes, ~ eliminating the payroll tax on the approximately 145 million jobs in America (Bureau of Labor Statistics for 3rd quater 2008) would free about $545 billion dollars (figuring 15% deduction on $25,000 anuual income to equal $3,750 per job) ~ that states can tap into to enroll all their residents in basic HMO program in which some insurance companies can participate by opening HMO clinics that would reclaim some of the threatened insurance jobs, leaving hospitalization and recuperative expenses with the federal program. The federal program can work through private insurance companies rather than create another government agency, if the cost is not too high.

The only idea more ridiculous than mandates is to leave the situation as it is.

The political right is adamant against insuring everybody, claiming any government involvement is "socialized medicine," even though no one is proposing a system resembling socialism. Losing GOP presidential candidate John McCain has received government-provided healthcare from government-owned clinics and hospitals and government-employed physicians and nurses nearly his entire lifetime. That is socialized medicine, which he has gladly accepted for himself while telling the rest of us that a universal healthcare system that is not socialized, but government funded, is bad for the rest of America. Even during the time he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, McCain received government healthcare from North Vietnam, and while the quality may have been poor it was better than what close to 50 million Americans get under present conditions. There is no rush of politicians in the White House or Congress or in state and local government so repelled by their government-funded healthcare that they refuse it and run to pay out of their own pockets as they want us to do. Using government for their healthcare is fine for them, just not fine for us.

Opponents of universal heath coverage claim "we can't afford it." But paying more than 15% of the nation's wealth for healthcare to cover only 85% of the population is ludicrous when other advanced nations spend 10% or less of their wealth to cover 100% of their population and obtain results just as good or better than in the United States. We can't afford to keep the present system.

Righties are in a (pseudo) panic over Social Security's shortfall of 15-20% of promised benefits three or four decades in the future ~ if the economy grows at 50% of its historical average ~ but aren't concerned about a debt that has passed $10 trillion today because "deficit don't matter." They claim Ronald Reagan single handedly destroyed the Soviet Union by driving it into bankruptcy. Apparently they want to do the same with the United States.

Some right wingers, such as libertarian Paul, advocate weaning Americans off Social Security and into a system of investments in the private sector. They then advocate eliminating regulations in that same private sector leaving everybody's retirement at peril of being "Enronized" out of existence. So tax cuts for "investors" don't do much good here. Those right wingers are mad.

The only other major investment tool available for retirement would be in the financial markets, notably CDs that rely on government debt for income. In today's dollars, a single person getting 4% return in CD interest would need $500,000 in CDs just to have a $20,000 annual pension. Now imagine the size of the national debt needed to support that huge of a nest egg. It boggles the mind just how much debt the nation would have to carry for that to work.

If employee profit-sharing tax went to Social Security and those not employed, such as the idle rich and retirees who are not now paying into the system, being taxed according to the formula as if they were employed, there would never be a "Social Security crisis" because it wouldn't matter the ratio of retired persons to workers, we all would pay into the system.

Tax corporation profits to pay for national defense and homeland security. If the military-industrial complex likes to waste billions of dollars each year on unnecessary, unworkable or redundant weaponry, let it pay for it all. A major improvement would be to turn over our foreign military bases to our allies and bring most US troops home. Our allies could maintain those bases and keep them ready in case we need to reoccupy them in the future to counterattack a foreign attacker; as if any foreign nation were stupid enough to attack the one nation that spends more on the military than the entire rest of the world combined. Intelligence-gathering functions would still need overseas sites. Spending our military budget at home helps our economy; spending it abroad hurts the economy.

If corporations don't like to pay such taxes they will find ways to reduce those boondoggles. It creates a pleasant image to picture the legions of lobbyists from K Street marching up Capitol Hill to plead for a reduction in military spending, and not to raid the United States Treasury as they do now. And freeloaders like Halliburton couldn't run off to Dubai to escape taxes: make a profit in the US, pay a US tax. No profit, no executive enrichment.

Tax profits of noncorporate businesses engaged in interstate commerce, such as franchises, to pay for government operations. If they dislike such a situation, they may stop doing those things that make government grow; such as polluting, which requires billions of tax dollars for cleanup. Or firing their employees, which requires higher payroll taxes to keep the "downsized" workers from total ruination. Businesses might provide safe working conditions: imagine mines that don't collapse onto miners, or factories whose machinery doesn't chew off arms or more. Imagine warehouses in which stacked crates don't fall on forklift drivers.

Then, toy sellers might keep dangerous toys off the market rather than pay the taxes needed so that government would do that for them.

Institute a special tax surcharge on any and all persons and institutions who championed this illegal war in Iraq. Use that surcharge and taxes on stock dividends to meet all costs of the war. Guess how long that war would last if the warmongers paid for it. It would be appropriate if George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and all their up-to-the-last-minute supporters sacrificed their fortunes to pay for what they so desired. Those Americans who secured our independence in 1776 risked their lives and fortunes for freedom; asking the same of neo-cons now is reasonable.

We should keep the gasoline tax to create and maintain the interstate highway system, but all revenues collected must be kept and budgeted for only that purpose. Added to this should be taxes on all forms of public transportation to fund a transportatio budget separate from all other budgets.

This plan offers five separate budgets and would outlaw borrowing from one budget by another to cover deficits, i.e. Reaganomics.

If these five budgets cover the scope of the nation's needs, we could start eliminating such taxes as the telephone taxes, taxes on bank interest and others, because if telephone companies and banks paid taxes on their profits there may be no need to tax their customers.

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