Yes We Can! Long Island 2012I suppose we all already accept that most scary problems being discussed by politicians are more than likely being discussed for some ulterior motive. The threat Saddam Hussein presented to America and the immediate need for war comes to mind, as well as the “death-panels” and imaginary fear about Health Care Reform, but these are just the most glaring example of false realities told to the public to gain public support for a self-serving, stupid idea.
I have heard a lot of talk recently about a impending catastrophe if America doesn’t get its fiscal house in order. Though a great deal of our government can use dramatic reform, reigning in costs aren’t the most pressing justifications for reform. With some small, and relatively simple changes (except with the expected “the sky is falling” talking points we will hear from those working for the top elites in American society), any fiscal problems America faces or will face can be solved.
This piece by Ian Welsh outlines the “Facts and Solutions” to long term fiscal sustainability for America.
Fiscal Sustainability Facts and Solutions
1) Social Security, at current rates, is not expected to run short of money before 2037.
2)The simplest way to “fix” Social Security, if you’re worried about a “problem” 27 years in the future, is simply to remove the contribution limit. End of problem. Period. Social Security is not in crisis.
3) The reason politicians want to “fix” Social Security is to increase the SS surplus, so they can use it for other things.
4) Medicare has more serious issues. However the simplest way to fix healthcare in the US is to move single payer, which would reduce healthcare per person by one-third. It has worked for every other country in the history of the world that has done it. It will work for the US. Since we’ve admitted now that everyone deserves health care, and since it’s cheaper, and better, why not use the next round of healthcare to fix Medicare by fixing health care?
The unspoken entitlement is the US military. The US spends about half the entire world’s military budget. There is, actually, no one in the world who can invade or seriously threaten the US in any fashion. (Is Canada going to invade? Mexico?) You can easily slash the military budget in half and still be so far ahead of any possible combination of enemies that it isn’t even close.
And yes, taxes are going to need to go up. Here’s a simple fix—tax all income over 5 million at 90%. It won’t hurt the economy (the best economy in America’s history was back when marginal tax rates were this high in the 50’s and 60’s). It will mean that the rich, who got almost the entire bailout and whose irresponsibility threw the US into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression will pay for it.
Oh, and change the estate tax to tax 80% of all inheritances over 5 million, too. Remember, dead people don’t need money and 5 million tax free for choosing your parents right is enough of a head start.
There are plenty of other ways to raise money and cut costs. For example, you can put a tax on buying and selling derivatives or you can slap on a carbon tax or you can reform corporate taxes so corporations making billions don’t pay no taxes.
Finally, the bottom line is this. The US owes its money in dollars. The US can print money. The US is not going to run out of money(pdf). There may be some inflation but anyone who tries to tell you that the US won’t have enough money to pay SS or Medicare is simply lying to you.
When did the Left decide to get in bed with Big Government? During the 60's it seemed like the Left had a overriding suspicion of government. Now it's the Right that doesn't trust government. Who is right the 60's radicals or current day Tea-Partiers?
Do you like what government does? Do you like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you think that your kids get a good education in public (government) schools? Do you think that the housing and health care industries are in good shape? (BTW, you can thank government meddling for those problems.) Just take a look at the previous century and you can see that the really really bad things (World Wars and Genocide) were perpetrated by government. Why do you want to give more power to the most powerful entity ever in history?
My guess is that somewhere around the late summer of 1968, the 60's radicals realized they can be more productive working in the system than fighting it.
Government should be an expression of our collective will, and if it not, it is only our fault for not being more involved.
Do you support anarchy? I put much more faith in government, which the citizens still technically have the right to pick their representatives, to be the organization structure to protect our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness than let corporations or other powerful, private interests control our destiny.
Obviously governments can be bad, but just because you occasionally might get a bad apple shouldn't turn you off to the idea of apples as a food source entirely. Apple pie and vanilla ice cream is an exceptional desert, I would hate to see you missing out on that because you had a bad apple 20 years ago.
Why is it that the focus is always on income? Smart business people can manage their income to minimize the tax burden. The rich accumulate massive wealth through very low capital gains taxes and tax loopholes (disguised as eligible business expenses) that most of us can't qualify for. When you live by your paycheck, as probably 95% of all Americans do, you have a 100% income tax burden. That doesn't mean you pay 100%, it just means that your cost of living is fully subjected to income taxes. Why isn't there a threshold for accumulation of wealth that is also subjected to taxation?
And those who like to complain that the bottom half pays no income taxes are blowing smoke as well. Only those who qualify for "earned income credit" escape a tax burden. But who benefits most from 'earned income credit"? Those who qualify for it, or those businesses who escape paying a living wage through a government subsidy. There are two sides to every issue, but conservatives only want you to hear theirs.
those with the wealth made the rules.
I like your site, but your comment in the NY Times (Paul Krugman's column) didn't garner many votes because it was just unnecessarily nasty and failed to give any hint of this website's perspective.
I don't know if "nasty" is the right word, but yes, the comment wasn't as well expressed as I would have liked… I wasn't trying to win a popularity contest, just trying to get a few more people to see my perspective to see through the facade of an actual debate occurring on such a bogus idea, that Greece is anything like the US. Just because a few ideologues say something is the case doesn't mean it needs to be taken seriously. "Propaganda all is phony"
Social Security – If you were paying attention, you would have seen the news that the SSA is paying out more than it is taking in this year. Look at the CBO's 2009 assesment of social security. Remember, CBO is a non-partisan group (as opposed to the political appointees that populate the SSA). How can SS spending go from 4.0 to 6.0% of GDP by 2035 when we have already reached a point when we are taking in less than we are paying and SS be solvent? You seem to realize that there is no money in the "trust fund." So, how can you rationally make that statement?
Printing Press – Go and read about the Weimar republic in Germany or about the hyperinflation that repressed (more recently) Brazil and many other countries for decades. They ran printing presses. Have you ever seen the barrios in Sao Paolo. You would never wish such a horrible existience on any of your fellow man (much less countrymen). Please educate yourself and do not simply swallow something that someone told you.
Not taking as much money as is going out this year is a very different statement then being bankrupt in 2037. Both can be true. Mixing up arguments for the sake of making a point isn't really useful.
Not so sure what hyperinflation has to do with anything being discussed here. This post just laid out some simple ways to address America's fiscal problems… None of which would result in hyperinflation… as far as I am aware.
It's time that the middle class woke up and realized that the last 30 years of tax reform has shifted the tax burden onto the middle class. In the 1950's the wealthiest 1% of Americans controlled less than 10% of income. Today they control almost 25%. When Eisenhower was president the marginal tax rate was 90% and it allowed America to transition to a peace time economy and become the strongest economy the world has ever known. If the far right thinks that President Obama is a socialist, than they must think that President Eisenhower was a communist