As I listen to friends of varied political persuasions, it seems that we all want 2016 to be a better year than the one we just completed; but many of us are predicting a miserable future. Being dissatisfied and angry won’t fix problems. Neither will arguing about who to blame. Instead, it is time to stop “predicting” the future and begin “creating” the one that we want. We can do that by shifting our attention from all that is wrong to improving our nation with practical ideas that a majority of us can agree on. Here are a few possibilities.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: We need to reduce the influence of big money without limiting free speech. One solution is to create a national or state election website with a page for every elected office. Only registered candidates for office would be allowed to post on the website. Anything they post would remain until after the election, so any changes of position would be apparent. Voters could see and judge whatever the candidates themselves say about issues and about each other. Candidates could post written messages, photos, audio or video clips. Their words would be unfiltered by Super-PACS, advertising or news media. This is an inexpensive and easy way for candidates to campaign. It would reduce the need for big advertising budgets. And since everyone who is interested would have instant access to the candidates’ messages, there might even be fewer robo-calls.
INCOME DISPARITIES AND LACK OF OPPORTUNITY: An economic map of America will show that extreme poverty persists across multiple generations within well defined geographic areas – some of them urban and others rural. One solution is to make whatever government funded financial assistance we provide for housing portable so that people can use it anywhere. Rather than building public housing, we could let those receiving assistance use housing subsidies to choose whatever private sector housing best meets their needs. This change will allow them to migrate to places with jobs, grocery stores, good schools, public transportation and good public safety. Families are much more likely to break out of the generational cycle of poverty if they are not confined to communities devoid of opportunity and surrounded by underemployment, crime and other social ills. This idea could be tested by gradual implementation to assure that it works as intended. If it does, then we could expand it and eventually sell existing public housing for private use or re-development.
TAX REFORM: Corporations are, at best, tax collectors, not tax payers. All of the taxes that they pay are passed on to customers. We might be better off treating their profits and losses as a per share pass-through of ordinary income to shareholders whether the actual cash is distributed or not. This will have the effect of reducing the cost of American-made products and services in international markets, increasing exports and creating jobs. By taxing corporate profits as income to the owners of the corporation, we could maintain or increase the tax revenue that the government receives from corporate taxes. Since our income tax is already graduated, the revised tax burden will be greater for the wealthy than for middle and low income families. The only part of this idea that might become complicated is creating a mechanism to document profits to Americans from foreign corporations.
We could also create a small national sales tax (one half of one percent or less) on all financial instruments including stocks, bonds ETFs, credit default swaps, etc. This tax would be only a modest burden to long term investors, including those saving for retirement but it would deter the high-frequency trading that creates wild swings in the value of our investments. It would also bring in revenue to help us toward a balanced budget.
There is good news about America that we too easily forget: We don’t have to agree on everything in order to improve. We only have to begin seeing our problems as opportunities for improvement. If we will do that, we will find radically practical ideas – if not mine then perhaps yours or someone else’s – to improve our lives. In 2016 let’s resolve to build on our areas of agreement while we continue to debate our differences.
Excellent Thought Starters for the start of the New Year, Bob. Thanks for this and your previous columns. And Happy New Year!
January 1, 2016 RADICALLY PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR 2016.
We live in a world imprisoned by fearfulness and it’s resulting effects. The first fearful effect is religious politics. When polls indicate that America’s favorite leader is Billy Graham I can understand how people believe that a Devil is trying to enlist the faithful in political ideas that restrict the Church’s ability to save spiritually by suggesting solutions that may challenge any popular beliefs about politics.
First, believers seek to control local education of our young, hiding or diminishing facts about life that fail to credit God or strictly follow scriptural teachings on subjects.
Second, the fearful organize to stop implementation of laws that support the First Amendment in education and government.
Third, the fearful successfully create a political environment that causes politicians to arise with the backing of big money to take advantage of popular belief in the falsehood that only religious-safe candidates can figure out how to govern. So the issues do not get real discussion that steps outside the current Christian interpretation of government. In the Bible Belt this amounts to a vague form of Theocracy.
If each one of Bob’s good ideas were to see the light of legislative acceptance they will have to suffer both the bombardment of an entrenched bureaucracy constructed around tax appropriations and the hidden fear of offending the moneyed powerful who are found at the ears of legislative officials local and national. In short, the vehicle of politics is the second or third battle after fear and ignorance. Here in Bob is a loyal writer whose sole interest is in changing ignorance and fearfulness to openness and daring. You can’t cover that with a popular nickname like progressive or liberal or conservative.
Well thought out ideas, Bob. However I will probably always contend that the best answer for poverity and income inequality will always be better parenting and educating kids that they must take responsibility for their own lives. They may have been dealt a raw deal on the front end, but only they can change that by disciplining their lives better than their parents.
Changes in government laws and subsidies are seldom the answer. It is just human-nature for a significant percentage of people to live on the handouts from government, if there is no cut off date.
I know you mean well with your program suggestions; but look where the Great Society programs have taken us over the past 50 years. At least 50% of minority youth are less well off today than back in the Jim Crow days. They were second class citizens to be sure back then; but a much higher percent had two parents and a strong work ethic. The Great Society has killed that for many of the minority families.
While our minority population theoretically more opportunity today, the decline in their family structure, which I believe was irrefutably brought on by the Great Society, has undermined the well-intentioned efforts to help.
It always surprises me that those of you who are of the liberal persuasion – yet know your history – continue to think that the government is the answer to the problems of society. Those at the top of government -the president and congressional leaders, heads of agencies etc., may mean well; but without using the bully pulpit to a much greater extent and backing their words up with programs that encourage discipline and hard work and penalizing sloth, the results will continue to be minimal. Without real improvement in the quality of family life in the minority communities and the less-educated white communities, no amount of money or government programs is going to make much of a difference.
I wish liberals would spend more efforts on encouraging family values and less on spending money on programs that do little good without the family structure to support education of the next generation.
I do appreciate your comment, but I think you are objecting to your own notion about what liberals think rather than what I wrote. Why are you writing about minorities generally and referring to African Americans specifically? I never brought race up. Pockets of intergenerational poverty are self perpetuating from the Pine Ridge Reservation (Native American) to the south side of Chicago (African American) and on to rural Southern Indiana (Caucasian American) and all 50 states. Your idea that better parenting and education would help is certainly valid. But the poverty is intergenerational partly because the parents lack the resources and skills to provide what you think they should provide. I’m simply suggesting that the aid they get now should be mobile so that those who want to work would be able to find a place to live in communities where jobs exist along with safe communities and better schools. PS: Please show me the research that confirms your statement about at least half of minority youth being better off under Jim Crow. No anecdotes please – research and statistics. Thanks for reading, and I hope you will continue to comment!
Your comment about housing is already in place. I’ve no idea if it’s just TN, but we have ‘Section 8 Housing’ vouchers where landlords have to submit to the Section 8 inspection & comply, repair & submit to reinspection if there are any issues. As a landlord, it’s an excellent program & as a voucher holder, it’s a great benefit to select & rent in an area where you want to live. It’s a choice to be a landlord in this program.