Name what you would do to turn the economy around
 

Serious - short and succinct, name the top 3 - 5 things you think must be done within the next two years, in order to turn the economy around.

1) Let Bush tax cuts expire for all making $100,000 and over

2) Job creation: I'd focus on health care, fastest growing industry in the country, 1/5 of our national economy, employs across all income factors and skill levels (from unskilled maintenance to administrative to CEO to professionals) with huge spillover into manufacturing sector (drugs, tech, supplies, manufacturing, paper, computers, etc) How to do it? I would expand health care availability to everyone - yes, single payer for all, via Medicare buy in - then provide targeted sector corporate tax incentives to enable the growth.

3) still thinking

arrest and prosecute 1000's of bankers and sentence them to death.

End all of the FTA's

arrest and prosecute all US individuals who have attended Bilderberger for treason.

Bring the steel industry back.

Open up all drilling for oil and natural gas.

Get the regulators and bureaucrats out of our lives and use the courts for the worst offenders...like it's supposed to be.

Revoke Riot's citizenship and give her a one-way ticket to London.

What makes you think it can be fixed?

1) Limit the borrowing once and for all: Cap borrowing to $15 trillion, period, end of story. If we can't get it together before that expires, the dollar is done. No extensions, no re-engineering. That's it.

2) Tax reform as one item, some components here: Flat tax - no deductions for anyone. Social Security has no ceiling on confiscation.

3) End the Ponzi schemes: Cap and taper down social programs that are the main source of debt: Repeal obamacare, phase out social security, cap medicare.

The party is over. That is the three elements we need - stone wall prevention of more debt, end the largesse of social spending, and reform the tax code to something extremely simple to implement that has no brackets. Then there will be no penalty for making more money, which is good for the economy, the debt will be limited and will actually decrease as we spend less on the programs which are unsustainable.

real banking reform for one. the tightening of credit has been a huge hamper on the economy. the banks got scalded, now they've gone too far in the other direction. quit trying to encourage debt for everyone, but a 180 degree change isn't any better.
the tax shelters/breaks should be for those rich who invest in new businesses, growth, jobs, etc. tax the crap out of those who don't use their wealth to grow the economy. same for dividends. the point of a business should be growth, not paying out huge amounts to shareholders. reward your shareholders-but not at the expense of the working class. tax breaks for businesses who hire-they should be rewarded with lowered ss matching payments if they reach a certain number of employees, breaks for healthcare, etc. anything to encourage more hiring. many companies find that it's cheaper for them to work tons of overtime with the few they have than it is to hire more employees.

one drag on the economy is the huge deficit. spending cuts must be found and done. ss is in real trouble-the lowering of ss witholding is a joke. get us out of the three wars NOW. defense must be cut. we could cut defense in half and still spend 1/4 of the worlds military spending. we must attack medicare/medicaid/social security. that and defense are the two huge budget issues, it's where most of the fed dollars are spent, and our spending is unsustainable.

i'm voting for Coach. Especially bringing the steel industry back and open up drilling.

voting for Zig also!

Joey.. You are so typical of the myopic thinking solely along party rhetoric. You are exactly what this system is looking for. Keep the constituents battling and blaming one another while BOTH PARTIES rape the masses. Wake up and stop being a pawn.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6302588.shtml


(AP) The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits - billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes - nearly $29 billion more.

Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs - in the form of Treasury bonds - which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg's municipal offices.

Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.

Social Security's shortfall will not affect current benefits. As long as the IOUs last, benefits will keep flowing. But experts say it is a warning sign that the program's finances are deteriorating. Social Security is projected to drain its trust funds by 2037 unless Congress acts, and there's concern that the looming crisis will lead to reduced benefits.

"This is not just a wake-up call, this is it. We're here," said Mary Johnson, a policy analyst with The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group. "We are not going to be able to put it off any more."

For more than two decades, regardless of which political party was in power, Congress has been accused of raiding the Social Security trust funds to pay for other programs, masking the size of the budget deficit.

Uhh... I didn't say anything about parties in my 3 points. Social Security was a bad idea, has always been a bad idea, will never be anything but a Ponzi scheme, need I go on?

Yes, the raiding of the "trust fund" :rolleyes: has accelerated its demise. Yes, both parties have done it and in neither case should it have been done. But it was doomed to failure the moment it was implemented, though it would not have failed yet.

Social Security sucks. You are forced into a "retirement" program that doesn't even give you the principal back, let alone any compounded interest, and then your already taxed "contributions" are taxed again.

Work on your reading comprehension next time before you blast off.

LOL. My reading comprehension is just fine, there is no need for you EVER to say anything about parties.:zz: It is clear to Helen Keller what party line you tout (er tote). Joey how would you replace Social Security? Would you make it self directed so the Wall Street ****ing whores could rape and pillage us more? Would you let everyone fend for themselves in which case how would you handle the MILLIONS that depend of SS for sustenance?

So you are objecting to a facet of the argument, as you see it, that wasn't stated or even hinted at?

Note: I said "phase out" Social Security, not cut it off.

How about something like this:

For those close to retirement (pick a number - 10 years, 15 years - whatever) : no change - you participate in the program and receive your "benefits".

For those who haven't had a gun put in their back yet to pay in: we're not taking your money. Suggest that you invest a similar portion of what would have been taken out of your pay (10.4%) into something that will actually bear interest so when you retire, you'll have PLENTY of cash to do whatever you want.

For those of us in the middle, we get the equivalent amount to what we have already had confiscated from us in the form of tax reduction going forward. No income tax for as many years as it takes to have that balance repaid to us, and the smart people will do as above and invest the extra money into something that will yield interest in accordance with their tolerance for risk.

Why you'll likely never see an approach like this is that the government is, as always, averse to getting out of your life and returning more freedom to you.

So it basically comes down to this.

I agree with your no income tax until the balance is repaid. The self directed thing is not a good idea as SS should be a safety net and not someones sole retrirement. The self directed stuff most of us already do.
If SS was self directed we both know Wall Street will find a way to pick everyones pocket. The consequences would be devestating.

1. Banking Reform
Immediately reinstate Glass Steagall Act which was implemented during our last depression to protect us from greedy banker speculating with other peoples money.

2. Impose 50% margin requirements daily mark to market on all derivatives transactions undertaken by investment
banking.

3. Unfortunately this boat has sailed but Wall Street going from partnerships to publically traded companies
was an absolutely horrible idea. Give bankers other peoples money to bet, pay them a huge salary to bet it
and give them huge bonuses based upon the profits they make and pay them a huge severance if they fail sounds
like a receipe for disaster to me.

4. Impose Tariffs on all products produced on other countries at least EQUAL to the tariffs they charge us. Use
this money to pay down debt and for only that purpose.

5. Impose additional tarrifs on products/services on products produced in other countries who have a trade imbalance with us.
Use this money to pay down debt and for only that purpose.

6. Reduce Corporate Taxes on products that are 100% produced in the United States.

7. Suspend H1B program immediately and revoke any extensions given. Give 90 days for those on extension to leave.

8. Reinstate H1B program only when unemployment in this country is below 5%. To encourage training of US citizens
and discourage H1B abuse charge 100K one time charge for H1B visa and an additional 25 K to each company using person on Visa
yearly. This program was initially created to import talent that we simply couldn't find here but it has been grossly
abused to wage warfare on the american worker. Any monies collected from this would immediately and only go
towards funding education.

9. Withdraw all of our troops from our ill concieved wars. Remove presidental power to order troops to another
country under any circumstances without congressional approval.

10. FLat tax for all with only deductions for medical or primary residence mortgage or purchase of non
gas powered vehicles.


11. Mandate the elimination of gas powered vehicles in 25 years and slowly phase in the amount that can be produced/imported.


12. Reduce foriegn aid immediately by 50% and use the savings to pay down debt.

Well, people should be able to opt-in to a safety net in the same way that people buy their own level of insurance for their needs. And if SS was a good safety net, it would actually bear a yield to the individual, instead of actually getting a loss.

If they actually did phase it out tomorrow I would absolutely use at least that same 10.4% in something safe. Today I'd probably buy gold with at least part of it. If I did invest it on Wall Street, it would have to be with a large company that isn't going away anytime soon, with a tangible product, not one of these banks or investment houses. Something like an Apple or Microsoft, maybe some ExxonMobile.

I would not squander it as "found money". And having a little faith in my fellow citizen, I think the number of people who would is lower now due to the economic crisis. I think many would listen and redirect those funds to a lower risk investment promising some yield.

i also think that the feds need to start getting out of a lot of the social program business, and return that to the states. the fed should be managing defense, foreign dealings, interstate commerce.

health care, ss, etc should be state handled. time after time throughout history, man has seen what happens when you have a far-away seat of govt handling the peoples' business. the further away geographically, the higher the anarchy and fraud. witness california and their high medicaid/care/medical fraud. it's in the billions of dollars. instead of all 50 states sending trillions to the feds to return as they see fit, that money should remain in each state, and handled by each states local offices. arkids for example is a better run program for kids here than the fed program, and that's because it's handled here. each state knows it's citizens needs, and can handle it on a local and regional level. keep the tax dollars local-that reduces waste, fraud, budgets.

I would send pud pics to all of my female fans on facebook and then bottle my jizz as a protein supplement and sell it exclusively on Amazon.com.

That alone would start the jizzdustrial age.

I have some backup I could contribute.

You've done enough.

:p

i'm reading book two in the oxford american history series. covers from 1789-1815. something jumped out at me-the feeling by most in the early days of forming our federal govt that citizens could rule themselves without much govt interference, without the govt 'knowing what's best' or 'what's good for us'-since many only knew about their own region, and not the larger country. i think we've really gotten away from that line of thinking. too many now believe the opposite, that the elite have our best interests at heart, and will take care of us.

those who ignore history.....

exactly. we depend way too much on the government now. It's like we cant think for ourselves.

Does anyone have their own thoughts anymore?

All I see are someone elses words and time worn bromides.




If you must suck..do it on NA.

"The Simpsons did it"

:rolleyes:

Not being an expert in economic matters, I can only list measures I'd like to see, cannot say their effect on economy.
1. Restructure tax system eliminating all loop holes, folks making $30,000 a year or less would pay no tax, families with $50,000 or less likewise, all others would be taxed at 25% up to income of $200,000, 35% for rest.
2. Institute a 2 year service requirement for all folks to be served immediately upon completion of high school or 18th birthday if not in school. No exclusions unless person is deemed physically or mentally unable to care for self.
3. Mandatory reduction of salaries/bonuses/benefits for CEO's, other upper management folks, professional sports figures...nobody makes more than a million a year.
4. Legalize marijuana, to be sold in government "stores" and grown on government farms, sold at price much lower than street cost.
5. Raise salaries of folks providing health care, especially nurses, techs, and those providing direct care to those folks who are disabled, sick or elderly. Universal health care for all citizens.
6. Term limits for all political offices (except Supreme Court)...Senators...2 terms, Reps...5 terms.

Boy, this is getting shallow.

1: Why 2 rates instead of one? One rate - total proportionality. No problem with the first $30,000 exempted for everybody though.

2: The service requirement would violate the 13th amendment, which banned slavery. Slavery can be defined, at a minimum, as mandatory labor without compensation, among many other bad things to go with it.

3: It is no concern of the government what individuals make in their own private enterprise. There is no maximum salary and never will be.

4: What would be the disincentive to abusing the drug? That crap is illegal for a reason. I don't want stoned airline pilots, surgeons, or accountants for that matter handling any aspect of my life. No thanks.

5: Get rid of ObamaCare and maybe the salary structure WOULD resemble more of a free market.

6: Like the term limit idea - but make both houses equal: 2 terms for senators, 6 terms for reps, so both are 12 years. 24 years total in Congress for the career politician. And those experienced people would make good presidential candidates.

really?? The goverment has to grow and sell it? the only thing the goverment should do is tax it.. not grow and sell it. Though G13 is quite nice.

more like No thanks to your not well informed opinion. Is it legal for an airline pilot to fly while drunk? is alcohol legal? legalizing pot DEFINATELY does not mean it will be legal for your pilot to fly stoned, use some common sense.

what is not right is you having an opinion on a naturally grown plant and wanted your opinion enforced on everyone else.

and the reasons it's illegal are probably not anywhere close to the reasons YOU THINK it's illegal.

how extremely un-American. there are other countries you can live in if you really think this is a good idea.

Not well informed? Tell me - what was the reason that marijuana was outlawed in the first place?

You're correct in it being a naturally occurring crop, so it must have been legal at one time. What was discovered about the side effects or the behavior brought about that made the government outlaw it, instead of just taxing the hell out of it like tobacco?

propaganda.

you should look into, Emporer wears no clothes, by Jack Herer.

and the tobacco industry is a big reason the drug is still illegal.

and as a conservative, dont you think people should make their own choices, instead of the government making it for them?

I could understand if the arguement was against crack cociane, but alcohol and tobacco are much more harmful for people than pot, and those things are legal and regulated.

No, I love this country and will remain here, thank you! As I said, don't know the effect on economy but think it's a good idea. There would be exceptions of course for income derived for innovations, sale of businesses etc. But I strongly believe no person deserves a yearly income of over a million for running big businesses or playing sports.

RE: two years of mandatory service constituting slavery....don't see that argument as I (and my father before me) was drafted into the military. Folks would be paid good salaries and would be assigned to a litany of occupations based solely on skills. The key is that EVERYONE would serve, not just the poor and others lacking the means of securing an exception (other than I noted).

Joey, would you be willing to read this article on Social Security? Especially the short paragraphs regarding benefit payouts and the trust fund?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_...ited_States%29

OOOOOOOOOO

"Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme" - False

http://www.politifact.com/texas/arti...-ponzi-scheme/

http://www.politifact.com/texas/stat...-ponzi-scheme/

http://www.politifact.com/rhode-isla...-ponzi-scheme/

The Social Security fund needs to be diversified. The Treasury needs to pay back its trillions in IOU's and allow the SS trust fund to be invested in a much safer, diversified portfolio including investments in American businesses, ie jobs! The Fed borrowing money from SS with the promise to pay it back is equivlent to Pascuale Ponzi borrowing from Mario Ponzi. Both should sound the same alarms.

If you love this country and what it stands for you would not make a statement like you do above. Stating that no one should make over $1 million a year is absolutely ridiculous. If you truly believe this you should probably move

:zz:

Damn glad it's not! We would have lost 1/3 of the funds' value in the past 10 years.

Never in a million years. "Safer"? Are you completely unfamiliar with the world? The stock market isn't "safer" . Investing in new business isn't "safer". That's simply absurd!

The fact is that Social Security is completely fine, and it's sound, conservative, safe investment in the United States of America will continue to pay out 100% of benefits as it always has in the past, without any changes, until 2032. The most successful and dependable social program in the world. Has never missed a payment.

At that point, if nothing is done, there is only enough money to pay out 78% of current benefits. That is something readily and simply fixed before 2032, with a small adjustment to the cap. That will continue the program safely and soundly for decades.