Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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"The Clean Slate Bill" by The Righteous Reverend It has been a couple of years since I have corresponded with you fine people, mostly due to the overwhelming feelings of negativity towards the various things that have occurred in this our country. Most of those brought about by the failure of the "so-called" leadership" to notice or even care about the plight of the common citizenry. However, once more I feel the need to put finger to keyboard and send you my views.
My modest proposal is for an addendum to the rescue plan with the working title of "The Clean Slate Bill". Under this proposal, one million dollars would be distributed to each and every taxpaying American citizen. There would be no income tax levied against this amount, however owed taxes could and would be subtracted, as well as owed monies for repayment of education grants and loans. Perhaps even an addition of a half a million for each dependent up to five million in total, with the back and owed taxes paid there would be immediate revenue into the Governments coffers. Now I admit this would be a radical and unheard of action. Right off the bat some would say the monies would be squandered and ill spent and certainly some of those funds would be. However, people who have lost their jobs, homes and businesses and who are awash with debt would try for the most part to pay their debts and feed, house and clothe their families, first and foremost. This would eliminate the burden on the state welfare system, along with local and state run food banks and shelters. Not all, but the vast majority of people would try to pay off their debts so as not to have the pall of doom hanging over their heads. The majority of people would try to place their families and themselves in a better position to weather this economic storm that has been brought about by lack of oversight and deregulation. This is not a "get-rich-quick-scheme". I have spent the better part of the last two weeks thinking about this and discussing it with a variety of different people, and while I lack the correct figures here are some "givens" to consider. First, a percentage of the people would squander and spend the money without thought of what tomorrow would bring. So what? If even one third of the money was spent on new cars, big screens, iPods, clothes and numerous other types of bling, this would still send an enormous amount of capital into the free market. People would need to stock shelves, transport goods, manufacture those goods to be sold in stores that are currently doing very poor business. New stores might have to be built to deal with the amount of demand for such trivial needs. Yes, I have considered that there would be a percentage of people that would take the million and claim they don't need to work, and they would be fools. Some would quit their jobs, thus opening up a space for another unemployed person to fill. Some might pursue a high education or even start their own business. This would create jobs, whether it was in the marketing sector, construction or just in the need for more sales clerks. Second, a lot of people who were at risk of losing their family home would pay off their mortgage, as well as their car loan and credit card bills. This would directly help the "big banks" by freeing up what had been bad debts and thereby unlocking the frozen credit market. Perhaps some people may even invest into the stock market -- it would be better for the individual to invest in money markets but hey, you never know. Third, there would be a drop in the crime rate. From various sources on the net and local papers, the rate of theft, robbery and home invasions have been creeping up, probably due mostly to the strain of no jobs and no money. Crime did soar during the Great Depression of the thirties. The Clean Slate Bill could even have an addition to ease the cost to tax payers for the housing of criminals by granting to the prison systems access to the monies that the inmates would receive, thus allowing for the expense of housing and caring for the inmate to be deducted from their million. This would truly make the inmate "pay" for his/her crime. I do realize that this is not a perfect solution by any means, however I feel as if I have spent more time and given more thought to the situation then the current administration or Congress has. There would be downsides, as there are with every solution. Some people as I said earlier would stop working. But remember a million doesn't really go that far, so in the long run they would eventually need jobs. Some would refuse to pay their debts, however I feel that if even half of the mortgages and credit debits were paid our economy would swing upwards. I still have faith, although somewhat diminished, that the average person is at heart good and well-meaning. Most want to live without fear of losing what little they have remaining, and these are the people who would do what must be done, pay what must be paid and thus make it better for the whole. I also realize that with a glut of over 250-million millionaires that eventually prices would be driven upwards as well. But with economic hardship still fresh in their minds, the majority would be better prepared, better supplied to weather the storm. You and many others might view this so-called "Clean Slate Bill" as a joke, but in view of the massive bailout to the thieves and true criminals of Wall Street, this plan would be not but a drop in the bucket that might inspire someone, grant someone the funds and resources to correct and finally solve this problem. Perhaps one day America would again stand as a leader in the world with her head held high. I thank you fine people again for bearing with me on my long winded soapbox in the fantasy land that I call my mind. Always in my prayers, sincerely, The Righteous Reverend PERMANENT LINK  | Latest entry | Recent entries | Older entries | |
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