Centerpiece of 2016 GOP platform: Heritage Foundation's "The Plan." (minimum wage, salaries)
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Really? Well we have seen American liberalism fail epicly with the unaffordable health care act. Along with almost every other program, ideal, and view point.
It's not just nutty, it's WHOLLY INSANE to try to "shore up" rank stupidity.
It's time to END all of these things.
I don't know why you waste your time. Social security, Medicare, and safety nets for the poor aren't going anywhere. You can sit in you bedroom and get your giggity's from Ron Paul and Hayek all you want but if you sincerely think that safety nets for the elderly and poor are going anywhere then you've lost your mind.
Obamacare isn't designed to control cost. It's a non-starter from the get-go. The program was a failure the second it was drawn out. The uninsured population isn't the problem...rising costs are. Obamacare does nothing to address rising costs. It's a bandaid on a tumor.
The link below is to an economic plan by Heritage that will balance the federal budget within one decade, reduce the debt to 30% of GDP within 25 years and put it on a pace to continue falling, cut the size of the federal government by 25%, and reform the tax code substantially.
I'll sumarize the basics of the plan but feel free to read through the link below.
Caution...the entire plan is a little long...about 55 pages but it is worth a read...if nothing else to debate it.
If nothing...read the bold points and check the charts at the end of the PDF.
Social Security: means test benefits (wealthy older citizens receive no benefit), raise the eligibility age for participation, incentivize workers to stay in the labor force longer by allowing them to retain a higher % of after tax income after they reach the retirement age, and transition SS into more of a social insurance policy against poverty as opposed to a retirement plan.
Medicare: It is currently facing a 75 year unfulfilled liability in excess of $30 trillion. The heritage plan involves means testing and premium support, price transparency, incentives for savings on basic, predictable treatments....etc. The website is a better source for this one...there are a lot of details listed on the link.
Health Care Reform: The Plan calls for the repeal of the ACA and inserts the following as sustainable solutions to healthcare: Remove the tax advantage status of employer provided healthcare and require that all healthcare be listed as taxable income. Businesses will start dropping insurance in lieu of higher salaries. This will create a more robust market for health insurance in the private market and will significantly limit the people that we see dropped because of pre-existing conditions because people won't have insurance tied to their place of employment. By removing this tax break the Plan introduces tax credits for families to purchase healthcare on the private market. The tax credit is 2k for a single or 3500 for a family of four. For very low income people that don't qualify for Medicaid, with no tax liability the advanceable credit would by up to 5500. The plan calls for empowerment of non-physician providers like NP's and PA's, mandated price transparency by health care providers to create competition, and dismantling interstate barriers on purchasing insurance policies
Other major spending reforms: Privatize most federal highway spending...as it stands the under the Federal Highway Program, Washington taxes fuel at 18.3 cents/gallon and takes a large admin fee and then sends it to the state with strings attached...the tax should be cut and sent straight to the states, work to cut defense spending, means test farm subsidies for higher income farmers and institute Farm Savings Accounts, return spending on community job training, economic development, environmental and justice training to the state level, and federal asset sales (the federal government owns massive swaths of commerical land in the West, power generation facilities, underutilized commerical real estate, and other financial assets. Heritage calcultated this could add an additoinal 300 Billion dollars to the balance sheets for property and assets that are being underutilized.
Tax Rates: Flat rate at 25% for individuals and businesses, fewer deductions/credits (higher education, mortgage interest, and charitable donations.) The plan also provides protection for low income earners. Current law hits low income earners hard...the Plan rolls all into the single 25% rate. It then eliminates any all income tax owed through the health insurance credits. In addition...the Earned Income Credit is retained and the calculation of taxable incomes exclude all cash and non-cash benefits like food stamps, and other anti-poverty programs.
More people should care. Because these policies represent sustainability...not deficits that push us to the edge of financial collapse.
Read up on the concept of "exorbitant privilege". The US is the global reserve currency with no other currency remotely close to up ending it, despite what you've heard from talking heads at the Heritage Foundation.
With all do respect, the deficits really don't matter that much and haven't for a long time. The far right wing does more damage to this country and its by harping and crowing about "deficits" and shutting down the government than could be done if we added another 15 trillion to the actual deficit.
There is no sustainability in the sense you talk about right now, there won't be. most nations already all have an unrepayable amount of debt that will be shuffled or inflated away. The idea of actually paying it back is quaint, but unrealistic. Its all a confidence game at this point and republicans are doing their best to destroy global financial confidence in the US with their actions.
"the plan" is a joke and would do far more harm to this country than if the president quadrupled the national debt. Good thing no one takes the HF seriously.
Stopped reading at Heritage Foundation. The Koch brothers suddenly care about balancing the US budget? LOL They just want to keep taxes low and carbon emissions/climate change in the basement. This plan is also as much a fantasy as Rand Paul's ludicrious budget.
But the reality is the nanny state will never ever be abolished and with that in mind the only thing that is left is too propose reforms. I am with you I would love nothing better then the federal gvt getting out of the nanny state bussiness. And leaving it too the states if they so choose to have their own social programs with their own rules and regulations. But then there is reality.
Reality is that it HAS to be done, if we don't intend to endure national economic annihilation and currency collapse. There are no other options. It's do it, or doom our kids to third-world barbarism.
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