Okay, everybody. We are facing a crisis. The nation is broke. Baby Boomers are about to retire in large numbers. We face a potential nuclear crisis. Education is awful.
So how would you fix the world, if you could? Here are my suggestions, in no particular order:
1. End funding for schools. Fund children, instead. Every parent gets a voucher equal to the amount spent on public schooling, which they can use wherever they want. New schools would start up: those specializing in the arts; those especially for those with learning disabilities; those really catering to the basics. If we had choices, schools would have an incentive to be good.
2. Abolish mandatory retirement. Encourage people to work well into their 70s by eliminating income tax on those over 65. (I'm not sure if this is a good idea; I'm just playing with it. And I know this isn't great in a recession with high unemployment, so maybe they could implement this in 5 years once the economy has recovered).
3. Get rid of Social Security the way it is and let people have control over their investment accounts. It would help the stock market rally and give people more potential gains. Social Security is going to go broke anyway the way it is now.
4. Make Medicare means tested more, but extend it to the working class. In other words, you pay a certain percentage as you are able, until a financial threshold where you pay the whole thing. Nobody should get anything for free, or else they abuse it (just look at my own nation of Canada).
5. Drill, baby, drill. End foreign dependence on oil and get oil prices down by fully exploiting North American resources. Work on alternative energy vehicles for sure. That would be great! But it's not coming tomorrow. So get oil prices down as fast as possible.
6. Make all benefits for seniors means-tested.
7. Think seriously about a flat tax. It spurs the economy in the countries where it's used, and imagine how easy it would be to file your income tax!
8. Pass a balanced budget amendment and get rid of deficits. Ask citizens what programs to cut! Get a website where people could put their top choices, and then have votes at each election! Let's cut the waste. And end earmarks, too.
9. Require that a certain percentage of the debt be paid down each year, so that it has the possibility of being paid off.
10. Cut waste. Term limit Senators and Representatives so they're not so worried about re-election and they may actually make some hard decisions.
11. Tell those who are 30 today that they better start saving for retirement, because the government WILL NOT bail them out or pay for their health care. Let's start a culture of savings and responsibility again.
Those are all the ideas I have. None of them would ever, in a million years, pass. What about you? Dream big! What would you do?
What do you know about the FairTax? IF you aren't familiar you should read up on it. The FairTax is a consumption tax, instead of a flat tax, it makes so much sense. There is a huge grassroots movement swelling up behind it. Having something like this would eliminate the politicians ability to manipulate the tax code in order to get votes, putting the real vote back into the hands of real people.
Wow. You know your stuff. How would I fix the world? Well, having lived overseas in a very crowded and impoverished culture, I think I would require everyone in America to expose themselves to extreme poverty at the age of 18...and let them live for a year or two with the frugal and simple practices of those cultures. Then, encourage them to take those practices and put them in place here.
Seriously, I think we just all think we need a lot of things that we don't.
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I am blogging about 5 unique ways to celebrate Easter this year and hope you'll come visit sometime.
1. If you want to have children you have to finish high school and go through parenting classes, and an FBI check, show you are financially capable....all the crap I had to do to adopt.
2. Ban smoking (why should I have my health care costs affected by something you choose to do when you know most likely it will give you cancer?)
3. Wastful spending in Washington...all politicians should have to take a class with a SAHM who is trying to feed 6 people with $10 a week. After that boot camp they probably wouldn't be buying hammers or toilet seats for $500 each.
4. Except for very few cases....even if you are on welfare...you don't participate or work you don't get $$$$.
5. You mess up and lose your kids to social services....you have 1, ONE....I SAID ONE chance to get them back....get your life together, get off drugs, stop the drinking...stop being so selfish and maybe you'll get your kids back.
6. Your budget idea....those same people need to work with the mom from #3 above.
7. All private jets should be available to VETS coming home to see their families and medivac flights.
I love your ideas and the ideas from the other commenters. It is sad that our politicians are so concerned about re-election that they won't make the changes necessary to get things turned around.
There are so many people on welfare now that if the trend does not change, they will outnumber those not on welfare. Then who do you think will get voted in? The people who will give more to people for free!
It is so important for us to really research the candidates for the elections and vote for the one who really stands for what you believe...even if that is a third party candidate or not the popular candidate. If more people did this rather than either not voting or voting against someone worse, I think it would really make a difference! 2.
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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What do you know about the FairTax? IF you aren't familiar you should read up on it. The FairTax is a consumption tax, instead of a flat tax, it makes so much sense. There is a huge grassroots movement swelling up behind it. Having something like this would eliminate the politicians ability to manipulate the tax code in order to get votes, putting the real vote back into the hands of real people.