For some reason, I've though a lot about government this month, and my blog is reflecting that. I have one last set of thoughts to impart before returning to my normal posts of updates and pictures. December will be a busy month with travel, visitors, and end-of-school-semester recitals, so I'll have much to post. Today, my parting thoughts on government.
It helps to understand my perspective on the role of government. Most people spend their time arguing the finer points - how do we handle immigration law, what is a fair tax rate, should we allow gay marriage - without first agreeing on the broader concept of government's job. I prefer a government that operates in the black and white, leaving the gray issues to the private sector and non-profits. My view on the government's role, therefore, is quite simple: Defense of nation, inter-state commerce, representation internationally, and ensuring equal opportunity, all guided by the principle of majority rule with minority rights. With that as a framework, much of what we argue about - and fund - with government becomes moot.
Using that framework as a guideline, if I were King of the United States, I would do the following:
1) Nationalize health care....though not in a way anyone in the U.S. has yet proposed it. I like the Singapore model. Everybody pays out of pocket until they reach their income-determined deductible. For example, if you are earning $25,000/yr, you pay the first $2,500 of all your medical expenses and the government picks up the rest. If you earn $100,000/yr, you pay the first $10,000 of your medical expenses. I like this for several reasons. First, it forces people to be medical consumers. You'll shop for medical service the same way you shop for everything else (highest quality for lowest price), instead of by the oligopoly rules in place now whereby you randomly select someone on your insurer's provider list. By definition, this will create competition in the medical profession and drive down price. I've seen it first hand in Singapore. Second, because everyone is insured, the medical industry does not need to charge those who are insured quadruple market value to cover the cost of treating patients who will never pay. Further, not only are we lowering cost, we're freeing the medical care burden from corporations, making them more competitive in a global market. We're also not assuming control of the medical providers, so they remain free-market players and, operating in a more competitive environment, will need to innovate to attract patients. This is a win-win for everyone except insurance companies.
2) Invest in Infrastructure. If the role of government is to regulate and facilitate inter-state trade, we need our brightest minds defining and our first dollars funding an elite infrastructure to make inter-state trade as efficient as possible: High-speed railways, the world's safest air traffic control system, well built and maintained roads and bridges, an energy grid that can support and nurture technological advances in energy creation and the world's best communications infrastructure. We also need the raw materials (ie, natural resources) to provide the inputs for all of these efforts. Between spending money on infrastructure, and removing restrictions unrelated to human health (ie, water quality, air quality) on the extractive industries (oil, gas, mining), we will be creating jobs that cannot be transferred overseas. It is impractical to build a bridge in India and install it in Kentucky. It is impossible to mine in Mexico if the ore is in northern Minnesota. Australia today, where extractive industries are paying high school graduates $200,000/yr salaries, is a shining example of this plan in action. It works, and it keeps unemployment low.
3) Implement the Pickens Plan. I wouldn't normally endorse government supporting one industry over another. However, when national security interest are at stake, we all need to bend our rules for the greater good. Nothing is more dangerous to American lives than buying oil from Arab nations who hate us. Oil is our collective addiction. We cannot survive without it. As a result, our consumption of oil is giving terrorists the funding they need to coordinate attacks against us. Purchasing oil is funding our enemies. We have enough natural gas underneath US soil that if we converted all cars to run on CNG or LNG, we would no longer need to import oil, we would save money filling our tanks, and we would reduce emissions. A trifecta of quality-of-life improvements that makes resistance to this plan shameful. Write your Representatives today.
4) Replace entire tax structure with a national sales tax. I have long viewed a sales tax (aka - Transaction Tax) as the only fair and ethically justifiable tax. First, those who spend more (the wealthy) will pay more in tax. Second, imports are taxed, but exports are not. Third, if the role of government is to create environments conducive to the fair exchange of goods and services, its revenue should reflect the success of that environment. Fourth, we virtually eliminate the IRS. We'll be auditing businesses, not individuals - because individuals will not need to file tax returns! Finally, no loop holes. If you want to avoid paying tax, live off the grid and plant a garden for food. There is no other way to do it. The one argument against a sales tax is that it is regressive (poor people, who spend every dollar they earn, pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than do the wealthy, who spend a smaller percentage of their income). This is easily averted by not charging tax on certain food items or second-hand clothing.
5) Stop subsidizing college. What? Yes, stop subsidizing college. We're sending people to college who have no business attending. It's wasteful. We're encouraging people to spend $100,000 to obtain a degree required by professions that pay $30,000/yr. Further, college doesn't actually prepare anyone for a job. Many college degrees are just a key to the door of the rat race. What would be better - follow the lead of the legal and medical professions. Combine education with apprenticeships. Want to be an accountant? Take two years of foundational education classes, then apprentice for two years. Interested in Chemistry? Take three years of classes to learn scientific fundamentals and apprentice for three years. I do believe there is a place for higher education. I place a very high value on formal education....and a higher value on practical education. Let's stop kidding ourselves that every student in primary and secondary school today is potential college material. The reality is only 55% will attend, and a mere 30% will complete a degree. That means 25% of our population is wasting money - most of it government guaranteed loans. Two options: 1) Let the private sector and non-profit organizations play this role; they'll do a much better job getting a return on their educational dollar. 2) Pay for trade schools in addition to degree programs. That 25% is more likely to gain value from a trade school.
6) Term limits for all elected positions. Twelve years in an elected position is enough time for anyone. Elected office is not supposed to be a career. It's time to impose term limits on every elected office of no more than 4 terms, or twelve years, whichever comes first.
Other ideas I support:
1) Reduce the products available on Wall Street to stocks and bonds. You can either own a part of a company, or lend money to it. The days of betting on whether a stock will go up or down (options) or whether the option will go up or down (derivatives) should end. Brokers have become bookies.
2) Instead of building power plants exclusively, make every building add to the grid. Solar panels, wind turbines and spring coiled floors that generate electricity as people walk on and in every building will reduce emissions to generate energy.
3) Limiting annual budget to 103% of prior-year's revenue. The up cycles and down cycles should wash each other out in the long run.
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