my connection with the tea party

[kandrathe]

The Democrat and Republican split in core values in the US really sucks. There just isn't anything completely appealing about either party to the majority of the citizens. The super-rich love the Republicans for low taxes, but the really poor want Democrats for social programs. Everyone else is stuck between the two, and they have people from both sides yelling at them that their system is better.

Well, that is the soap they are trying to sell. Democrats demogogue the Republicans as "for the rich", and Republicans demogogue the Democrats as "peddling more unfunded social programs". They are sometimes right, and mostly wrong. In the end, both sides get painted with their negative brush.

Income taxes are too high, and way too high depending on where you live. The worst is probably NYC, with high local, county, and state taxes -- on top of the federal taxes. Middle class people cannot afford to live and work there anymore. On Manhattan, the average weekly wage is $1453, whereas the average in Sioux City, Iowa is $720.

Generally, tax money is mismanaged and services end up duplicated at every level creating a maze for program participants to navigate, and additional overhead costs at every level. Couple that with the propensity of our elected officials to consider tax money as free to spend on whatever tickles their fancy, pays off their contributors, or influences their re-election chances. I'm offended when they take my money and spend it, or waste it frivolously. I worked hard to earn it, and they didn't. So, they should at least respect the hard working people who paid the taxes. In spirit, I think the Tea Party represents a reclaiming of the American Revolutionary goals of creating a place different from one dominated by the tyranny of oppressive controls over their lives and livelihoods. They wanted to be "free" to engage in business with King George taking away all the profits or regulating who could and could not participate.

I'm not sure why people obsess about the top 2%, or millionaire taxes. If they earned the money legitimately, what is the difference between the hard working farmer, the hard working lawyer, or the hard working investor/entrepreneur? Mostly, they probably used their brain power, took some risks with their own money, and beat the odds to come out pretty well off. I've said this before, but I feel our government has reduced social mobility and made it more difficult for "anyone" to grab that brass ring. We need to make it easier for people to improve their station, and we can only do it by creating more opportunities and allowing people more control over their income. I want the US to house the most number of billionaires, and this should be the place where entrepreneurs should be looking to begin their enterprises. We should encourage growth of the size of the entire economic pie, allowing each person a larger slice. But, also we should discourage exploitation of people and the environment, both by corporate and colluding government interests.

Another problem is that the higher in the system hierarchy tax rates are set, the more unfair they become (federal > state > county > local). Why? Because our economies are so very different depending on where you live. A bank guard living on Long Island can hardly make it on $150,000 per year salary, but in a very rural town $150,000 might be the bank managers salary, and the guard gets $40,000. Yet, we set a federal tax rate based on income regardless of that persons cost of living.

My planks for fixing the federal level;

1. Draw down the size of the standing military, rely more on reserves, and state national guards. Turn over most of the world policing to the regional allies who have a larger stake. Collapse the empire.
   
2. Repeal the "Patriot Act" or modify it to not authorize spying on citizens and de-facto data collection.
   
3. I'd like to eliminate income tax entirely, and implement a flat tax on capital gains. I feel strongly that income taxes curtail a persons ability to better their lives. People need need to have the ability to accumulate their earnings if they are going to "invest" in their future. Taxes are better places upon consumption of manufactured items which also curbs consumerism, and an economy built upon a pyramid of excessive living.
   
4. Eliminate government subsides, and implement a fair low tariff on all imported goods to cover port and border security.
   
5. Poverty levels are set by Zip code, or census tract. Something small enough to capture the differences in local economies. The "poor" register at their county, and if below the poverty level do not pay sales tax, those within 2x poverty line pay a reduced rate. Their "discount" status could be encoded in their ID cards.
   
6. For non-poverty government services, costs need to be calculated and charged back to those who use the services.
   
7. Base road usage taxes on odometer readings. Tampering with an odometer is illegal already, so just allow people to report their odometers at purchase, sale, scrap and periodically (quarterly or yearly).
   
8. Corporate taxes would be set as the average corporate taxes of the worlds lowest 10 nations.
   
9. Each person would be required to have an tax free savings account (similar to an IRA, 10-15% of payroll) that the individual sets up with their bank when they begin working.
   
10. Peg the value of the dollar to the average price of a basket of precious commodities. This is not a volatile as a gold standard, yet eliminates the Federal Reserve and Treasury departments fiat currency shenanigans.
    
11. The Social Security retirement age would be the national average life expectancy minus 10 years, adjusted every 3 years. Transition Social Security to draw from the individuals tax free "Life account". Limit outlay payments to local cost of living, as some multiplier based on local poverty rate (e.g. 1.5x, or 2x). Whatever is unused at death goes into the pool to help underfunded retirees, after $250K (or whatever) goes to each of your dependents accounts.
    
12. Medicare would be a voucher system, and would draw from the individuals tax free "Life account".
    
13. College costs would drawn from the tax free "Life account", and allowed to go negative up to 4x national average yearly tuition, room, and board.
    
14. Eliminate at the federal level departments that are administered at the state level such as; Education, Housing, Energy, Agriculture, etc.
    
15. Privatize municipal airports, and turn over security to the airlines. Eliminate the failed TSA, and allow the airlines to determine the best methods for preventing terrorism.
    
16. End the war on drugs, the war of poverty, and all the other losing battles against concepts. Treat all drugs equally, and tax them according to their level of societal harm.
    
17. Eliminate inheritance taxes. The negative effects of disrupting family owned businesses are not worth the administrative hassles of trying to fine tune who gets tapped. Social mobility occurs over generations, therefore by restricting inheritance obviously limits generational social mobility.

I'm sure I could think of more, but that is just off the top of my head. The gist of the plan is that entitlements are self funded, and the minority of "poor" and long-lived elderly get taken care of by the spill over from the larger pool of "normal" people. The government is *really* bad at managing our individual medical and retirement affairs. They end up giving us poorer choices at far higher costs.

My concept is that we create a system where everyone funds their own education, their own medical costs, and their own retirement. Those things that we need at the federal level are paid for by a combination of tariffs, low (competitive) corporate taxes, flat tax on capital gains, and a national sales tax (exempt for those who are below the poverty line, and perhaps reduced for those within 2x the poverty level). We really *do* want to tax consumption rather than income, because for the planets sake, we need to discourage consumption and encourage income (and savings).

The fact of the matter is that the government is made up of really rich people and is lobbied by really rich people. I have a hard time believing that "governing" is their first priority.

So, then if we make government a very slim slice of the pie and get the money and power out of government it will be less attractive to the rich and power hungry. Ah, but then you might wonder that without government hindering corporations, and watch dogging the rich people they would get away with all manner of harms. I'd say that often they are doing it now, only with the aid of the state apparatus which adds the coercion of government force. Such as, mandating everyone buy certain types of products. The way to keep government power in check is to eliminate it wherever possible, and relinquish the power back to the populace.