In the first post of this series, I outlined what a progressive tax system should look like. I mentioned that fairly taxing the richest individuals and corporations among us would raise a lot of money for the US government. One thing that this money should be spent on is a Universal Health Care or Medicare For All program.
Warning: This post is going to be intense! If you get confused, just remember that health insurance companies are like fictional character Gordon Gecko in Wall Street (great movie, by the way):
Gordon Gecko would argue that having private companies offer health insurance policies, is the best health care system. That is what the US currently has. Let's see how that's working for us:
Showing posts with label Progressive Values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Progressive Values. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Progressive Values, Part I: A FairTax System
I will be doing a series over the next few weeks called Progressive Values. In it, I will present the case for a progressive point of view on all sorts of different issues, including: Taxes, Education, "National Defense", the Financial Sector, and Transportation.
Warning: the rest of this post is about taxes, so here is a Beatles song to get you through:
Since George W. Bush became president, the US government has not raised enough tax revenue to fund its programs, and the US National Debt is currently over $14 trillion (trillion - that's twelve zeroes after the 14!). The tax system as a whole is regressive, with Warren Buffett and Fortune 400 members having a lower tax rate than their secretaries. In addition, many corporations like GE pay little to nothing in taxes.
Since the 80's, however, the average Americans' income has stayed the same, and they have had to contend with rising costs of housing, education, food, transportation, and childcare. If you are already rich, it is easy to invest your money and earn even more money. But if you don't have very much right now, it's hard to even pay your bills, not to mention get ahead and save money. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, we can do better than that!
Warning: the rest of this post is about taxes, so here is a Beatles song to get you through:
Since George W. Bush became president, the US government has not raised enough tax revenue to fund its programs, and the US National Debt is currently over $14 trillion (trillion - that's twelve zeroes after the 14!). The tax system as a whole is regressive, with Warren Buffett and Fortune 400 members having a lower tax rate than their secretaries. In addition, many corporations like GE pay little to nothing in taxes.
Since the 80's, however, the average Americans' income has stayed the same, and they have had to contend with rising costs of housing, education, food, transportation, and childcare. If you are already rich, it is easy to invest your money and earn even more money. But if you don't have very much right now, it's hard to even pay your bills, not to mention get ahead and save money. The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, we can do better than that!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)