#93 Fourteen Commonsense New Taxes

Issue #93 — Thursday, May 7, 2020

http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2020/05/93-fourteen-commonsense-new-taxes.html

Posted by Denny Hatch

THESE 14 COMMONSENSE NEW TAXES ARE NEEDED TO SALVAGE THE U.S. ECONOMY

     And What's More, Americans Will Love Them!

 
IN THE NEWS
Tensions Emerge Between Republicans
Over Coronavirus Spending and How to
Rescue the Economy
The economic havoc wreaked by the Coronavirus
pandemic is opening up a rift in the Republican
Party — as the Trump administration and some
GOP senators advocate for more aggressive
spending while senior party leaders say now
may be the time to start scaling back.
—Seung Min Kim
Washington Post, April 25, 2020 at 5:50 p.m. EDT 

The U.S. Is Sad—a Low-Taxed, Third-World Oligarchy. Millions Awake Every Morning with a Sense of Dread.
• 42 Million Americans Are Going Hungry—one out of seven.
• 30 Million Unemployed.
• Gun Violence Has Turned America into a War Zone.
• 27.4 Million Americans Have No Health Coverage
• The U.S. Ranks 54th  in the World in Life Expectancy.   
• 54,259 U.S. Bridges Are in Dangerous Disrepair.
• $300 Billion Needed to Replace America’s Ancient Water Pipes.
• U.S. Air Traffic Control Runs on 40-year-old Technology.
• Myriad Threats to America’s Power Grid—Cyber Attacks, Weather, Accidents.
• In 2017, Amazon Paid No Federal Tax on $5.6 Billion in Profits.
• All Americans Are Angry—at each other or at something!

                Citizens in the Happiest Countries
                Do Indeed Pay High, High Taxes.
Taxes enable people pool their money to buy necessities and luxuries they cannot afford on their own—guaranteed health care, safe bridges, beautiful roads, good schools and universities, hospitals, world-class airports, air and rail safety, clean water, police, fire protection, sanitation, first responders, national defense and competent international diplomacy. 
     Without these support systems, life is miserable.
    That's why residents of high-taxed countries wake up every morning happy. 

The Trillion-pound Gorilla Everyone Wants to Ignore
Click here on the US Debt Clock to see the exact trillions of dollars every U.S. citizen owes right now—this second. 

What Does $1Million/$1Billion/$1Trillion Look Like Stacked Up in $100 Bills?

As of May 4, 2020, We Owed $24.9 Trillion (In $100 bills, it's a stack 15,712 miles high.)
     • That’s $75,690.00 owed by every citizen (including every newborn baby).
     • That’s $201,168.00 owed by every taxpayer.    
     • Annual interest (debt service) on $24.9 trillion National Debt is around $300 billion a year and on course to quadruple to over $1.2 trillion a year.

The Key measurement Is Public Debt to GDP Ratio.
When the country owes more than the entire Gross Domestic Product—all the goods and services created annually—the situation is dire. 

The U.S. Has Been in Worse Financial Shape
This was the case in the 1940s and1950s following World War II when the country was mortgaged to the eyeballs in order to save ourselves and the world.
     It was dealt with then. We must deal with it with now.

  

Note the Above Chart—especially the date at left. This was the end of World War II when the national debt was $269.7Bbn ($3.7 Trillion in today’s dollars). We were deeper in debt in 1946 than we are today. The recent Coronavirus avalanche of rescue cash puts us roughly where we were in 1946.

The Only Fix: Oceans of Tax Money Pouring Into the U.S. Treasury for years to come.
The only way to get cash to pay this debt down is raising taxes.
     For America’s politicians, increased taxes are the third-rail—a political Coronavirus.
     The specter of raising taxes terrifies members of the Senate and the House. They all remember how six short words cost George H.W. Bush a second term: "Read my lips. No new taxes." Bush caved and taxed. He lost the presidency to Bill Clinton. 

 This 19-Point Financial Agenda Will Make America Great and Make Americans Happy.
#1 New Tax.  
Raise the Top Tax Bracket Back Up to 91%.

A 91% Tax Rate Sounds Onerous. It’s not.
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates agree the rich should pay more taxes. In addition, more than 400 millionaires urged Congress not to cut their taxes.
     As the chart above shows, the top tax bracket in 1948-1951 was 91%. The rich-rich did not pay a flat 91% of their income. The tax was graduated so that only income over $400,000 was taxed at the 91% rate. In today’s dollars, that $400,000 floor would be $4.3 million. 
     How much money do the rich-rich need to pay for their lifestyles? The average American Joe and Jane (99.5 percent of the population) could live very well today on a net income of $4.3 million a year.
     Put this another way: with 76.4 million taxpayers paying zero federal taxes and a 37% top U.S. federal income tax bracket, there is no way in heaven, here on earth or in Hades below the cataclysmic multi-trillion national debt will be paid down—ever.

#2 New Tax.
S.Q.U.A.T.
 Every human being in the U.S. (all 327 million of us and our pets) has the right to breathe. Air is free.
     But let's talk about machines—great and small—that gulp air, turning it into carbon emissions, greenhouse gasses and climate change wrecking the planet.
     From smallest motorized scooters and home heating units to trucks, buses, yachts, giant jet airliners and the oil-guzzling largest moving objects on the planet—cruise ships and oil tankers—suck up humongous amounts of air and spit out pollutants that are destroying the planet.
     They should be penalized—and taxed!

Academics Crow About “Emission Taxes and Carbon Credits.”
Here's the official definition:

"...a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas." 

     This is wooly-headed think-tank verbal gibberish.
     Let’s talk vast amounts of cash penalties streaming into the national till.
     These penalties are S.Q.U.A.T. — “Society’s Quantity Usurping of Air Tax.”
     If your machinery usurps more than your personal share of air, you pay S.Q.U.A.T. on the fuel you burn—a tax per gallon of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, heating oil and heavy fuel oil for ships.
     Fuel users will lobby hot and heavy against S.Q.U.A.T.—American Automobile Association, airlines, shipping companies, corporations, cities and states.
     Truth be known, the United States has the cheapest fuel—and taxes on that fuel—in the world.

In short, Americans have been spoiled for centuries, thanks to politicians’ fear of raising taxes and riling voters and big business. With S.Q.U.A.T., Americans will be joining the rest of the world (and making America Great again).
     Sure S.Q.U.A.T. is a tax. But it shows up in small incremental amounts when we pay at the pump, buy groceries and fork over our credit cards for airline tickets, retail goods and services. Everything becomes a tad more expensive. That must happen to pay down the debt.
     Note: Another huge source of pollutants and global warming: farts and poop of cattle and livestock. A way must be found to measure and tax these four-legged transgressors.

#3 New Tax.   
V.A.T. (Value Added Tax). 

Over 140 countries in the world—including all OECD countries—impose Value Added Taxes—a small tax on each link in the stages of manufacturing and services.
     Like S.Q.U.A.T., the slight increase in costs is hardly noticed.
     The only major country absent from the roster: The United States. 

#4 New Tax. 
Force All Corporations to Pay Federal Taxes. 
Sixty Fortune-500 Corporations paid no federal taxes in 2018. In 2018 Amazon paid no federal income taxes but also received a $129 million tax rebate from the federal government.

#5 New Tax.
Tax U.S. Corporations That Send Jobs Overseas.
These 15 corporations send thousands of U.S. Jobs abroad: Carrier, Morgan Stanley, IBM, Lowe’s, University of California, San Francisco, GE, Batesville Casket Company, PG&E, Mondelez International, AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, Rexnord, QVC, Illinois Tool Works.


#6 New Tax.
Tax U.S. Corporations That Have Left America. These 10 U.S. corporations moved overseas to avoid American Taxes: Burger King, Budweiser, Medtronic, Purina, McDermott, Seagate Technology, Good Humor, Frigidaire, Actavis/Allergan, Lucky Strike.


#7 New Tax.        
Every American Should Pay Something in Federal Taxes, Even if It's Only a Couple Bucks a Month. 
For example, Donald Trump reportedly lost $1.7 billion over ten years and paid no federal taxes during eight of those years. Yet he lived large like a mid-East 17^th century potentate in some of the priciest real estate in the world (e.g., Trump Tower, New York and Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida).
    Think of it! 76.4 million taxpayers pay no federal income taxes.
    If a person gets away without paying any taxes—for whatever reasons:
     • The system is being gamed and we are all being ripped off.
     • What’s more, paying no taxes is a nasty habit
     Will non-payers suddenly start paying taxes next year… and the next… and the next—even though circumstances have changed for the better?
     Not bloody likely! 

#8 New Tax.
Impose an Internet Federal Sales Tax on All Goods and Services Purchased on the World Wide Web. 

#9 New Tax.
Hundreds of Silly Tax Loopholes Must Be Identified and Eliminated. Some examples, no doubt dreamed up by industry lobbyists paying money to desperately poor politicians’ campaign funds and private PACs:
     • Yacht Deduction
     • 15 Days of Free Rental Income
     • Breast Augmentation Tax Deduction
     • Cat Food Deduction
     • Viva Las Vegas Tax Deduction
     • Home Office Deduction
     • 529 Plan Double Dip Loophole
     • Lifetime Learning Loophole
     • Personal Swimming Pool Deduction
     • Etcetera, etcetera and so forth.

#10 New Tax.
At Least $3 Trillion Should
Be Invested in Infrastructure. 
I remember April 2, 1980 when the Prime Rate (the lowest rate of interest at which money may be borrowed commercially) was a horrifying 20%. Today Prime is a low, low 3.25%. Money is cheap. It’s a great time to borrow.


What $1 Trillion in Infrastructure Will Buy 
According to The Boston Consulting Group one trillion dollars spent on infrastructure will result in the creation of “three million or more jobs over the next five years."
     Borrow $3 trillion. This means 9 million workers will be earning union wages, paying taxes, injecting a massive infusion of money into the economy and saving for retirement. By the time the infrastructure work is complete, America will take its place once again among First World countries:
     • 54,259 decrepit bridges will be safe to use.
     •100-year-old buried lead pipes would be replaced, meaning no more bursts and floods. No more “Flint Water”—all of which will cost billions to repair.
     • Interstates and local roads will be paved and safe.
     • Air and rail transportation will be modernized, efficient and safe.
     • Falling-down schools, hospitals and libraries will be refurbished and modernized.
     • The fragile power grids and Internet systems will be updated and safe from international hacking and the terror that would otherwise ensue.
     • The entire infrastructure system will eventually be paid off through tolls, bonds and taxes.
     • Every day Americans will savor the benefits of these improvements and wake up happy—many for the first time in their lives.

#11 New Tax.
America Spends Over $20 Billion Per Year on Fossil Fuel Subsidies.
  Abolish them.

#12 New Tax.
Kill Home Mortgage Interest Deductions Peggy and I are pensioners. We rent. Why should people with houses get to deduct their mortgages when we don't get to deduct any rent?

#13 New Tax.
Charge Tolls on the 48,181 Miles of Toll-free Interstate Highways.

#14 New Tax Cuts
Cut the Obscene Annual Budget That Funds the U.S. Government.
Budget Projections for FY 2020
Outlays        $4.7 Trillion
Revenues     $3.6 Trillion
Deficit          $1.1 Trillion

One example: Is the Military-Industrial Complex exempt and sacrosanct? Does the U.S. Navy really and truly need to spend $30 billion a year on 11 massive Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Task Forces roaming the seas carrying 80 jet fighters each?

Add These 5 Additional Items to the Financial Agenda

 #15.   
Legislate a National Minimum Wage of $15/hour with Regular COLAs.
This will help every Congressional District, raise incomes and bring in taxes.

#16.       
Pay $1000 a Month to Every American Over the Age of 18.
Look into presidential Candidate Andrew Yang’s Plan to Pay Every American Over eighteen years of age—regardless of income or employment status— $1,000 a month.
       With the avalanche of revenue coming into the federal government via taxes #1 - #14 above, the Yang plan is possible.
     Here’s why it makes sense:

#17.       
Universal Health Care Is a Right, Not a Privilege.
Every citizen must be guaranteed affordable health care, with pre-existing conditions.
     The Yang $1000 a month should enable every American family to get that nagging fear out of their lives as well as putting money back into the system.

#18.           
American Lives Are Ripped Apart by Financial Horrors.
With 30 million people thrown out of work in the Coronavirus calamity, millions of hard-working families suddenly had to rely on free food.
• 78% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.
• 40% of Americans cannot handle a $400 surprise emergency.
    The Yang $1000 a month would get basic food on the table in the case of a sudden calamity.

#19.                  
 What Else Can Be Taxed?
All suggestions—no matter how outré—are welcome.

Takeaways to Consider 

• The federal budget was balanced just once in the past 50 years. In 2008 there was no deficit and a wee bit of the national debt was repaid.

• We fixed the system after WWII in the 1940s and 1950s.

• We did it in 2008—2009 after the Subprime Mortgage debacle.

• With 76.4 million taxpayers paying zero federal taxes and a 37% top U.S. federal income tax bracket, there is no way in heaven, here on earth or in Hades below the cataclysmic multi-trillion National Debt will be paid down—ever.

• Congress must be convinced raising taxes is the only way to bring in revenue to pay down the obscene National Debt.

• This is the great P.R. Challenge of our time—convincing the voters to convince Congress that raising taxes is a win-win deal.

• Donald Trump's boast that "We built the greatest economy in the world" rings very hollow when you visualize the National Debt of $24.9 Trillion as a stack of $100 bills 15,712 miles high.

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