So there is an idea among Democrats that in order to get a jobs bill we need it packed with projects from republican districts. In effect, get them to have to vote against new jobs in their own district or in fact vote FOR a jobs bill. I see the strategy in this, but any jobs bill needs to transform our country into the most cutting edge nation on the planet.
We cannot just fund pork projects from red states for jobs, but have a clear idea of what we want out country to look like once the projects are done. We need a vision people will believe in, not some Washington BS. I think we need a jobs bill that has carefully vetted projects that all follow an agreed upon maxim: will we be a more competitive country after the project is done.
Maybe the bill requires each congressional committee to come up with 1 national project, each region (South East, North East, Mid-West, South West & Texas, & North West & Mountain) of the country has the governors come up with 1 grand project each for each region. And each federal department comes up with 1 idea. Each idea gets an up or down vote. Each project has to focus on modernizing our society for the 21st century.
I think we also need a televised presentation from each committee or group submitting the ideas to the country. Not just to the congressional committee, but to the public, maybe even have a Q & A session with an audience made from a lottery system to get people involved.
Then 2 days after the forum, Congress would vote on the project. Once the vote was over the next project would be presented and so on and so forth. Each committee would be bi-partisan and each project would most likely not have pork if we conducted it this way.
Just an idea inspired - sort of - by the debt super committee, but more so by the idea that America has lost faith in our own government and that we need to rebuild confidence in it!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
New York needs our own WPA
So I have been doing some research on my hero FDR and what I think NYC needs most of all right now is our very own version of the WPA.
It lasted for 8 years and hired 8 million people during that time. It employed unskilled workers to carry out public works projects including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community in the United States had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency.
Let's start funding a New York Based film industry and get all these actor's employed. Let's get architecture firms to submit competing designs for a new fabulous Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp. Let's clean the Gowanus Canal. Let's feed our children both lunch & breakfast at school for free. Let's hire cooks to feed our school children home cooked meals instead of packaged grossness. Let's rebuild the Kosciusko Bridge and a 2nd Ave Subway line. Or better, let's create 4 new subway lines and update the rest. Let's hire artists to design statues, monuments, & murals to the achievements of the past 70 years. Let's hire writers to document the modern day immigration stories & neighborhood transformation stories.
FDR did like a balanced budget and felt that federal employees had to take a 15% pay cut a well as a similar pension cuts. We do have some inequities in pension rules that could be changed for our police, teachers and city employees, but we also could revamp our bidding systems for public projects so we get the best value for our investments. Also, all new employees worked no more than 30 hours per week.
As for new revenues, I suggest a commuter tax for people driving into the city to work. London created one while I lived there and street traffic lessened as well public transportation ridership increased!
New York has the talent and resources to make something like this work. We are over 8 million strong with 704,000 unemployed as of June 2011 (not sure July numbers yet). Let's hire 100,000 people and make a dent in it!
It lasted for 8 years and hired 8 million people during that time. It employed unskilled workers to carry out public works projects including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community in the United States had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency.
Let's start funding a New York Based film industry and get all these actor's employed. Let's get architecture firms to submit competing designs for a new fabulous Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp. Let's clean the Gowanus Canal. Let's feed our children both lunch & breakfast at school for free. Let's hire cooks to feed our school children home cooked meals instead of packaged grossness. Let's rebuild the Kosciusko Bridge and a 2nd Ave Subway line. Or better, let's create 4 new subway lines and update the rest. Let's hire artists to design statues, monuments, & murals to the achievements of the past 70 years. Let's hire writers to document the modern day immigration stories & neighborhood transformation stories.
FDR did like a balanced budget and felt that federal employees had to take a 15% pay cut a well as a similar pension cuts. We do have some inequities in pension rules that could be changed for our police, teachers and city employees, but we also could revamp our bidding systems for public projects so we get the best value for our investments. Also, all new employees worked no more than 30 hours per week.
As for new revenues, I suggest a commuter tax for people driving into the city to work. London created one while I lived there and street traffic lessened as well public transportation ridership increased!
New York has the talent and resources to make something like this work. We are over 8 million strong with 704,000 unemployed as of June 2011 (not sure July numbers yet). Let's hire 100,000 people and make a dent in it!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Not just Debt, but Jobs
While I do not trust the downgrade by the S&P ratings agency at all, the conversation they bring up about our government's ineffectual policies regarding the economy are pretty good. We are at logger-heads with each other over how best to become financially sound.
Wise investors frequently say that one should buy low and sell high, but to trust that the markets will always be trending higher over time - I believe this and do my best to have enough cash on hand to invest during these down markets. America does have cash right now, the highest earners have been stock piling cash and so have our corporations. It is time to use this American capital to invest in our future.
If they refuse to invest in private companies or donate to charities or expand operations, the economy will languish. I suggest, that if by a certain point capital remains in their hands, we have a temporary 1 year tax increase to pay for infrastructural investment in America - not just roads and bridges, but high-speed rail, Superfund Clean-up, Airport security upgrades, Smart Passports, Smart Grids, Wireless access to the internet in every community for free, etc.
We need to make America the most advanced society imaginable and if the private sector refuses to do it on its own, America can and will make it happen. And in return we will get JOBS JOBS JOBS. Many of these contracts will go to American companies, so they should fiercely compete for the projects. They might see a 1% flat increase to their corporate taxes (no deductions allowed), but they probably will get more work from the projects.
As well I would propose a 1% increase in taxes for those making over $1 million a year. The last time we saw this amount of concentrated wealth in America, museums were endowed, schools built, research funded... now it seems like we get nothing.
This is a temporary tax for 1 year with a vote to extend each year. The project chosen must be within the total budget of what is taxed so we do not increase the debt and each project will be judged like the "race to the top" program. As well, we will give companies and individuals 3 months to invest on their own in America, if enough jobs are not created in that period then the bill goes into effect and we put America back to work.
I'd like to see ideas like this floating around, so that not only are we fiscally responsible in paying for the jobs bill, but that there is a jobs bill in the first place. Right now we can secure some great pricing for these investments and buy all these upgrades at a low cost, but the value once the economy regroups will be essential to compete in this new global economy.
Wise investors frequently say that one should buy low and sell high, but to trust that the markets will always be trending higher over time - I believe this and do my best to have enough cash on hand to invest during these down markets. America does have cash right now, the highest earners have been stock piling cash and so have our corporations. It is time to use this American capital to invest in our future.
If they refuse to invest in private companies or donate to charities or expand operations, the economy will languish. I suggest, that if by a certain point capital remains in their hands, we have a temporary 1 year tax increase to pay for infrastructural investment in America - not just roads and bridges, but high-speed rail, Superfund Clean-up, Airport security upgrades, Smart Passports, Smart Grids, Wireless access to the internet in every community for free, etc.
We need to make America the most advanced society imaginable and if the private sector refuses to do it on its own, America can and will make it happen. And in return we will get JOBS JOBS JOBS. Many of these contracts will go to American companies, so they should fiercely compete for the projects. They might see a 1% flat increase to their corporate taxes (no deductions allowed), but they probably will get more work from the projects.
As well I would propose a 1% increase in taxes for those making over $1 million a year. The last time we saw this amount of concentrated wealth in America, museums were endowed, schools built, research funded... now it seems like we get nothing.
This is a temporary tax for 1 year with a vote to extend each year. The project chosen must be within the total budget of what is taxed so we do not increase the debt and each project will be judged like the "race to the top" program. As well, we will give companies and individuals 3 months to invest on their own in America, if enough jobs are not created in that period then the bill goes into effect and we put America back to work.
I'd like to see ideas like this floating around, so that not only are we fiscally responsible in paying for the jobs bill, but that there is a jobs bill in the first place. Right now we can secure some great pricing for these investments and buy all these upgrades at a low cost, but the value once the economy regroups will be essential to compete in this new global economy.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Benghazi
I did not approve either the war in Iraq or the War in Afghanistan (I protested and marched against each), however I do support the Spring uprisings across the Middle East. If we want to have any influence over these new countries (maybe encourage some equal rights for women, etc), we should be that beacon of democracy in the background ready to help these grassroots efforts.
It is hard to say what America can or should do for these countries or how best to support these nascent democracies. But I find kinship with the people of Benghazi and the cities of Libya. As a New Yorker, I see the Statue of Liberty from my office window and know I am blessed to have been born with rights - this is not something I should horde, but promote!
We cannot live in a vacuum, that being said, we must also help where we can best provide long-term stability: win the war not the batter. New York City is in a unique position to help, we have done so in the past in Iraq. We need to offer free police training to leaders in Benghazi. Fly them over in 2 week shifts for leadership training. At the end of the day, these new countries will need to be able to keep unified through a police force, not a military. This will also have the added benefit of creating trust between these new leaders and our nation. They will also see a successful diverse police force with both women in men in action - just being here will influence how they choose to form a government, a society. We should not be outsourcing just our pop-music and guns to Libya, but instead our core values of equal rights and a respect for our fellow citizens.
NYC is blessed to have the best trained police force in the world. We specialize in combating urban violence and maintaining a sanctuary where local commerce can operate even under the most high stress environments. These are skill these insurgents need to topple Tripoli, win this war, and maintain peace once it ends. I don't see why we cannot lend this sort of aid.
It is hard to say what America can or should do for these countries or how best to support these nascent democracies. But I find kinship with the people of Benghazi and the cities of Libya. As a New Yorker, I see the Statue of Liberty from my office window and know I am blessed to have been born with rights - this is not something I should horde, but promote!
We cannot live in a vacuum, that being said, we must also help where we can best provide long-term stability: win the war not the batter. New York City is in a unique position to help, we have done so in the past in Iraq. We need to offer free police training to leaders in Benghazi. Fly them over in 2 week shifts for leadership training. At the end of the day, these new countries will need to be able to keep unified through a police force, not a military. This will also have the added benefit of creating trust between these new leaders and our nation. They will also see a successful diverse police force with both women in men in action - just being here will influence how they choose to form a government, a society. We should not be outsourcing just our pop-music and guns to Libya, but instead our core values of equal rights and a respect for our fellow citizens.
NYC is blessed to have the best trained police force in the world. We specialize in combating urban violence and maintaining a sanctuary where local commerce can operate even under the most high stress environments. These are skill these insurgents need to topple Tripoli, win this war, and maintain peace once it ends. I don't see why we cannot lend this sort of aid.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
International News can be responded to locally
I am writing to provide a forum for local ideas that can either solve, prevent or respond to international, national, or statewide issues on a local level. Our TV often tells us that most political decisions that affect us are from the local level and if we are to combat local issues, we need to tackle these larger issues beyond trash clean-up and potholes (though these are very important as well).
So for the rest of the year, I am going to try and give a solution to the day's issues. Right now the stock markets are in free fall and the DOW lost 512 points! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/business/markets.html?hp
Here is today's Goal:
Prevent stocks from free falling, in order to halt a confidence caused recession
Here is my solution:
Pass a law allowing all investors over 55 to avoid capital gains on the first $50,000 profits from investments. This will encourage Baby Boomers and retirees (who have the most net worth) to really keep their money in equities because of this tax shelter. As well it is basically a tax break for the middle class. The side-affect is that CT & NJ residence might move to NY for the tax haven benefit it provides.
If this passed quickly in a bi-partisan manner in such a huge state like NY, it would make national news. We need to encourage investment in equities to show confidence in our economy. Another side affect is that Retirees and Baby Boomers are no longer "saving" money, they will spend this extra income on travel, gifts for children & grand children, & it could make the difference and allow a couple to feel more confident in buying a second home. ]
We would also write the law in a way that people making over $100,000 in profits from Capital Gain, do not get this tax benefit. The spirit of this is to help the middle class, while encouraging more investment in the US Stock Market.
So for the rest of the year, I am going to try and give a solution to the day's issues. Right now the stock markets are in free fall and the DOW lost 512 points! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/business/markets.html?hp
Here is today's Goal:
Prevent stocks from free falling, in order to halt a confidence caused recession
Here is my solution:
Pass a law allowing all investors over 55 to avoid capital gains on the first $50,000 profits from investments. This will encourage Baby Boomers and retirees (who have the most net worth) to really keep their money in equities because of this tax shelter. As well it is basically a tax break for the middle class. The side-affect is that CT & NJ residence might move to NY for the tax haven benefit it provides.
If this passed quickly in a bi-partisan manner in such a huge state like NY, it would make national news. We need to encourage investment in equities to show confidence in our economy. Another side affect is that Retirees and Baby Boomers are no longer "saving" money, they will spend this extra income on travel, gifts for children & grand children, & it could make the difference and allow a couple to feel more confident in buying a second home. ]
We would also write the law in a way that people making over $100,000 in profits from Capital Gain, do not get this tax benefit. The spirit of this is to help the middle class, while encouraging more investment in the US Stock Market.
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