Directed Tax per use

Cold medicine seems to be triggering my creative juices, so I decided to write. Anyway, we hear or read often about how unfair our tax system it is, many of us think, if only there was a better system. Conservatives say people at top 20%, those who earn through hard work and innovation, pay 80% of the tax. Liberals say people become become rich by taking advantage of the system and services (government funded universities, infrastructure, low cost labor covered by medicare etc) need to pay their fair share and help out the unfortunate ones.

"I am paying too much" or "you are not paying for what you use" can be resolved by pay for what each entity uses. The problem here is multi-fold. For example a company mines for coal/oil they are "supposed" to pay royalty. Now that revenue is too fungible i.e. it goes to what ever programs the government deems necessary. This allows the government to create wasteful programs, under funded programs for political gains, budget deficits sitting on top of an unfair tax system. So the collection system is unfair and the distribution is unfair and corrupt. Here is a way to fix the collection part. We have pay-per-view boxing matches, pay-as-you-go cell phone, why can't we create a "tax per use" system. And to fix the distribution side we tie each source to a target service that created the tax revenue, followed by investments for the programs and so on. And voila we have "Directed tax per use". And to fund basic government services like defense, law enforcement, judiciary, immigration, emergency management etc the existing tax has to reduced to a graduated but lower base tax regime that nets every one.

We already have many examples Directed tax per use:

• Cigarette taxes fund expenses caused by smoking related illnesses.
• Skilled worker H1B visa fees funding education programs for US citizens.
• Restaurants and bar taxes funding sports stadiums.
• Tolls and gas tax funding roads, bridges etc

We need to identify areas that need funding with proper source that benefits from such investment.

• Coal mines could found global warming related and mitigation projects.
• Road maintenance funded miles driven per annum.
• Each educated worker employed, discoveries and inventions from government funded research programs to education and research programs.
• Number of medicare supported employees and families to medicare tax.
• Part of customs duties could fund programs help create jobs for those displaced workers.

The tax has to be tiered for example all coal is not the same, different vehicles cause different levels of wear and tear in different regions, different levels/types of educations cost different amounts of money etc.

The system will help in many ways.

• It ensures each entity pays for and pays only for, the services/resources that it uses or depletes.
• It will help sustain services that help existing and useful services.
• It will also help create replacement or modernize acquisition depleting resources.
• It will help find ways to find remedies to industrial activities that damage the environment.
• It does not tax the grandma who only drives her car 2000 miles a year at the same level as the commuter who drives 1000 miles a month.

An intangible benefit, it helps the nation define the priorities and focus on it. And we can always definitely can use a national dialogue on that topic.

It will also help us eventually get rid of some meaningless connections that exist now, like house tax funding schools in many school districts. Income tax from hard working people going to social security programs for people who have and will never contribute into the program. The tax system will hopefully lag behind new and emerging industries and hence allowing for an automatic low/no tax regime for innovative new industries.

The main point here is to create a direct channels of income between programs and the beneficiaries. It can be complemented by a well thought out VAT and a tax percentage ceiling for a well balanced and a fair tax system. Most of the tax collected will be backward looking i.e. so are most of the expenses. We need to employ some creative thinking to create funds for forward looking programs.

Best time to boost infrastructure and revive economies

Every time you turn on the television or radio you hear the word economy, infrastructure, unemployment etc.. You hear countries that lack infrastructure or countries whose infrastructure is crumbling. You hear lay off of 1000s of workers. Prices of raw materials like copper, steel and aluminum dropping. Energy prices going down etc..

But it is always followed by more doom and gloom than the silver lining. There is no better time than now for the governments around the world to say "yes, we are going to take charge and borrow money and fund infrastructure projects". Because:
1) credit is cheap, investors would be more than glad to buy government bonds when their stock investments are going negative by the second.
2) plenty of construction labor, equipment and companies are idle at this time. They would be more than glad to bid on a government project which is guaranteed to pay than for a company that might file bankruptcy tomorrow night. There will be great competition and government could choose the company with best quality and fastest track record for the lowest price.
3) raw materials are cheaper, oil price is lower and dollar is stronger so more bang for the buck. Together this is a strong concoction that could be a shot in the arm for any government project.
4) recent high prices oil price and economic downturn together have reduced traffic on the roads. Which means best time to do road repair, expansion and improvement projects. Which also means opened opportunity for public transportation to have another shot (since trams were systematically done away with, by Detroit automakers). It has opened up a chance to develop high speed train corridors like SFO/LA, PDX/Vancouver-BC, DC/Montreal etc, NY/chicago etc.
5) recent high oil prices have also raised awareness and a need for US energy independence. Which also opens need for building power lines to connect places where there is abundant and uninterrupted supply of solar, wind, tidal, geothermal and hydro powers with high demand centers.
6) Fence along the border to reduce illegal immigration, drug trafficking and prevent another terrorist via porous southern borders.

I sincerely pray that politicians regain some sense and do something sensible and responsible once their lives at this time of crisis.

Olympic size nausea

I could not pull myself to watch even a glimpse of the Chinese Olympics. Especially after 100s of people being "relocated" to make space for "flower garden" for the Olympics. This is just one of the N number of things the Commies have been doing to show how western their cities look. Disgusting. They have zero respect for their culture as well as the wests. Shiny roads paved on destroyed lives in their own countries and in other parts of the world like Burma, North Korea, Vietnam, Sudan and Pakistan just to name a few.

Not to mention how they have destroyed Tibet and how they have wiped out the promised one country two system and imposed Commyism in Hongkong. What they would not mind doing to Taiwan the moment they get to lay their hands on it. And then dear Mr. Bush flies all the way from here to attend this shameful event run by the most corrupt organization in the world IOC. And barely few minutes before the event makes lip service to human rights and then opens a brand new embassy in China. Go figure that logic.

Divided path to heaven

As per this CNN Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated

"Americans may be poised to nominate a black man to run for president, but it's segregation as usual in U.S. churches, according to the scholars. Only about 5 percent of the nation's churches are racially integrated, and half of them are in the process of becoming all-black or all-white, says Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-author of "United by Faith," a book that examines interracial churches in the United States."

Blame my stupidity, but to me traditional religions appear more a part of the problem and than the solution. Do we have a seggregated football match. Seggregated bar, Seggregated college ? No. But when it comes to religion it exists every where. When it comes to religion or religious practices, be it New York, Alabama, California, communist Yugoslavia, liberal United Kingom, religious Saudi Arabia, India people seem to fall into these divisive traps. And see no end to this insight.

Absurd news of the week

Pakistani militants abduct 30 police

Lets face it. Can you really tell between Pakistani "security personnel" and terrorists (or if you want to address them nicely, militants). They are one and the same. They fought along side the terrorists against Soviet union (sorry rebels, coz they were with the west), they fight along side them in Kashmir, they now fight against NATO in Afghanistan. So they took the next logical step, simply go work for the real boss. In corporate lingo they where dotted line to the Jihadists, while the salary came from "the government", if you can call this mockery, that.

The non politically correct version of the news would read, "Scores (not 30) of Pakistani security personnel defected to Terrorist organization(s)".

Pakistani army killed by US and pak is crying foul

Act 1
Pakistani forces see enemy they start shooting. Then their friends start crossing the border to take care of their mission against enemy. In this case the enemy happens to be India and years was 1999. Then next day announce that Indian troops started the unprovoked firing and call uncle Sam to put pressure on India. India does nothing fearing larger war and bowing to US pressure. India pleads to US in the next high level meeting with US to stop there terrorists and US does not want to interfere in political problems and freedom struggle. Terrorists go scot free.

Act II - Deja vu.
Pakistani forces see enemy they start shooting. Their friends start crossing the border to take care of their mission against the enemy. But this time the country is Afghanistan and Enemy is US and year is 2008. US forces call in air strikes because they can and kill a bunch of "professional soldiers". Pakistani cries fowl and puts US on the defensive. Terrorists go scot free.

Is there a lesson to be learned here ..

Politician'c heart

After reading about "Cheney's pace maker gets a new battery" I could not resist writing about it. Before read this news, I would have argued that the title of this blog is an oxymoron. I believed politicians had no hearts, before that I used to believe they had ones made of leather (where they kept money and credit cards).

After this new article by our fair/balanced/unbiased media, I have to agree, I stand corrected. Politicians do have hearts, the kind that needs that need batteries. Now that justifies all their actions. A human heart is definitely a prerequisite to be a compassionate capitalist. And for the liberals who are called bleeding heart liberals, a different or new term like "leaking heart liberals" would be more appropriate. Most either had no hearts to begin with or become disasters, who new a inter national hero like Mugabe would turn into a daemon once in power.

Coming back to Mr VP, may be his heart is manufactured in the military industrial complex towards which he seems so compassionate. How else could you justify their utter recklessness in squandering a fine military victory. The disaster that followed it for which we are sacrificing lives of 1000s of soldiers and 10's of 1000's of civilians, maiming 10's of 1000's soldiers and civilians and creating millions of enemies and supporters out of ordinary Iraq's. I pray every day for healing of every one affected by this disaster. Hopefully through some miracle more people with real human hearts will gain power in governments through out the world and stay that way through their reign in power.