(October 23, 2011 at 12:58 pm)reverendjeremiah Wrote: I am willing to let capitalism exist, but under these conditions:
#1 - The IMMEDIATE abolishment of usury and the clearing of all past usury on all current contracts.
#2 - The abolishment of all tax loopholes for those who play and trade on the stock market.
#3 - The banning of Derivative stocks and contracts.
Thats a good start.
Let me add to your list, just to show how serious I am about the "regulated" part of regulated capitalism.
1. By your #1, do you mean the predatory payday lenders? Much greater regulation needs to be enacted on this industry.
2. Adjusting the top tax rates so the top 1% pays a rate that is proportionate to the amount of wealth in the country they own. "Those that own should pay to maintain" will be the slogan. If the top 1% owns 40% of the wealth, they should be paying 40% of the tax revenue.
3. Ban all political advertisement. Replace Madison Avenue soundbytes with weekly debates. "You have free speech but you can't buy more" is the slogan I'd use. Ideas should replace money as the means by which politicians are elected.
4. Clarify in the law, by amendment if necessary, that corporations are NOT people. Corporate citizenship should be recognized for what it is, an accounting tool that is used for tax purposes, asset ownership and responsibility for financial liabilities. The Bill of Rights and other guarantees of rights for American citizens apply only to flesh-and-blood human beings.
5. Reinstate Glass-Stigeal.
6. "Too big to fail" should mean "too big to exist". Bank monopolies should be broken up until each could be allowed to fail without crashing the whole economy. Individual holders of bank accounts will still be protected by FDIC in the event of a bank failure.
7. National health care or "Medicare for all". Private business can't take care of people's health because doing so costs money and therefore hurts their bottom line. Kicking sick people off the roles helps their bottom line. Remember what I said about getting what you reward? This is why the government, not private for-profit business, must be in charge of health care.
8. Abolish the cap on Social Security taxes.
9. Cut defense spending in half. We don't need a Cold War military force.
10. Investigate and prosecute any fraud or malfeasance during the meltdown of 2008.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
