Britain used to have a 90% tax on the rich that was similar to the American one. Which was bad news for British rock stars like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones when they started becoming rich, so they ended up ditching Britain to live elsewhere. The U.S. government is probably scared of wealthy people doing that with them if they tax them too much.
Annabel this should be the story we hear from every democratic campaign. Clearly sharply written. I hope everyone shares - I shared with local democratic party and on FB
Your column is so in tune with some ideas I wrote down yesterday that I thought I'd post them here:
An “Eye on the Prize” might be motivating for this November’s elections. With an effective win, what might be accomplished? Our country needs to repair the damage caused by Trump and MAGA and put safeguards in place for the future. Here is an outline for a program of reforms that came to mind. A conversation about these items would be interesting. Please comment!
Ensure voting equity:
A. Create (and continually update) Universal Voter Registration for all American citizens of voting age and create a Vote by Mail system for all federal elections to ELIMINATE voter suppression. Use the data the Post Office maintains to perform its job. The U.S. Postal Service currently receives data from the National Vital Statistics System regarding births, deaths, marriages, and divorces in America. This gives them the capacity to keep this National Voter Registration clean and up to date. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service should be given data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding new naturalized citizens. Mail ballots appropriate for each citizen well before election dates so they have weeks to research and consider their choices. Include two prepaid envelopes: one for the ballot, addressed to the appropriate state office for tallying votes; another addressed back to the National Voter Registration Office for a signed acknowledgement-of-receipt form. Receipt of this acknowledgement (in a timely manner so the Federal Voter Registration Office could forward a list of voters activated for the current election to each state office responsible for the state vote tally) would be required to activate the ballot. With pressure from their residents, state governments might be induced to petition the federal government to extend the system to cover their state elections. This should be welcomed.
B. Maine and Vermont currently allow incarcerated felons to vote. Federalize that standard for all states.
C. Mandate Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in all federal elections. (With voters' familiarity with RCV in federal elections and to avoid the complexity of using two systems, states will be induced to adopt RCV in state elections and primaries as well.) This would eliminate the “voters’ dilemma”: Choose your true favorite first BUT make your second choice an acceptable mainstream candidate with a plausible chance of winning to avoid “wasting” your vote. If your favorite is eliminated in the instant run-off rounds, your second choice will count. Having removed the "voters' dilemma" impediment to voting for a non-Duopoly candidate, that independent favorite's chances of winning are amplified, and the maintenance of the Duopoly created by the "voters' dilemma" in our current defective one-choice-only system is eliminated. Also, gathering second-choice, third-choice, etc., votes to create a winning majority will require conciliation and moderation among the candidates: firebrands lose! However, the current defective voting system gives all incumbents an advantage. An organized grass-roots movement may be necessary to induce the Democrats in Congress to pass this legislation.
D. Pass federal legislation endorsing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. If the Supreme Court rejects the NPVIC when it activates (and renders the effect of the Electoral College void), refuse to accept the ruling (see SCOTUS section below).
E. Combat gerrymandering within states by creating super-districts with multiple House Representatives.
Eliminate legislative impediments to effective government:
A. The Senate filibuster has degenerated into a standard requirement for a super-majority. This is anti-democratic. Permanently abolish the Senate filibuster!
B. The “debt limit” process involves giving "permission" to pay debts previously incurred by Congress, but the 14th Amendment, Section 4 says: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned”. Abolish the debt limit process! It serves no good purpose; it is mischievous and potentially damaging to the country; and its premise is unconstitutional.
Expand federally protected civil rights:
A. Re-establish the national right of reproductive self-determination previously provided by the Roe decision.
B. Make a comprehensive search of rights issues that have ever been addressed by the Supreme Court and supplement them with federal legislation where SCOTUS may “change its mind” as it did with Roe.
Combat political corruption:
A. Legislate to cancel the abominable Citizens United decision and all other SCOTUS decisions legalizing money corruption in politics: Of the People, By the People, For the People; NOT--Of the Money, By the Money, For the Money.
B. Federally fund all federal elections. Limit personal election contributions to a modest level anyone might afford.
C. Military officers involved in acquisitions are forbidden to become corporate officers of the companies they did business with for five years after retirement from the military. This is called stopping the "revolving door". Stop the revolving door also for all Senators, Representatives, their top staff, high level executive officials up to the President with lobbying organizations; and all regulatory agency officials with the organizations they oversee (most especially FDA officials and pharmaceutical companies).
Combat information corruption in media:
A. Vigorously enforce anti-trust legislation. Direct the enforcing agencies (FTC and DOJ) to gradually break up all media-dominating organizations.
B. Make all media legally responsible for the truthfulness of their content: print, broadcast, and online.
C. Legislate whatever might be required to strengthen activity combatting foreign misinformation campaigns attacking our electoral process or aggravating civil strife.
Combat Supreme Court corruption:
A. Modify the 1803 Marbury Usurpation. Legislate a mechanism that any SCOTUS decision affecting federal legislation will activate an automatic Congressional review, with simple majority votes enabling rejection of the SCOTUS decision. A retrospective process should examine for reversal past Court decisions. (In particular, this applies to the tendentious Heller decision that ignores the opening phrase of the Second Amendment: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,…”. The consequences of Heller exacerbate the current rampant gun violence in America.)
B. Establish a Standing Committee to oversee Supreme Court ethical behavior. Define what constitutes “good behavior” including absence of persistent political partisanship (which will require an explicit written definition to facilitate impeachment and removal).
Combat extreme concentrations of wealth:
A. Establish a very substantial inheritance tax for the highest wealth bracket. Define legitimate charitable foundations that may be set up as an alternative to tax payment.
B. Discriminate favorably for entrepreneurial wealth over what Thomas Piketty in his book, Capital, describes as rentier (i.e., stagnant) wealth. (Peter Diamandis frequently says, "If you want to be a billionaire, solve a problem for a billion people!")
C. Currently, taxes on unrealized profits are cancelled upon death of the stockholder. Eliminate this provision and mandate that that tax be paid by inheritors.
D. Corporation’s buyback of their own stock appears to have no other function than the concentration of wealth. Its prohibition should be considered.
E. Comprehensively review the federal tax code to eliminate loopholes that have no rational basis.
F. Set up a procedure to ensure adequate funding for IRS agents to detect tax fraud.
Support the General Welfare:
A. Establish the first rudimentary form of Universal Basic Income (UBI), which will evolve and amplify as the Labor Disruption (rapidly advancing AI plus Robotics: see RethinkX) eliminates toil (work for survival) over the next two decades. (The remaining "work" will be human activities driven by self-actualization.)
B. Until robust UBI becomes ample enough to create universal abundance, fund a social welfare program to support the poor.
C. Establish a publicly supported Universal Education (for adults as well as children) aimed at supporting self-actualization and combatting the problem of “lack of meaning” when labor for survival has been rendered obsolete.
D. Establish Universal Health Care focused on the maintenance of health (life-style direction and support, and comprehensive diagnostic testing), with “unwellness care” as backup when health maintenance fails. (The coming Labor Disruption in healthcare will remove the current bottlenecks regarding timely effective healthcare service.)
E. The four “Disruptions” (Energy, Transportation, Food, and Labor) analyzed and discussed by the non-profit foundation, RethinkX, promise the tools to comprehensively mitigate and then repair the centuries of damage to the Earth inflicted by fossil and other non-renewable fuels. (See the YouTube series, Brighter, by the research director of RethinkX, Adam Dorr.) Incumbent fossil fuel industries are doing whatever they can to slow the processes leading to their own bankruptcy, putting their financial interests ahead of the welfare of all life on Earth. Make certain through legislation that they are prevented from using political corruption to further these efforts.
F. Establish a comprehensive “ARPA” (Advanced Research Projects Agency) to ensure that beneficial technologies are identified and vigorously pursued, with either private or public funding.
All these possibilities depend upon the Democrats achieving control of the national government this November. Let the Hope motivate the Work!
Britain used to have a 90% tax on the rich that was similar to the American one. Which was bad news for British rock stars like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones when they started becoming rich, so they ended up ditching Britain to live elsewhere. The U.S. government is probably scared of wealthy people doing that with them if they tax them too much.
Another wonderful post, thank you!
Annabel this should be the story we hear from every democratic campaign. Clearly sharply written. I hope everyone shares - I shared with local democratic party and on FB
Thanks!
I have never felt this worried about an election... I wish we could do a mind meld with the independents so they would understand!
Annabel,
Your column is so in tune with some ideas I wrote down yesterday that I thought I'd post them here:
An “Eye on the Prize” might be motivating for this November’s elections. With an effective win, what might be accomplished? Our country needs to repair the damage caused by Trump and MAGA and put safeguards in place for the future. Here is an outline for a program of reforms that came to mind. A conversation about these items would be interesting. Please comment!
Ensure voting equity:
A. Create (and continually update) Universal Voter Registration for all American citizens of voting age and create a Vote by Mail system for all federal elections to ELIMINATE voter suppression. Use the data the Post Office maintains to perform its job. The U.S. Postal Service currently receives data from the National Vital Statistics System regarding births, deaths, marriages, and divorces in America. This gives them the capacity to keep this National Voter Registration clean and up to date. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service should be given data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding new naturalized citizens. Mail ballots appropriate for each citizen well before election dates so they have weeks to research and consider their choices. Include two prepaid envelopes: one for the ballot, addressed to the appropriate state office for tallying votes; another addressed back to the National Voter Registration Office for a signed acknowledgement-of-receipt form. Receipt of this acknowledgement (in a timely manner so the Federal Voter Registration Office could forward a list of voters activated for the current election to each state office responsible for the state vote tally) would be required to activate the ballot. With pressure from their residents, state governments might be induced to petition the federal government to extend the system to cover their state elections. This should be welcomed.
B. Maine and Vermont currently allow incarcerated felons to vote. Federalize that standard for all states.
C. Mandate Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in all federal elections. (With voters' familiarity with RCV in federal elections and to avoid the complexity of using two systems, states will be induced to adopt RCV in state elections and primaries as well.) This would eliminate the “voters’ dilemma”: Choose your true favorite first BUT make your second choice an acceptable mainstream candidate with a plausible chance of winning to avoid “wasting” your vote. If your favorite is eliminated in the instant run-off rounds, your second choice will count. Having removed the "voters' dilemma" impediment to voting for a non-Duopoly candidate, that independent favorite's chances of winning are amplified, and the maintenance of the Duopoly created by the "voters' dilemma" in our current defective one-choice-only system is eliminated. Also, gathering second-choice, third-choice, etc., votes to create a winning majority will require conciliation and moderation among the candidates: firebrands lose! However, the current defective voting system gives all incumbents an advantage. An organized grass-roots movement may be necessary to induce the Democrats in Congress to pass this legislation.
D. Pass federal legislation endorsing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. If the Supreme Court rejects the NPVIC when it activates (and renders the effect of the Electoral College void), refuse to accept the ruling (see SCOTUS section below).
E. Combat gerrymandering within states by creating super-districts with multiple House Representatives.
Eliminate legislative impediments to effective government:
A. The Senate filibuster has degenerated into a standard requirement for a super-majority. This is anti-democratic. Permanently abolish the Senate filibuster!
B. The “debt limit” process involves giving "permission" to pay debts previously incurred by Congress, but the 14th Amendment, Section 4 says: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned”. Abolish the debt limit process! It serves no good purpose; it is mischievous and potentially damaging to the country; and its premise is unconstitutional.
Expand federally protected civil rights:
A. Re-establish the national right of reproductive self-determination previously provided by the Roe decision.
B. Make a comprehensive search of rights issues that have ever been addressed by the Supreme Court and supplement them with federal legislation where SCOTUS may “change its mind” as it did with Roe.
Combat political corruption:
A. Legislate to cancel the abominable Citizens United decision and all other SCOTUS decisions legalizing money corruption in politics: Of the People, By the People, For the People; NOT--Of the Money, By the Money, For the Money.
B. Federally fund all federal elections. Limit personal election contributions to a modest level anyone might afford.
C. Military officers involved in acquisitions are forbidden to become corporate officers of the companies they did business with for five years after retirement from the military. This is called stopping the "revolving door". Stop the revolving door also for all Senators, Representatives, their top staff, high level executive officials up to the President with lobbying organizations; and all regulatory agency officials with the organizations they oversee (most especially FDA officials and pharmaceutical companies).
Combat information corruption in media:
A. Vigorously enforce anti-trust legislation. Direct the enforcing agencies (FTC and DOJ) to gradually break up all media-dominating organizations.
B. Make all media legally responsible for the truthfulness of their content: print, broadcast, and online.
C. Legislate whatever might be required to strengthen activity combatting foreign misinformation campaigns attacking our electoral process or aggravating civil strife.
Combat Supreme Court corruption:
A. Modify the 1803 Marbury Usurpation. Legislate a mechanism that any SCOTUS decision affecting federal legislation will activate an automatic Congressional review, with simple majority votes enabling rejection of the SCOTUS decision. A retrospective process should examine for reversal past Court decisions. (In particular, this applies to the tendentious Heller decision that ignores the opening phrase of the Second Amendment: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,…”. The consequences of Heller exacerbate the current rampant gun violence in America.)
B. Establish a Standing Committee to oversee Supreme Court ethical behavior. Define what constitutes “good behavior” including absence of persistent political partisanship (which will require an explicit written definition to facilitate impeachment and removal).
Combat extreme concentrations of wealth:
A. Establish a very substantial inheritance tax for the highest wealth bracket. Define legitimate charitable foundations that may be set up as an alternative to tax payment.
B. Discriminate favorably for entrepreneurial wealth over what Thomas Piketty in his book, Capital, describes as rentier (i.e., stagnant) wealth. (Peter Diamandis frequently says, "If you want to be a billionaire, solve a problem for a billion people!")
C. Currently, taxes on unrealized profits are cancelled upon death of the stockholder. Eliminate this provision and mandate that that tax be paid by inheritors.
D. Corporation’s buyback of their own stock appears to have no other function than the concentration of wealth. Its prohibition should be considered.
E. Comprehensively review the federal tax code to eliminate loopholes that have no rational basis.
F. Set up a procedure to ensure adequate funding for IRS agents to detect tax fraud.
Support the General Welfare:
A. Establish the first rudimentary form of Universal Basic Income (UBI), which will evolve and amplify as the Labor Disruption (rapidly advancing AI plus Robotics: see RethinkX) eliminates toil (work for survival) over the next two decades. (The remaining "work" will be human activities driven by self-actualization.)
B. Until robust UBI becomes ample enough to create universal abundance, fund a social welfare program to support the poor.
C. Establish a publicly supported Universal Education (for adults as well as children) aimed at supporting self-actualization and combatting the problem of “lack of meaning” when labor for survival has been rendered obsolete.
D. Establish Universal Health Care focused on the maintenance of health (life-style direction and support, and comprehensive diagnostic testing), with “unwellness care” as backup when health maintenance fails. (The coming Labor Disruption in healthcare will remove the current bottlenecks regarding timely effective healthcare service.)
E. The four “Disruptions” (Energy, Transportation, Food, and Labor) analyzed and discussed by the non-profit foundation, RethinkX, promise the tools to comprehensively mitigate and then repair the centuries of damage to the Earth inflicted by fossil and other non-renewable fuels. (See the YouTube series, Brighter, by the research director of RethinkX, Adam Dorr.) Incumbent fossil fuel industries are doing whatever they can to slow the processes leading to their own bankruptcy, putting their financial interests ahead of the welfare of all life on Earth. Make certain through legislation that they are prevented from using political corruption to further these efforts.
F. Establish a comprehensive “ARPA” (Advanced Research Projects Agency) to ensure that beneficial technologies are identified and vigorously pursued, with either private or public funding.
All these possibilities depend upon the Democrats achieving control of the national government this November. Let the Hope motivate the Work!