Some questions for the American liberals on the boards

Great Debates
21

That should note that I am not saying anyone is demanding too much or too little. I am asking you what is “just right”, more or less, accounting for the brevity that message boards demand.

22

Hmm…
before this turns into a shouting match between erislover and elucidator:
what kimstu and DPWhite said.
Most of the non-Social Security portion of the Federal budget that isn’t paid for by its own trust fund (like the highways) goes towards two not unrelated items: defense and the interest on the national debt (or the interest on past defense spending, IMO).
The only curveball I like to throw in is this: if we could get defense down to a level at which it is really needed for actual self-defense, (the numbers we spent on Afghanistan sound large, but are a very small drop in the bucket in the overall defense budget, which gives you some idea of what we really need in this area as opposed to the ridiculous amount we spend) we could largely eliminate the income tax, which would be a very good thing. I know this goes against liberal orthodoxy, but the thing to understand is that the income tax discriminates not just against successful people but against successful economies: Manhattan is both the richest tax district in the country and the county with the sharpest disparity in income. NYC would be a far nicer place if it could keep its money in town, doing the things it needs for itself. Ditto for the rest of the cities in the nation.

23

There is no need now for an income tax on people making less than zillions of dollars per year. There are ample ways to raise enough money for government without taxing individuals, we just prefer to tax individuals.

24

Regarding unions and white collar workers, I think that most people in standard white collar professions (accountants, actuaries, etc…) don’t have much interest in forming unions. For people above a certain income level, it may just not seem to be worth the trouble. I don’t see unions as just “dropping the ball”. If, for some reason, conditions shifted so that these people felt that unionization was necessary, I imagine that they would be able to form one.

As to what minimum rights people should be guaranteed, my list would be: food, clothing, housing, education up to the 12th grade, medical care, police and fire protection, and access to treatment programs for alcoholism and drug addiction. I came up with this list with the modern day U.S. in mind. For other societies it might be different depending on the level of wealth in the country and resources available.

As for how to provide public housing without leading to segregation, I wish I had an answer for that one, but I don’t.

25

erislover,

You asked for possible solutions to welfare problems. Here are some of mine:

  1. Allow people to stay on welfare as long as they actually need it.

  2. Provide reasonable health care to all individuals, regardless of ability to pay.

  3. Equalize the quality of schools across the board. I have yet to live in a city that didn’t have “good schools” and “bad schools.” The disparity is huge in some areas. Do any of the high-property-tax-paying neighborhoods in your city have substandard schools?

  4. Stop the “all or nothing” welfare system. If someone wants off welfare so goes out and gets a crappy job to start the process, don’t cut them off. I think a sliding scale of benefits might work here. Hypothetical: Welfare recipient gets $250 a week in benefits. If they go out and get a job a minimum wage, cut their benefits by a small amount. As their salary increases, slowly lower the benefit base. There are people who would love to work, but are barely able to break even when they get a job. If I had to choose between being broke and staying with my kids, versus being broke and working 40 hours a week, I’m at home, baby.

  5. Adjust the minimum wage as needed to provide a “liveable wage” to anyone who works a 40 hour work week. Implement some sort of index that automatically adjusts the rate, instead of having huge congressional battles over people’s lives every decade or so.

I’ll nod in agreement to most my liberal colleagues here on the other points you asked, since most seem to reflect my views on those issues.