Author: Dave Davis
But “Dave’s Plan” raises taxes…
While people might agree that “Dave’s Plan” to replace Obama care would cost no more than per capita while actually giving the best incentives to obtain the lowest costs in the future, the one criticism we keep hearing is that the plan raises corporate taxes. Well, this is partially right. For those corporations that provide health insurance, it could easily increase their payments to the IRS. How does this work? Let’s say a potential employee is deemed to be worth a cost of $60,000 to the corporation, a large established corporation could offer a package of a $50,00 Salary plus healthcare worth $10,000. By separating out healthcare saves the corporation $620 in payroll taxes they would have to pay than if the $10,000 was just added to salary. Further payroll taxes have to be paid whether the company makes money or not. Administration costs spread over a large number of employees are minimal, while size gives them a strong bargaining position to get the best deal on health insurance or even self insure.
A small business is in the opposite position. The cost of insurance and administration are higher. In some cases much higher. Because of this they might not offer to cover employees, choosing instead to pay higher salaries instead. But to compete to for the same employee they would have to pay more to give that employee the same value while paying more in payroll taxes. In effect this gives big business a government subsidized competitive advantage in the race for the best employees. No wonder they like the present system. However, do we really want to keep the generators of most of our future progress and jobs at a disadvantage?
“Dave’s Plan” would level the playing by getting rid of this crony capitalism leftover from World War II. A good trade-off for the change would be to lower all corporate taxes to a level competitive with Ireland and Canada which help all corporations and the economy. (For people new to Detour the series on “Dave’s Plan” begins under Policy in October of ’14)
An Ordered World with just a little “More”
From the time 10 thousand years ago mankind developed agrarian settled societies, a general form of organization came into being. A pyramid with a relatively small ruling class at the top and the masses at the bottom. Royalty, military and religious leaders backed by their staffs and bureaucracies directed the lives of those below. Needed Artisans often had a special rung. The wild card were the merchants who facilitated the exchange of goods within the society and with others. Altogether they constituted a relativity small minority, supported by a base of the multitudes that provided the basic substance of life. Whatever we gained “more” through trade, increased labor or innovation the “more” mostly went to to those toward the top of the pyramid. The upper classes gained in better food & drink, shelter, clothing and adornment and maybe most important time. From 10,000BC to 1,500 AD, the masses across the world lived relatively short lives with the barest of necessities while providing the basics for mankind. Continue reading
WHAT’S THE PLAN?
Suddenly we’re inundated with images of pitiful refugees. A human wave has washed up on Europe’s shores and everyone asks how did this happen? What’s the plan? Actually this crisis has been building for quite awhile. The Syrian Civil War started back in 2011 and in the ensuing years over 7.6 million Syrians have been internally displaced and 4 million are now refugees. The turmoil has spilled over into Iraq, while bordering Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have pretty much reached their humanitarian limits. Israel seeing the trend is building a fence to deter any movement in their direction. This river of refugees is being further fed with new streams from the now failed Libyan State and North Africa. Afghanistan facing western withdrawal is another growing tributary. Europe having difficulty dealing with the immigrants they already have is faced with the real possibility of destabilization.
It didn’t have to be this way. We pointed out in in our “SSSSHHHH” posts going back to November of last year and expanded on in our “But Admiral the Wind has Changed” post, that there were things that should be done and the time was ripe to do them. First, the Arab league as a whole needs to allow open immigration and civil rights to all Arabs. For centuries Arabs considered themselves as one people. They share language, customs, history and to a large part religion. We may never comprehend how Arabs ignore the plight of their fellow Arabs, but maybe nobody pushed them to live up to their humanitarian obligations. Now is the time to do just that. The main players in the Arab World need us more than we need them. Oil now is a limp club. On the other hand Iran looms as a monster threat. Our protection or not is a stick, but Europe could provide the carrot with financial help in settling the refugees. This has to be cheaper and far less disruptive than taking them all into Europe. It’s simply too expensive for these welfare states to take in vast number of refugees. Syrians, Palestinians and Iraqis released from wasted lives in refugee camps could actually invigorate their new host countries to the benefit of all. History surely points in that direction
Second, aid the Kurds in setting up buffer zones around their territory for displaced minorities such as the Christians and Yesidis. Some progress has been made in this endeavor but much more can be accomplished. Every person who finds safety and protection under the Kurdish wing, is one less refugee in a camp in the adjoining nations or ending up in Europe. It is well past the time that we realize the opportunities possible in a closer relationship and quiet alliance with the Kurds.
Talking about France and Britain taking in thousands of refugees when the problem is in the millions,shows the futility of the cries for Europeans and even the U.S. do more. Even those thousands are politically unsustainable and could result in governmental upheavals. The rise of extreme parties in Europe parallels the increase in migrants. Donald Trump’s rise in the polls is hardly a signal that the U.S. can do a lot more. Our position always has been that it is essential to solve a Mideast Problems in the Mideast and Muslim Problems in the Muslim World. Never has this been more true than it is today.
Victory Lap
There was Secretary of State John Kerry taking a much deserved Victory Lap as he announced that the administration had achieved the two thirds majority required to pass the treaty with Iran that the vast majority of Americans craved. Oh wait, they only got 34 votes in the Senate out of 100. According to the latest Q-Poll 55% of Americans oppose this agreement vs. 25% support. We’re confused. How does something like this happen? Well the administration says it’s just an executive agreement, but aren’t really major agreements between the U.S. and other countries by definition treaties? More importantly who gets to decide? The President says he gets to decide just like he could tell the congress when it is in session or not. That’s his opinion but that’s all it is. The courts for instance held that congress not the President determines when it is in session. So why didn’t Senate just tell the President that it is a treaty and he needs two thirds? Surely they are on solid constitutional grounds. As we read Article II, Section 2, Clause 2. it basically states
The President… shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur….
Could anyone imagine Wilson telling the Senate that he bound us to the League Nations because it wasn’t a treaty so he didn’t need their two thirds majority. Reagan doing the same with Nuclear Arms deals with Russia. How about Clinton and NAFTA? Sure would’ve made a president’s job a lot easier. The Senate had the right to demand the deal be presented as what they thought it was, a treaty. We are told by our betters that couldn’t happen, but why not?
Detour on the Road 