@Frostbite
I realize you are from the state that elects things such as Timmy Walz and that Bozo Ellison. You've fallen far from the glory days of HHH, so I will keep it to your grade level.
1. A Balanced Tax system- first of all, it would need to be determined on what is going to be taxed: Income and or expenditures. The tax code is thousands of pages and every one of them was written with intent to cause someone else to pay the tax. Both parties support this convoluted tax system because their donors want various parts of it. The only Balanced tax is a flat tax on income and if a welfare system is wanted having the tax start at a negative number (which was Milton Friedman's idea) would solve both the tax and the welfare problem. No Democrat supports that.
Improve healthcare- healthcare is fine with the exception that the govt has promoted/ subsidized/allowed unhealthy habits. What you are saying is that you want CHEAPER healthcare. the biggest jump in healthcare costs resulted from ObamaCare. Other costs result from the consolidation of services. You no longer see private practice doctors. Why? Because ambulance chasing attorneys and their ridiculous judgments have required doctors to have malpractice insurance. So now doctors are employees of large hospital corporations that have layers of bureaucracy causing increased costs.
Social Security- As set-up the system was an income tax that funded an account that paid a retirement benefit. Eligibility was at age 65 and the average life expectancy at the time was 72. So the idea was you paid in from about age 20 - 65, 45 years and you got a benefit for 7 years. Funds accrued because a lot more was initially being paid than being drawn. Other govt agencies "borrowed" these funds with the promise to repay with interest. However, the debt became part of the national debt. With inflation and longer lives, the original plan is going bankrupt. the Democrats propose to "save" it by printing more money to offset the debt. If you know anything about economics, you know this leads directly to inflation- which is the same as a tax.
Tariffs- Have three functions- They produce income for the government because you are right, it is effectively a sales tax. Secondly, they increase the price of foreign goods relative to domestic goods- so the tariff "protects" local industry. Third- the tariff is used to offset a tariff placed on US goods by foreign countries. This is the main reason for Pres Trump's tariffs. He is trying to get other countries to remove or lower their tariff/quotas against US goods to open their markets. In so doing crops from Minnesota would have a larger market and the higher price from increased demand.
Anything else that you've heard on the Prairie Home Companion that you think is counter to what the Republicans are trying to do?
Prairie Home Companion? That show ended many years ago.
You seem a little behind on your information.
You say "healthcare is fine."
It couldn't be more clear that that is untrue.
You say that I want "cheaper healthcare."
No, I just want all our citizens to have access to healthcare.
A large number don't get good healthcare and some basically get none except maybe emergency room care (and that cost falls on you and me).
You're right about tariffs, sales taxes and flat taxes--these are just taxes that hit the poor far harder than the wealthy.
Bottom line is that with our current leaders we'll never have a fair tax system. I wish I didn't have to say that. Things are getting worse.
In an earlier post I said our leaders are nuts.........that's a simple way to say they are greedy, incompetent and concerned only with power and getting reelected (except Trump who knows he can't get reelected and seems to be ready to seize power by force).
Don't think I'm a malcontent who just wants free stuff. I have health care and I'm almost 20 years retired and debt free and in a beautiful paid for home. I've been lucky plus working hard.
I'll close with an interesting and LITTLE RECOGNIZED health care note.........I'm on Medicare and Tri-Care. Thus I rarely pay much of anything in medical costs or prescriptions.
But........Medicare and Tri-Care only give the clinic about 20 to 25% of what is billed.
Being fairly astute and not entirely stupid, I have noticed that my doctors don't go out of their way to provide me with any but the most basic treatments and care. They rush me through.
Why? They lose money (maybe 80%) every time I show up.
It seems that no matter what we do--the normal, ordinary guy is always going to end up on the short end of the stick.
So yes, our leaders are nuts and I don't see things ever getting any better.
And I cannot support either Democrats OR Republicans.
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