Here is a plan to prevent the U.S. economy from going off a fiscal cliff:
(1) Allow the Bush tax cuts for the rich to expire.
(2) Enact legislation to penalize companies for exporting jobs and to encourage companies to return jobs to the U.S., such as by ending overseas tax havens.
(3) Gradually shrink the U.S. military budget and end the U.S. path toward permanent war.
(4) Adopt stimulus programs and reject austerity programs.
(5) Continue Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in their present forms, that is, until Medicare for all is enacted. Allow no changes that reduce benefits.
- End the cap on Social Security withholding so that all wages are subject to the 6.2 percent withholding on employee wages and 6.2 percent matching employer contributions.
- Prohibit any temporary reductions in Social Security withholding such as recently occurred. Eliminate Medicare Advantage programs. Enact legislation to force states to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act.
- Both Medicaid and Medicare drive down the cost of medical care, which economists say is the driving force in the increase in the U.S. deficit. Get private companies out of the administration of Medicaid programs.
People are also reading…
(6) Enact Medicare for all.
Suzanne Reinhold • St. Louis County