GURNEE, IL, August 29, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- According to Albert Einstein "Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."
Economic Heresy may be the answer to the current problems the United States faces.
The Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke and President Obama could change the game by creating an additional 15 Trillion Dollars. This would be sufficient to retire the National Debt and create a devaluation of the U.S. Dollar. It was expected that Bernanke would announce a third round of quantitative easing on Friday. The previous 2.3 trillion dollar "devaluation" of the Dollar resulted in a massive stock market surge. A real devaluation rather than the previous timid approach would create craziness in financial markets but after the dust settled what would be the long term effects?
The immediate result would be a massive increase in the cost of imports, particularly oil. This would also drastically lower the cost of our foreign exports. American made products would become more affordable increasing domestic production. The higher cost of oil would help reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Increasing offshore oil drilling and drilling in protected areas and increasing the use of natural gas could offset some of the shortages. Elimination or major decreases in oil taxes could soften the economic effects of higher oil prices.
The creation of this capital must be accompanied by severe austerity measures. When George Bush took office our country was facing budget surpluses. By the time he left office our nation was in an economic downturn similar to the Great Depression. This disaster was due to two causes; the first massive tax breaks to the top 1% of earners. The second was Al Qaeda terrorist attacks, the war in Afghanistan (justified) and the war in Iraq (ridiculous), which drained Trillions of dollars from the US Treasury.
Had we not invaded Iraq our mission in Afghanistan would actually had become a "Mission Accomplished" and not the hugest financial sinkhole is history. It is time for the US to cut its losses and walk away from an unwinnable war. While we do have the military strength to take on all comers we do not have the ability to change 1000 years of tradition. We entered these wars because extremist Muslim terrorist were the preeminent danger.
This is not longer true. Homegrown terrorists in our Congress are now the biggest threat to our nation. They were willing (eager) to see a total financial collapse to prove a point and advance a political agenda.
These Congressional Terrorists will not allow our nation to return to a rational taxing policy that is sustainable. Therefore drastic methods are needed to go around them.
Elimination of our national debt would also eliminate the interests costs associated with that debt.
When our products are more competitive in a world arena our employment and tax base will increase drastically. The devalued Dollar would make our products more competitive.
The current Congressional Terrorists want drastic cuts to domestic spending. This would include research and education the two areas that made this country great and where we are most challenged currently. Infrastructure in our country is crumbling and is essential for future economic growth. Tax increases and the devaluation of the Dollar will enable our country to insure that essential upgrades to infrastructure occur, which will also create a wealth of good construction jobs.
The exportation of American Jobs in the name of corporate profits is treasonous behavior by large corporations. The congress should enact a tax code that rewards companies that create American Jobs and punish companies that export them. This could be done retroactively to encourage companies to bring back American jobs or pay higher taxes.
The "legal" avoidance of taxes is unquestionably a growth industry in the U.S. Companies create home offices in foreign countries to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
The U.S. Government is the single largest consumer in the world. Companies that move American jobs overseas should be given a least favored position for government purchases.
The names of companies who move U.S. jobs overseas and the names of their top executives and their board members should be publicly exposed to the country. I suggest that we institute a Congressional Medal of Dishonor. Make it easy for consumers to business with companies that do not undermine our nation.
Legal and accounting companies reap huge profits by helping corporations "legally" avoid paying their fair share of taxes. The US government should make those legal and accounting expenses ordinary corporate income once a threshold percentage is reached. There should also be a corporate minimal alternative tax. The same should be done with legal and accounting expenses for individuals. Reasonable expenses would of course be deductible but strict limits would make "paying their fair share" make economic sense. Currently, it makes sense to spend 95 million dollars in legal and accounting fees to save 100 million dollars, realizing a 5 million dollar net gain.
Companies that create jobs should be given a more favored tax treatment thereby offering incentives for job creation. This more favored tax treatment could also be offered to companies that keep executive compensation at a reasonable percentage to total compensation. By creating a tax code that penalizes excessive executive packages the company shareholders would gain.
The tax code could also be adjusted to favor companies that make long-term investments versus short-term profits. It is unquestionable that executive packages that focus on short-term profits over long-term growth hurt both shareholders and long term company growth.
The collapse of the Euro I inevitable and will occur when the German government tires of supporting the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) It is only a matter of time until this occurs and Germany returns to its own currency. This will create enormous economic turmoil that will once again strengthen the dollar. It is possible that the Yuan will become a dominant world currency in the future, which is announced goal of China. Currently the artificially low value of the Yuan is driving the current China boon. China is the largest holder of U.S. debt and the devaluation of the dollar will balance that inequity.
The U.S. will become a more affordable destination for tourists after a devaluation but it would become much more expensive for Americans to travel abroad. This could also lead to an increase in domestic tourism creating more U.S. jobs. The United States real estate market would become an incredible bargain for foreign investors.
Automobile manufacturers will experience a level of growth not seen in decades and foreign automobile manufacturers will be forced to increase U.S. production capacity to compete creating still more jobs. When are country is back to work there will be a dramatic increase in tax revenues. Clinton era budget surpluses will return but will be spent more wisely this time around.
Dr Ira L Shapira is an author and section editor of Sleep and Health Journal, President of I HATE CPAP LLC, President Dato-TECH, and has a Dental Practice with his partner Dr Mark Amidei. He has recently formed Chicagoland Dental Sleep Medicine Associates. He is a Regent of ICCMO and its representative to the TMD Alliance, He was a founding and certified member of the Sleep Disorder Dental Society which became the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, A founding member of DOSA the Dental Organization for Sleep Apnea. Dr Shapira is currently a Board member of the Illinois Sleep Society which held its first annual educational meeting in May, 2011. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, A Diplomat of the American Academy of Pain Management, a graduate of LVI. He is a former assistant professor at Rush Medical School's Sleep Service where he worked with Dr Rosalind Cartwright who is a founder of Sleep Medicine and Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr Shapira is a consultant to numerous sleep centers and teaches courses in Dental Sleep Medicine in his office to doctors from around the U.S. He is the Founder of I HATE CPAP LLC and http://www.ihatecpap.com Dr Shapira also holds several patents on methods and devices for the prophylactic minimally invasive early removal of wisdom teeth and collection of bone marrow and stem cells. Dr Shapira is a licensed general dentist in Illinois and Wisconsin.
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