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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (8883)	3/16/2001 1:58:32 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

A system whose ultimate goal is sigmoidal distribution of wealth with upper and lower caps, not imposed by force but by structure. There is a bottom to which you can fall and a top to which you can rise. Accomplishment is rewarded, but excessive accumulation is discouraged. Like your ideal system, it isn't very practical. So, I'm afraid a socialism-modified capitalism with progressive tax rates is probably the best, simple approximation that I could envision. It might surprise you but a flat tax rate of 25% with a personal exemption of $20k might be the right place to start. Corporate taxes would be like individual taxes with the same exemption to protect small business. Capital gains are ordinary income indexed by COLAs. Every law and agency would have a sundown in 15-20 years and would be modified based upon an open system of evaluation (all on the public record). All matters regarding non-national security issues would be public. No closed meetings. Lobbyists must register their expenditures and keep a log of the people they meet with. It would be a felony to not report a meeting with a public official on your web-based lobbyist profile. All non-security committee hearings are videotaped and transcripts available on the Internet. National security oversight committee, a watchdog group comprised of non-political citizens, chosen from the jury pool and screened by the FBI, term length to be announced. Like jury duty but with the same salary as you had before you were selected. Jury duty would be paid at the same rate as you were paid before, but in no case less than the median wage. Open elections without party affiliations for primaries. Campaign budget (for and against) on the ballot along with the candidates and the measure. Full financial disclosure for public officials including sources of income, visits by lobbyists and voting record instantly available on the Internet. The main focus is that any citizen could, at the click of his/her mouse determine what's up with any politician: who they get their money from, how much they are worth, voting records, lobbyist affiliations and have an end to secret government operations that are out of the purview of the citizenry. These are just some ideas that I'd be willing to entertain to produce a better system. The chances of any of this happening without a grass-roots revolution? Zero.