GREENHAMMER: REFORM PLATFORM

REFORM
P LATFORM

2014

From November 10, 2010 post "Reform Platform"
Garden Greenhammer blog

Condensed and updated

I proposed a 10 10 9 1% plan long before Herman the Huckster announced his plan during the 2012 Presidential race.

First, the 1 in the plan. A 1% National Property Tax on all properties valued over ten million dollars. 10% on all properties valued over a billion dollars. One half goes into infrastructure and the other half goes into preserving land to restore wildlife populations. The Wall Street economy has allowed many people to accumulate far more money than they need and an income not earned but stolen.

Remember the real estate credo; Buy land, they ain't making any more of it. The uber rich have accumulated land around the world, and I want to suggest that all countries charge a 1% National Property Tax so there is nowhere to hide. Remember at this level we are taxing people with a hoarding disorder.

Then a 9% state sales tax to fund all government functions. All states need to eliminate their state income tax which is complicated bullshit that wastes people time. Also the American federal government freezes its budget at 3 trillion dollars. Everybody else in every other country too. No more tax breaks for the monopolist oligarchs.
Within 5 years income would be up to 3.5 Trillion with surpluses as the norm in the US. A uniform higher state sales tax for all 50 states is needed so the Federal government over reach can be curtailed. The Department of Energy and Education can be eliminated. These are state concerns. The Tea Party is right on that one.

10% Flat tax will be enough. Here is where I need economists; Imagine GE makes 20 billion in 2014. Will it be like last year where they get a refund,........ or should they pay 10 per cent? No deductions. That would be like, 2 billion in taxes dude! No deductions, no more gobbling land grab purchases as tax losses. These are the worst kind of people to be the stewards of our earth.

Every company with over a billion in sales also pays the flat tax, no bullshit--just layoff the tax accountants and send a check starting in 2015. No write offs or deductions. Remember, GE will also be paying a one percent property tax on their buildings and land. Five billion in real estate would yield another 500 million in taxes. Wal Mart is in competition with the Vatican as one of the largest landowners of the world and would contribute a lot in taxes. There wouldn't even be a need for lobbyists anymore. Vaporize the tax breaks.

That reminds me, I am a tax the religions advocate and would subject them to the Federal Property tax and ten percent flat tax for all revenue. The tax code assumes religions are do gooders who will help people. Balderdash! No more 501-c's period. We can live without all that paperwork and bureaucracy. Pen should be hitting paper for all you math minds, have we balanced the budget yet?

The next ten is ten dollars an hour. For all companies that have over a billion dollars in sales and revenue. Eight dollars an hour for all companies whose sales and revenue are over a million dollars and a six dollar an hour minimum wage for small business under a million. Call it an apprentice wage to get more people working and trained. This wage would be universal and worldwide. All worker/citizen/voters will have dignity at work.
Also, restaurants all would follow this 10-8-6 plan. No one makes less than six an hour. McDonalds over a billion pays 10/hour. Smaller chains like Applebees pays 8 for a minimum and Mabels Diner on the corner pays $6.00. This would allow small mom and pop eateries to compete again.

See where I'm going here? Small business is reborn. A flat tax deduction will be for all businesses under a million in sales. All workers have a deduction of their first 10,000 dollars of income. Anyone making less than 10,000 a year doesn't have to declare taxes..period! The Household Industry exemption idea was inspired by Peter Drucker. Uh huh, that Peter Drucker.

The 10 -8 6 plan is called Escalating minimum wage.

The Occupy Orlando General Assembly tabled a motion to list companies to boycott because if time is taken to compile a list, make it a list of honorable companies that could be encouraged instead.
Solutions to problems may be simpler that we realize. Woodlot management and paper recycling can be two growth industries. Reduce power of the large corporations as much as possible, returning it to people (citizen voter worker). The founding principle of 17th century agrarian anarchy "the foundation of authority rests with the free consent of the people."

Have a group that lists companies that are polluting or harrasing labor or are involved with animal cruelty or other crimes. Let's say Voortman is paying workers in it's cookie factory 75 cents an hour. As difficult as it may be, we have to boycott Voortman and not buy any shortbread cookies till wages go up to the minimum of 2 dollars an hour. I've made my own shortbread. Give it a try.
Smithfield Farms had a giant spill of pig feces and excrement. It got in the river and there was a fishkill. Their slaughter houses employ many sadistic people who slam animals on the floor and poke their eyes out for the redneck shits and giggles it produces.
Kimberly Clark clear cuts a Canadian Forest and hopes no one notices, but Greenpeace does. They challenged them and won, now kimbertly Clark uses 40% recycled in their products in Canada and the Boreal Forest is being partially preserved.

Boycott Kimberly Clark here in the US because we need to make corporations tend to the full price of a product. The clear cut degraded ecosystems of the last 50 years will take at least 100 years to restore to halfway mature ecosystems. These destroyers of the earth have gotten away with it so far.
What do you think about banning clear cutting? I would say any more than three trees an acre is clear cutting. You see, if Kimberly Clark is forced to follow international guidelines that say no more than 3 trees per acre per year can be cut, the quick easy profits of the past are gone. Clear cutting is why recycling hasn't taken off the way it should. Till Greepeace started a boycott against them, they found no problem with grinding up a 150 foot spruce for toilet paper. Grind up a whole hillside of them and then there is erosion and another degraded ecosystem. Another slaughter of animals for profit. This is the greed i am talking about. Not the guy with the plumbing business that hires 50 people.
What will happen is the following; recycling becomes viable and woodlot management begins to grow as a burst of small business activity begins on different fronts.
People are out there on their properties cutting up to three trees an acre per year and they are sold to a mill to make lumber. There's another start up. Small time saw mills which will of course lead to mom and pop furniture makers. Instead of the really large trucks with many tons of trees on them wearing out our roads there are many people starting businesses that have medium sized trucks that start taking logs to the newly opened mills. It's been a rape of Mother Nature and I can believe people are not up in arms about it.
There are alot of trees out there but they are being recklessly clear cut and in another 35 years there won't be any mature trees left at this ferocious pace of clear cutting. Prices are unnaturally low because this extraction insanity exists. A few make a lot of money and not many are employed by these few, because very large machines are used and alot of fuel etc. Big Business is too destructive. IT'S OKAY TO REGULATE SHIT THAT'S TOO BIG AND MONOPOLISTIC.

WHAT BULLSHIT CORPORATIONS GOT AWAY WITH

A TIME FOR PEACE, I SWEAR IT'S NOT TOO LATE

Small business begins recycling in earnest as price per pound determines ALL markets. All capitalism here, no socialism or government needed so far. A worldwide goal of good pay and safe worksites. Jobs created, recycling and reusing of all products, and sawmills open up again locally in most communities and companies begin producing mulch with waste wood, lumber with bigger trees and fine furniture from the best wood. Furniture makers return to American communities as we boycott furniture made by companies that are on the boycott list who pollute, or violate safety standards or minimum wage standards or use an undue amount of natural resources.
The Citizen/voter/worker can wield the biggest weapon in the world, boycott.
That's all fine and dandy to encourage good companies but the way you get a rising tide of real prosperity, not the illusion it is in 2014, is to make it tough in the marketplace if you sell cheap mass produced shit and unhealthy food that is almost not food any more.

John and Jane Doe create a business called Diversions. Various service oriented entertainment, catering, flower arrangements and other activities. John Doe cuts 50 trees a year on his 40 acre homestead. Total income for the year was 98,000 dollars. Minus the 10,000 and we are left with 88,000. 8,800 is due for income tax .

And that's it! No accountants or lawyers or investment brokers or depreciation or deductions or penalties. We begin to eviscerate the parasitical white collar class. With computers, how hard would it be to kept a track of taxes due and payments received in a flat tax system? If the total owed goes over 100,000 dollars you get a visit from the IRS to investigate to see if you can pay.

A registry to qualify for the simple plan. Diversions registers and all those tax headaches float away like smoke from a doused fire. All you have to do is keep track of sales! No exemptions or deductions, just a record of all sales. Receipts and such. Imagine then how many people would start their own business in this country. Hiding income wouldn't be fair play, an honor system where we pay our fair share. 10% isn't enough to run the government you say?
You're wrong. 20 million Americans suddenly making small business income that would eat away at corporation sales. For instance, local humanely raised bacon is what 50% of the population purchases by 2018 instead of the Smithfield Farms torure bacon fill with feces and contaminanats and chemicals.

The cheap food policy is destroying our resources and gives us an illusion of prosperity.
So here is your teabagger complaining about the price of Codfish in 2014, but bought cod 500 times from 1950 to 1970 when they were overfished and relatively cheap. North Atlantic stocks crashed as much as 90%! Star Kist had cute commercials with Charley the Tuna but they killed probably millions of dolphins and other sealife, selling their product. Same Tea bagger bought stock in Star Kist and makes out very well as profits are through the roof and stocks rockets up in price from his initial investment in 1950.
What underlies the whole foundation of it all is overfishing and pollution and reduced fish populations worldwide and less people able to survive. At least our world should be able to have people catch fish to eat, but ecosystems are so degraded by dams and sewage and waste, that survival is no longer viable.
Natural flowing streams and rivers have become ditches or "retention ponds" and are no longer real systems because so much profit has been made that I feel that most wealth is illegitimate, hence the National Property tax.

Inflation is the problem here you are beginning to realize, but it's what I call the Float Up theory of economics. Prices of goods will float up to a realistic level as people around the world begin to get paid a better wage and damage to natural resources begins to level off.

“yar” JETTISONED RUSH, “Throw me them pataters ya piece a crap”

Hannity threw the platter of potatoes then grabbed the jar of caramel syrup and began chugging it down, squeezing the sauce down his throat. He threw the empty plastic container in the fire. “Run...... toxic fire. Ha ha ha ha.”

Chris Matthews was invited to the party for balance, but Anne Coulters plan was to get Him off balance by hitting him behind the knees with t a baseball bat. When he was on the ground grabbing his knee in pain, she squatted down and started farting on his head and everyone had a good laugh. But are these appropriate dinner manners for a dinner party?

I’d say it’s not, but this is how republicans treat the environment. Nature is for us to plunder, our time here is short, and Armageddon has to happen soon.

Tuna is probably the most popular fish to buy. Everyone had to experience it because of the cheap cost. But how did tuna stay so cheap? Last year I got 2 cans for a dollar. Great for me and anyone on a budget but many of those years there were these mile long nets catching the tuna And killing dolphins and birds and turtles and this is so completely wrong.

Many compromised ecosystems and many people around the world unable to catch the fish they were used to. It’s as if we still don’t see how the world works. Thank the goddess the kids understand and every generation will be more inclined to a gentle stewardship. Nets were banned but a lot of poor practices persist.

imagine how tangled up a ten mile net can get. Sometimes the seamen had to cut away parts of these monster nets to get everything back on the ship. So here are these 1000 foot pieces of nets floating around the ocean entrapping plastic garbage and killing sea life. These floating webs of death are called ghost nets. Then some right wing gasbag says th6e Vikings depleted the ocean of Codfish and the bobbleheads all agree. Dipshitheads.

So here is your teabagger complaining about the price of Cod but b ought cod 500 times from 1950 to 1970 when they were overfished and relatively cheap. Star Kist had cute commercials with Charley the Tuna but they killed probably millions of dolphins selling their product. Tea bagger buys stock in Star Kist and makes out very well as profits are through the roof and stocks rockets up in price. What underlies the whole foundation of this wealth is overfishing and pollution and reduced fish populations worldwide and less people able to survive. At least our world should be able to have people catch fish to eat, but ecosystems are so degraded by dams and sewage and waste that survival is no longer viable.

Here’s your American guy out fishing tells his kids that plastic comes from th e earth as he throws tangled line into the water. Why should he care or recycle when the big guys don't do this? (Note: see the lesson here? With corporations as high profile examples of behavior? Why should he care about a tangled line? “What, maybe one fish will get tangled in it. In five years it will be deep in the mud, besides plastic comes from the earth anyways.”

“Yeh in a hundred years,” his child states. “There’s styrenes and PCB’s and other chemicals created in laboratory's that the earth will have to assimilate.”

“All right” he says reaching into the water to retrieve the twisted ball. He did more research and found out that many towns were installing fishing line recycling tubes. He called and the parks director got them approved for all the fishing lakes in town.

This is green ethics, this is cultural reform. With the way things are now we are farting on Mother Nature when she’s down. Digging out diamonds and metals, scooping the ocean clean of fish, reckless clear cuts when recycling is going to be able to take care of 50% of our paper needs if we can manage

Our whole perspective of priorities is skewed. Look at what I am suggesting. People cutting trees sustainably on lots they own. a family company making money off trees on their properties.

People at recycling centers turning trash into recyclables and People growing kenaf or hemp because of the high cellulose content. Small paper companies starting up. Small business is the answer. The high carbon footprint corporations can be taxed 1% per year for all property *buildings and land) that is valued over 1 million dollars. White collar wealth is an invisible economy with imaginary money, but it allows them to buy up the land of the world. We need to teach our children the value of the land not land values.