On: A Brief Tale of Betrayal

 

I knew immediately she was for me.  It was 1960.  I was almost a teen and quite impressionable. She said all the right things to entice me.  Every move she made seemed perfect.  She told me how much she loved me, and everyone around me.  She didn’t care about my position in our world, only my character and my willingness to help her.  I was a poor boy; she was rich and sophisticated.  But she opened her arms to me anyway.  I was, at first, smitten; then, I fell deeply in love.

When I was 18, after learning she was having trouble with some bad people, people who told lies and tried to hurt her, she asked me to protect and defend her.  I jumped at the chance to win her heart and mind, to keep her safe.  It was not going to be easy, she told me.  She even said I had to choose her over my family.  But she was so beautiful.  I thought her heart so pure.  I could not resist.  My family must come second.

Not long after I left home, she had some dark moments.  She suddenly seemed paranoid and afraid of others.  I was sure she would be fine.  After all, those people had lied to her and tried to hurt her.  It obviously affected her deeply.  If I stand beside her I’m sure she’ll get over it. 

And, support I did.  Year after year.  I worked hard.  Did what I was supposed to do to prove to her my love.  Whether she was good or bad to me, I remained her friend. 

Meanwhile, decades passed.  I kept my optimism and hope alive, knowing one day she will see her way to me…again.  But just the opposite occurred.  She grew colder and more aloof.   She kept turning away, so much so that we were now moving in opposite directions. 

She seemed to enjoy the dark side of life.  She enjoyed the bad boys.   She seemed to care only for position.  She sought the company of only a few, not all.  Former friends saw the same as me.  The beautiful girl I loved was suddenly not interested in me.  I was too poor to be her love or even her friend.

Now, as I’ve reached the winter of my years, she has abandoned me altogether.  Her friends now are as cold as the driven white snow.  It seems her money keeps her warm, but her love is gone.  She rages in seeming paranoia.  Former friends have abandoned her. “Look what they did to me?” she screams to those few who still love her. 

She turns to religion, but it is not the religion of our youth.  Now wealth and fame are all that is important.  The sins we used to avoid are no longer sins, but graces.  The graces we knew as children are now sins.

Why so dark I ask her?  Where did I fail you?  I do not recognize what you’ve become.  I hope your beauty does not completely fade before you remember who you are and return to the light.  But for now, I must leave to protect myself from your rage. 

Goodbye, America! 

On Guns: Time for Training & Accountability

Nothing screams lack of training and accountability like the recent video showing Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two attorneys living in St. Louis, Missouri, brandishing a pistol and AR-15 outside their home as group of citizens on a Black Lives Matter march passed in front of their mansion.

With their fingers on the trigger and pointing their weapons at passersby and, at several moments, at each other, they are the poster children for the need for mandatory training and accountability for those who desire to own firearms.

This type of instruction must be mandated, along with the purchase and registration of the firearm before more Americans die as a result of lack of training and accountability.  I would call it the Americans for Life Act.  And, I think it should be the first item for business of the 117th Congress due to meet on January 3, 2021.

I propose the House version look and read something like this:

________________________________________________________________

117^th Congress

   1^st Session

H.R. 1

To amend Title 18, United States Code, to provide American citizens protection for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  To be known as the Americans for Life Act.

____________________________________________

In the House of Representatives

January 3, 2021 

Ms. Jane Doe introduced the following bill which was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

__________________________________________

A.  This bill does not, and shall not be construed to, limit the rights of any citizen regarding the ownership of a pistol, rifle, or shotgun (hereinafter referred to as arms and defined below) guaranteed under the 2^nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

B.   The United States of America declared in its formal Declaration of Independence, and declares by its very existence, that every citizen has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

C.    In order to assure that both the right to bear arms and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness coexist, the following shall be the law:

1.   All arms sold, traded, bartered, or gifted within the borders of the United States; imported into the United States; or exported from the United States, shall bear a stamped registration number.  No two registration numbers may be the same for any type of arm (defined below).  These registration marks may be a combination of numbers and capital letters as required, similar to that of Vehicle Identification Numbers utilized for the identification of individual motor vehicles, for example 123456VIN78USA90F.  No arm may exist without a registration number unless said arm was built without a number prior to the year 1789.

2.    For purposes of this bill an arm includes: Pistol, which shall be defined as a small firearm designed to be held with one hand whether one single round or multiple round, revolver or automatic.  Rifle, which shall be defined as a long firearm, especially one fired from shoulder level, having a long spirally grooved barrel intended to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance either one shot at a time, semi-automatic or fully automatic.  Shotgun, which shall be defined as a smooth bore firearm for firing small shot at short distance.

3.  Any person residing or traveling within the United States must register each arm in possession by providing their legal name, address, social security or tax information number, and the registration number of each individual arm owned or used by the individual.  These records shall be kept electronically by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (hereinafter referred to as the ATF). 

4.   It shall be the sole responsibility of the owner of the arm(s) to update their individual registration file regarding registration numbers, and/or current address.  The ATF shall make this registration capable of being initiated and/or updated electronically. Included in the information on file shall be the exact location where the registered arm is housed daily.  Failure to update the ATF regarding arms, registration numbers, and locations on an annual basis may result in forfeiture of said arms to the ATF for destruction.

5.    Any person residing within the United States who owns or uses any type or size of arm shall be required to receive no less than four hours per month of instruction on the use and storage of said arms.  This instruction shall include at least four hours per annum of live classroom and firing range instruction on the proper use of arms with at least two of those hours consisting of target shooting during which the owner must show proficiency of at least 80% of shots piercing the bullseye of the target provided.  A certified copy of these targets shall be filed with the ATF as proof of instruction and proficiency. 

6.     Instruction may be provided by any person licensed and/or trained by any branch of the United States military (hereinafter referred to as Military) or under the auspices of the ATF.  Said instructors shall be licensed for this purpose only.  Said license shall be renewed on a regular basis in order to maintain proficiency.  The cost of said license shall be $250 and renewed every 2 years.  These persons shall be known as United States Firearms Instructors (hereinafter referred to as USFI).  Only a qualified and licensed USFI may provide the necessary training for persons owning or using arms in the United States.  In order to qualify as a USFI a person must have received a minimum of 100 hours of firearms instruction and must possess a record clear of any criminal or civil complaints or convictions.  USFI shall be required to undergo 4 hours of instruction on a monthly basis to maintain their license at renewal.

7.    Any person within the borders of the United States, who cannot prove they have received training from a licensed USFI, as noted above, shall be in violation of the law and, upon notice, shall transfer all arms in their possession to a United States Firearms Instructor.  If, within 30 days, the person whose arms have been confiscated does not mitigate the necessary training to own or possess or use arms, those arms shall be given by the USFI to the ATF for destruction of said arms within 30 days.  For purposes of this Bill destruction shall mean the complete dismantling and crushing or melting rendering the arm unusable and unrecognizable.

8.     Any person residing or traveling within the United States who legally possesses or uses arms with the borders of the United States is responsible for the security of said arms.  Unless the arms are in active use, for example being used to practice on a firing range, the arms must be stored in a locked safe along with any ammunition for said arms.  These safes shall be constructed of tamper proof metal and shall be in any location where arms are present, for example home, office, barns, outbuildings, apartments, automobile, truck, van, recreational vehicle, mobile home, aircraft, boat, or any other location of residence, work, or travel.

9.     No arm may be carried into any establishment that sells or distributes alcohol or drugs.  An exception shall exist for the owner of said establishment to possess a registered arm for self-protection provided there is a safe on site for the secure deposit of the arm and its ammunition at the location and it is utilized at all times.

10.  Ammunition shall be defined as any bullet, ball, or shell.  No arm shall be capable of carrying a magazine, clip, chamber or revolving cylinder that can hold more than 15 individual rounds of ammunition.  All magazines, clips, revolving cylinders, or chambers allowing more than 15 individual rounds of ammunition to be carried in a single arm shall be illegal to possess, sell, distribute, or manufacture.   No device may be attached to any arm allowing the attachment of more than one magazine, clip, revolving cylinder, or chamber that would allow more than 15 rounds of ammunition to be fired without reloading the arm.  No device may be added to the arm to change the arm from user being required to fully pull the trigger one time to fire each single round of ammunition.  No fully automatic arm or device added to the arm to allow or imitate an automatic arm shall be allowed under this Bill.

11.  No arm designed to emulate or appear to be a military weapon, either past or present, shall be manufactured or distributed within the United States of America.

12.  No toy arm may be manufactured or distributed within the United States of America that emulates or appears to be a legitimate arm of any type.  All toy arms manufactured or distributed in the United States shall be bright safety orange in color to assure they are not mistaken for a real arm.

13. Violations of any section of this law shall be a violation of the entire law.  A first-time violation of this law shall require the ATF to confiscate the firearms owned or used by the violator.  If the violation is not mitigated within 30 days of notice and confiscation, the ATF may destroy said arms.  If the violation is mitigated, for example the arms are registered with the ATF in the electronic data system, the arms may be returned to the person in violation.  A second violation of this law, if not mitigated within 30 days, shall require the ATF to confiscate the weapons and collect a fine of $1,000 for each arm in violation.  If the violation is mitigated, the arms may be returned to the violator.  The fine shall remain.  A third violation of this law shall not be mitigated for any reason.  A fine of $2,500 shall be required for each arm in violation and all arms in the possession of the violator shall be confiscated and destroyed by the ATF.

14. Any person residing in the United States who owns or is in possession of arms that are without existing registration numbers may provide those weapons to a licensed USFI who shall have the means necessary to stamp the weapon with a registration number acceptable to the ATF.  This task must be completed within six months after the effective date of this Bill. 

15.  Any person residing in the United States who owns or is in possession of arms that the person does not wish to register may give that weapon to a licensed USFI who shall give that arm to the ATF for destruction.  For each working arm provided to the USFI under this program, the person giving up possession shall receive $500 per arm in U.S. currency delivered on a pre-paid debit card.  This task must be completed within six months after the effective date of this Bill. 

16.  Any person who fails to register any arm in their possession within six months of the effective date of this Bill shall be found to be in violation of the Americans for Life Act with the penalty that all arms in their possession shall be forfeited to the ATF for destruction and a $1,000 fine per arm shall be rendered.

17.  Any person violating the storage requirements of this Bill shall be found to be in violation of the Americans for Life Act with the penalty that all arms in their possession shall be forfeited to the ATF for destruction and a $1,000 fine per arm shall be rendered.

On a New President: Joe Biden's First Executive Orders

If Joe Biden is elected the 46th President of the United States his job, day one, is to heal the nation, heal the tears in the fabric of our nation's relationship with other world nations, and to lead the USA back to being a beacon of humanity in a world often not very humane.

To that end, and dealing only with beginning to heal the fabric of the United States and its people, it is suggested the new President issue two immediate Executive Orders dated January 21, 2021.  The numbers of the orders may change.  The 45th President has already issued 24 Executive Orders in 2020, his last Number 13926.

Executive Order No. 14000 of January 21, 2021

Rescission of Selected Prior Executive Orders and Executive Department Regulation Changes and Orders

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Sec. 1.  Order

All Executive Orders and Executive Department Regulation Changes and Orders made between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021 are hereby rescinded without prejudice or bias.  These shall include all signed orders during those dates as well as any orders awaiting comment before implementation provided that comment was requested during the dates as outlined above.

 Sec. 2.  Definitions. For purposes of this order:

(a) ‘‘Executive Orders’’ is defined as any order signed by the President of the United States during the period January 20, 2017 through January 20, 2021;

(b) ‘‘Executive Department Regulation Changes and Orders’’ is defined as any change of language or rescission of any regulation guiding observance of any law or order by any department of the Executive, i.e. the Office of President of the United States, made or ordered during the period January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021;

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Executive Order No. 14001 of January 21, 2021

Regarding Continued Employment of Personnel Hired by the U.S. Government 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Sec. 1.  Order

All personnel employed by the United States government, excluding military personnel, between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021 are hereby ordered, without prejudice or bias, to resign effective within five working days from the date of this order.  In lieu of resignation, said personnel may sign a document stating the words shown below, which will become part of their permanent personnel file.  

 Sec. 2.  Definitions. For purposes of this order:

(a) ‘‘Personnel’’ shall mean any person who joined the United States government as an employee during the period January 20, 2017, through January 20, 2021;

(b) ‘‘Military Personnel’’ is defined as any person enlisting in the military as an enlisted  member or commissioned  officer during the period January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021;

(c) "Document" shall mean the following:

"I, (name of person), shall faithfully, and to the best of my ability, complete my tasks as assigned in agreement with the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America."

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

On Chaos: It Must Create a New and Better Nation

With all of the bad news in the USA and the world…from a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of Americans, to police in the United States shooting and killing the same citizens it is supposed to be protecting…most people have probably missed the news that a new nation is arising from amongst this turmoil.

The newest country has already written its Constitution and is now preparing to have elections for President and its Congress, both upper and lower houses.  It appears that when it is finished it will have a Congress of predominantly like-minded men and women who are preparing to change both their country and the world.

Among the many things to be considered once the elections are held, and the different elected officials are sworn into their offices in January, is a budget.  A country of very wealthy citizens, the budget as planned will provide primarily for the common welfare and good of its people, with the remainder aimed to help those less fortunate in the world.  This new nation will eschew a large standing Army, preferring to spend money to help other nations rather than destroy or threaten them. 

To aid it’s own people, and to avoid the welfare schemes that so often befuddle other nations, the country will provide each citizen over the age of 18 with a minimum monthly stipend of $2,000 to be used by individuals to pay for basics…housing, clothing, and food.  A jobs program, including a minimum of two years of national service in some capacity, will be established to assure businesses have trained and motivated staffing and government has the people it needs to assure the citizens are granted life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Healthcare will be included in that mix of programs for citizens.  Called “Medicine for All,” the program will be available to every citizen at no additional cost outside of tax on income in excess of $2,000 per month.  Men, women, and children will have access to a nationwide network of clinics and hospitals served by highly skilled doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners. 

On the international side, the founding members have decided to not fund a large standing military, save for perhaps a small lethal force similar to the Marines.  Instead the leaders have decided to use additional funds to help other nations through loans or direct support.  Amongst these plans is helping other nations build infrastructure, for example dams, seaports, airports and roads.  This assures other nations can less expensively create more goods and move them easily to the rest of the world. 

Money would also be used to help countries that want to remove bureaucratic hindrances keeping the nation from prospering.  These programs would work directly with citizen groups, versus single despotic leaders. The new leaders believe that helping other nations, much like the Marshall Plan helped Europe after WWII, is a much saner approach to foreign relations in the 21^st Century.

The founding leaders understand that by creating such a society, people from other nations may want to participate in the new nation’s rise and emigrate there.  To this end a system of regulations to assure those who want to come and take part in this new experiment may do so easily.  There will no visa requirements for anyone to visit this land.  Bio-metrics will be required from those who wish to visit, however, so that no one can enter to do harm. 

If someone wants to stay and work they must apply for permits to work and, over a five or ten year program, they could use this hard work to prove they would be good citizens.  According to records, the new nation will be especially open to those who are bringing needed skills or those persons who are coming from nations under duress.  No one will be turned away unless it can be proven they come to harm or hinder, not to make the new nation a better place.

This, of course, brings up the issue of how this new nation will pay for all of these programs once elections are held in November 2020.  According to records made available a graduated tax structure will be established, requiring each citizen and corporation working within the country to pay according to their earnings and the success of their business.  No citizen or corporation will be allowed to keep earnings in excess one hundred million dollars per year.  All businesses will be welcome to grow provided they do nothing to hinder the enjoyment of the citizenry. 

The new country has plans to deliver a robust economy based on a capitalist model.  The most important element, of course, is their plan to assure its citizens have money for basics.  With approximately 257 million people over the age of 18, the economy will have billions of dollars each month available to local, regional, and national businesses to count on.  Add to that the income earned from supporting those businesses and this new economy will rival any in the world.   A nation investing in its citizens, versus wasting money on war, will be the idol of the world.

The name of this new nation, springing up out of chaos?

The United States of America

ON COVID-19: WHAT'S NEXT?

So, what is next for the world?  Is it Sally Bowles, flappers and bathtub gin followed by Nazis?  Or, will the world get serious and conquer education barriers, the filthiness and greed of organized religion, assure everyone has access to a doctor and medicine, and explore other worlds in the name of solving population problems on Mother Earth?

After the last pandemic that killed about 50,000,000 of our fellow citizens between 1918 and 1920, we turned to automobiles and airplanes to travel.  Music changed to happier and more moving tones [Rhapsody in Blue].  The movies got bawdier and began talking to us.  Women got out of their corsets and brassieres and began to talk back and win their place along with their vote.

Unfortunately, people went crazy and thought the stock market and business would grow forever, thinking an end could never happen.  And, about the same time a group called Nazis, along with their fellow travelers in Italy and Japan and Spain, popped up and diverted our attention away from enjoying ourselves and we began killing each other.

Is this what will happen after the Coronavirus is gone?  Will people go crazy for a while?  Perhaps we will want to have sex with anyone or anything that will stand still long enough to have our way with them…forget the consequences.  Or, will marijuana and other drugs replace the bathtub gin and everyone will just self-medicate to forget their troubles.  Will music make us move our hips again together or will it become dancing alone to our own drummer.  Maybe clothing will become optional for many.  Or, perhaps, we will decide that certain people do not deserve to breathe the air we share and we will figure out legal methods for annihilating them, removing them from the gene pool.

Why am I thinking of these things in this time when people should be thinking about loved ones?  Or, perhaps envisioning a more positive future?  Or, maybe how we could cure the world of this disease?  The fact is it is easy for me to think this way.  I am 72 years old.  I do not have much of a future in the post-pandemic world.  My life, for the most part, has been lived.  I will not be the same, nor live the same, in the post-COVID-19 world. 

I have been locked down in quarantine in my adopted country of Colombia since the morning of March 20, 2020.  For you math whizzes out there, that is 57 days as of 15 May 2020.  I am highly educated (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, History and Business, respectively, along with graduate-level courses in Psychiatry and Philosophy).  I am highly intelligent (though not the best scrivener).  My brain thinks clearly in terms of what affects human nature. 

I am expecting that I will no longer be able to travel the world as I have done my whole life.  After all, I first arrived in Colombia when I was a 19-year-old U.S. Marine.  Though healthy now, I am expecting my body will continue to disintegrate with age while my brain remains active and thoughtful.  I also expect humans will remain the same, i.e. 20% will be good, 20% will be bad, and 60% will continue to utter, “I don’t give a shit.” I always factor in a plus or minus 5% for each category at any point in time.

So, we could be headed for Mel Gibson’s Mad Max country…very grim with every man and woman for themselves.  It could be a world where doctors would care for only those who can pay a premium and where anti-vaxxers have decided disease is for the brave.  It could be a place where we gave up on changing the environment.  Who needs a Brazilian rain forest when Brazilians need goods to sell to the world?  So what that some people lost their homes and do not have a place to live.  We can now sell ocean-front homes in Orlando and Atlanta and Sacramento.  Kids are dumber because all education is online, but what the heck there are no jobs worth having.  Collect a stimulus check and live on legal marijuana and Cheetos^®.

Not a great place to live, but I don’t care.  I won’t be alive to see it.  You chumps all decided that is where you wanted to be and you built it.  Good for you.  Give the people what they want I say.  That is why it is called democracy.  If you want a haircut or a gun in the middle of a viral pandemic, go for it.  What business is it of mine to tell you how to live?

Or, perhaps, there is another way.  Maybe after the virus has subsided there are left in society some sharp, educated, caring adults and children who do not think the world is doomed.  Perhaps there are people who are empathetic and care about their fellow human beings.  Maybe there even exist people who see a way to make changes for the better of all, not just for the few.  These people want the world to live better, not just scam the world to make a quick buck or Euro or Peso.  Of course, to accomplish this, they will have to start by changing the political leadership in their country. 

For the sake of discussion, let us think about changing the USA.  After all, it has been the dominant power in the world for at least the last 80 years.  Maybe that will last after the pandemic, maybe not.  But, let us think about what might happen. 

Perhaps the people elect occupants for the White House and the Senate and the House of Representatives who care about people, not corporations and only themselves.  The people who voted for them get behind these new leaders and push them to create a better place for people to live in peace and harmony in the USA and the world.

Let us start with giving up war, freeing up trillions of dollars better spent on people…food, shelter, education, healthcare.  Unless someone from another nation crosses our borders and destroys a tower or mall or even a single individual, we stay out of other countries militarily.  If, however, 15 Saudi nationals destroy a tower with airplanes, then Saudi nationals, sitting at home, will pay the price.  But, no more searching for oil and treasure around the world. 

Next, let us understand what stopping war and building an economy creating cell phone apps means.  People with skills like digging coal and rolling steel are no longer needed because there is no need for the product or we have created robots to perform the tasks.  We don’t need all these workers.  We could kill them off, perhaps with another pandemic.  But that would really suck, don't you think?  After all, who wants to tell someone their grandmother or sister are not needed anymore.

Instead, let us give them enough money to live on, say $2,000 a month.  Make it tax free.  No more need for Medicaid or food stamps or unemployment insurance or welfare.  Give people money for food and rent and leave them alone to care for themselves [America First].

Third, let us create a healthcare system that allows doctors and hospitals and clinics to take care of us without worrying about payment.  No more bankruptcy for inability to pay the high cost of care.  Let Medicare, like the Veterans Administration, negotiate pricing for pharmaceuticals and durable medical goods like wheelchairs and walkers.  This is real capitalism…if you cannot compete on price and quality, you go out of business.  A dollar in Manhattan, New York, is the same as a dollar in Manhattan, Kansas.  Pay every doctor and hospital and clinic the same amount for the same procedure.  Bonuses could be available on top of these payments for doctors and nurses and hospitals providing care in under served areas of the country or caring for under served populations.

For jobs, we will need people to build roads and bridges and power plants and windmills and airports and more.  We will still need a military and a government.  Let us create a service-for-all mentality.  Every citizen shall be required to serve a minimum of two years in local, state or federal government.  Everyone must learn to work with their fellow citizens and learn how to give to the community versus take from the rest of us.  Building bridges or learning how to fly a military helicopter, all have a place.  Perhaps even creating a hack-resistant military or power structure is in your future.

Whatever happens, I will not be here to see it.  I can only hope that people see doing good for others is better than being selfish.  Selfishness got us into the pandemic.  Selfishness is keeping us from solving the problem quickly.  Whether it is those who want to keep secret what is happening in their country or the silly gun-toting overweight Mid-westerners complaining they cannot go out and get a haircut.  Each is selfish and, therefore, not worth the skin wrapped around their bones. 

The selfish should pass on from this life quickly.  Those who understand they live in a world with others should prosper and grow.  Think of it like the coral under the sea that pollution killed.  Get rid of the pollution, cleanse the sea of its illness, and watch the coral regain color and radiance.

On the 21st Century: It is Time to Change How U.S. Citizens Are Compensated

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27th, 2020.  It is estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers $2.2 Trillion.  A small part of the package includes direct payments to individual taxpayers, estimated in the amount of $290 Billion, or less than 13.5% of the total bailout. 

Besides providing cash to small businesses to keep employees working, CARES gives wealthy real estate investors an estimated $1.6 million each in tax breaks.  Before the President’s signature had time to dry, however, stories of giant publicly-traded corporations taking money intended for small businesses began appearing everywhere.  These corporate giants left nothing for small business.  Weeks later Congress had to pass additional legislation adding $480 Billion to the program.  It appears that most of this bailout money is not going where it was intended to go, to help save our economy, but instead is going into the pockets of those already wealthy.

According to Hale Stewart, in a piece he wrote for The New York Times  in 2010, 70% of U.S. economic growth is driven by consumers, ordinary Americans spending money on clothes, food, cars, boats, medicine, homes, electricity, lumber, haircuts, dry cleaning, and so on.  Knowing this is true, then why do politicians consistently give money to businesses in an economic emergency rather than giving money directly to consumers to spend?  It makes no economic sense.   At best, only 30% of bailout money should go directly to businesses, and then only to those most affected by whatever emergency has arisen. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the glaring inequities in the U.S. economy.  Large numbers of our citizens are employed in low paying jobs.  This means people don’t have the cushion required to keep the economy going if they lose work for a few weeks or a month.  Give them the money they need to live a basic life. Let them work and earn additional income in our new “gig” and online full-employment economy. Then, get out of the way as they rebuild the U.S. economy in record time.  Quit thinking 19^th and 20^th Century store-front businesses need to be kept alive in the 21^st Century with bailouts.  They do not. 

If you believe in capitalism as a valid economic system the only question you need ask is, “How do I get cash into the hands of consumers?”   Do not attempt to save the businesses, save the people and then watch these consumers save businesses.  Consumers will choose what businesses survive in our new economy.  If consumers want Amazon to grow, it will grow.  If the people want environmentally sound businesses to grow, then these businesses will prosper.  A true capitalist would let consumers decide what is important in America.  It is not the job of politicians and lobbyists and corporations. 

How can we do this?  Start by giving every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 a minimum payment of $2,000 per month.  Make no exceptions for their income.  Make no exceptions if they are married.  Make no exceptions if they are living with their parents.  Make no requirement that they work or be employed.  Give every citizen $24,000 a year, tax free, via direct deposit or debit card recharge.  Let them spend it any way they see fit.  Whether they choose travel or rent, food or video games, it’s their choice.  Call the program, Americans First.

Stockton, California, has been experimenting with this type of program for about a year.  The program gives a group of citizens $500 each month.  What the city has found to date is interesting.  Recipients are spending this "extra" money every month on food, merchandise, utility bills, and car repairs and gasoline.  People are continuing their employment and spending the money on necessities, not buying drugs or lazing about as warned by naysayers.

Americans First would assure those who already receive a Federal benefit, like VA disability, Social Security, SSI, or a Federal pension, would be paid a minimum of $2,000 per month.  If a recipient already receives $1,600 per month, she would receive an additional $400 each month to supplement her social security.  If someone receives more than $2,000 monthly from any similar source, that amount would stay the same.  However, only the first $2,000 would be free from Federal taxes.  Two adults in the same household would receive $4,000 monthly.  If they have three children under the age of 18, they still receive only $4,000.  There would be no reward for having children.  If the child is over 18 years, then that child would receive $2,000 in their name, not their parents. 

Giving U.S. citizens direct payments is not a new idea.  Interestingly, every time cash has been given to citizens in recent history it has been done by a Republican President.  Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump have all given money directly to citizens.  You would not dare call these men communists, socialists, progressive, or even liberal.

Under the Nixon Administration, beginning in 1969, the Family Assistance Plan provided families with financial assistance ranging from $1,600 to $2,400 each month.  In 2008 President Bush provided checks in the amount of $600 to individuals, $1200 to couples and $300 for each child.  Social Security recipients received $300 each.  Extended in 2009 under the Making Work Pay Act, individuals received an additional $400, couples $800.  And, though to date not everyone has received their payment, President Trump personally signed checks in the amount of $1,200 for individuals and $500 for each child under the age of 16. 

Why did these Republican Presidents do this?  Nixon’s plan was to get rid of the need for welfare programs.  Bush’s plan was to get money flowing into the economy after the great financial crash of 2008.  And, of course, Trump’s plan is to get money into the U.S. economy during a worldwide pandemic.

Nixon’s idea was sound.  If every American has a floor, a bottom that provides food and basic shelter, there would be no need for “welfare” or even unemployment insurance.  If you eliminated these poverty programs you would chop well more than a Trillion dollars from the Federal budget.  Citizens would have basic income, enough to allow survival.  If someone wants a better lifestyle, they can have it.  They can work in the “gig” economy or become a politician or school teacher or labor as a policeman or Amazon warehouse worker.  Very few Americans will settle for the lifestyle a mere $24,000 a year provides.  And remember, they would pay taxes on every cent they earned over their $2,000 monthly base.

One of the reasons our economy has been so sluggish since the Great Recession of 2008 is the American people don’t have any money.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the median income for a full-time wage or salary worker is $900 a week.  These low paying jobs provide barely enough for food and shelter, much less extra money to buy non-essentials.  It does not make any difference that, until recently, unemployment was very low.

My plan puts money in the hands of people to pay for their bare necessities.  And, even a minimum wage job paying $7.25 per hour would give an individual another $15,000 to spend and push the economy out of its doldrums.  Americans First will allow us to see economic numbers not seen since the 1960’s or 1980’s.  In the 1960’s, even with a war raging in Southeast Asia, the average growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year was 4.19%.  The 1980’s witnessed growth so dramatic President Clinton was able to turn the budget deficit around.

On the other hand, between 2008 and 2018, the GDP has risen an average of less than 1.6% a year. It has been slow to rise because the only people with money are the very rich.  They are spending all they can, but there are too few of them to bolster the economy.  We need to recognize that when all citizens have money to spend, the U.S. economy grows exponentially. 

Paying for this is relatively easy with the elimination of welfare programs like Medicaid, Aid for Dependent Children, private school vouchers, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and more.  Though you would be adding monthly to some payments for veterans and social security recipients, for example, you would subtract out those amounts that are already being paid to these people as that money is already budgeted.  For example, Social Security already pays out about $1 Trillion per year in benefits.  Thus, only the additional money would be added to the Federal budget monthly and Social Security is a self-funded program through FICA taxes. 

Example of New Federal Income Tax Rates 

Couple these budget savings with a progressive graduated Federal income tax program that collects taxes on all income over $24,000 per year and you’ve turned America around without bailing out any business.  The new Federal income tax schedule would eliminate all standard and itemized deductions.  No more maximum inheritance tax rates.  No more different rates of taxation for investors.    Money earned would be taxed no matter how it was earned…death, investment, or salary.  Individuals are individuals. No more married deductions and no more deductions for dependents.  Tax brackets for individuals would return to mirror those formerly used by the Eisenhower administration as you can see here. 

Corporations would be taxed similarly.  The only deductions allowed for corporations would be for reinvestment, e.g. for equipment, people, or real estate.  If you are not growing your business, you pay higher taxes.  The new code would provide straight dollar deductions.

I know many could argue against such an approach.  For example, is $2,000 the right amount for a floor?  What taxes should people pay for income generated above the floor? Will people work if they are given basic income? 

What I do not think can be argued, however, is that giving money to consumers, in a consumer-driven economy, is nonsense.  It is a better idea for our 21^st Century economy than 19th Century Darwinism.  Capitalism is about business, not people.  American citizens should not be treated as some sort of Darwinian experiment.  Businesses should be allowed to go under if they do not provide a good product, presented at the right price and at the right time.  

Because there is no work available or the work is changing faster than the skill sets or the only work available pays starvation wages is not an excuse to allow people to go under, to die.  Allowing people to die because capitalism has not evolved with the times would be worse than Darwinian, it would be immoral and, perhaps, criminal.