How government is supposed to work
In the following blog post I discuss "how government is supposed to work."
http://www.mdpolicy.org/policyblog/detail/how-government-is-supposed-to-work
There seem to be a couple dominant schools of thought (democrat and republican in this country) which favor varying amounts of taxation and government intrusion into our lives. Both of these have little offshoots for people who care passionately about certain issues, but at their heart they're still about big or small(er) government.
Politics is often seen as a representation of our own morality, so it's difficult to have a conversation about politics that doesn't turn into an argument. Let's try to do that here.
Why do you believe what you believe? How is government supposed to work? I will choose the winner based on who can demonstrate to me most convincing that they have thought about their response thoroughly.
You can incorporate your business so if it fails, your personal assets are not forfeit. What about company owners who pay themselves excessive salaries for a few years while bankrupting their companies? Why isn't there a limit on the amount of assets protected to prevent this type of unethical robbery?
Then we have the tax code which favors the wealthy. If you can afford a lavish overseas vacation, all you need do is have one business meeting during that time and the entire costs can be deducted from your taxable income.
Individual liberties are taken in the name of the greater good. People are incarcerated because of actions that have the potential to harm others, regardless of whether or not anyone else is actually hurt by them. Morality can NOT be legislated. Drug use and prostitution have been around for thousands of years. Instead of helping educate prostitutes so they have other means of income, or offering counseling and rehab for drug users, we choose to incarcerate them. This harms society in 3 ways: 1)It reduces the chances for those people to get jobs with adequate income to survive. 2)It increases our taxes because of the increased need for law enforcement and prisons & 3)We destroy families by removing a parent with a problem, increasing the likelihood the children will grow up in poverty and experiencing the exact same problems.
The way government should work is this: We should hold people accountable for the actual harm they do, not punish them for actions just because they have the potential to cause harm. We should have a single tax rate that only increases 1% per 10k of income whether that income be earned, capitol gains or inherited.
We can now communicate instantly across thousands of miles. We should no longer be having representatives crafting laws and having the only votes on them. Their job should now be to help craft legislation suggested by their constituents. Then the entire country, state or county should have a vote on them. I agree with the supreme court that we should be allowed to spend money on commercials advocating our beliefs... but those same advertisements should have to disclose exactly who pays for them, instead of allowing them to hide behind names of secondary organizations. (How many of us would have voted for free lifetime healthcare and full retirement for representatives after serving 6 years or less had it been put to a nationwide vote?) If you'ld like to discuss it further feel free to contact me. I have many more ideas but an hesitant to extend this submission.