Tug's Plan For Helping The Poor.

There are a few things that I believe.

I believe that America is the land of opportunity.

I believe that Capitalism is the reason that America is the land of opportunity. I also believe that Socialism undermines the economic system which makes America strong by punishing achievers who take advantage of the opportunities that America offers, and rewarding behavior which creates dependency.

We in America are free. (At least for a little while longer, anyway.) We can decide where we want to live, how we want to live, how and whom we want to worship, or not. We can own property, we can choose our leaders, and we can make up our own minds about what we want to do for a living.

Our chances for wealth and prosperity in America are limited only by our individual ability to think, and our willingness to work hard enough to achieve our personal goals. (And in part, by the number of mistakes we, individually, have made in the past.)

What this means is that, ultimately, we are responsible for our own circumstances.

That being said, I will say that I do realize that some people are born with advantages that others do not have. That does not mean that these people should be punished, or that the disadvantaged people should be rewarded. Life is not fair. Never has been, never will be. To try to make life fair for everyone is an unrealistic goal, and a waste of time. It sounds good, and working toward that goal may make us feel good, for a while, but to set that as a goal means ultimate failure.

However, no one in America should be allowed to starve, no matter what situation they were born into. No child should be made to suffer because of bad decisions made by their parents.

I also realize that there are people in America who are handicapped to the point that they cannot provide for themselves, and provisions must be made for these people.

So here are a few suggestions for helping the poor and disadvantaged, without resorting to Socialist wealth redistribution programs, (Which I consider to be morally wrong.)

1. Food.

Do away completely with Food Stamp programs, and make one aisle in every grocery store completely free. Put generic items on this aisle like dry beans, rice, milk, generic breakfast cereals, canned vegatables, Spam, fatback, generic toiletries, and other household needs. Make all of these items totally free, to anyone who wants them.

This would do three things. One, it would eliminate fraud by eliminating any conversion of any of this stuff into cash, because anyone who wanted this kind of stuff could get all they wanted for free, and Two, eventually the people who could do better would get tired of living off that crap, and make an attempt to better their situation.

And Three, No one would go hungry. Anywhere, ever.

2. Clothing.

Make all clothing donations to organizations like the Salvation army, or Goodwill, completely tax deductible, at full, new, retail value, for everyone who donates anything, regardless of their income.
Make all clothing purchases from organizations like these completely tax deductible, at full purchase price, for everyone, regardless of their income.

This would encourage the "Rich" to donate unused clothing to these organizations, and the "Working Poor" to buy clothing from them. Win, win. And the Government neither made money, nor lost money on the process.

3. Housing.

This one was a little tougher. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that people who are unwilling to provide for themselves are not really entitled to the same choices as people who are, and people who are unable to provide for themselves should be grateful for whatever help they get from society.

First of all, I would put anyone who is too mentally ill to look after themselves into mental health care facilities. We used to do this, but the Democrats did away with this practice during the Carter Administration. (I don't know why.)

I would place anyone who is too physically handicapped to look after themselves into private assisted living facilities, if they had no family who were willing and able to look after them, and I would supplement these families, and facilities, with enough taxpayer money to make a job there profitable for qualified individuals who feel the calling to work there.

Anyone else who is homeless, I would relocate to closed military bases around the country. These facilities have provisions for schools, single family housing for homeless families, and dormitory style, and barracks housing for single homeless people. There are schools, and a multitude of buildings that can be converted into educational facilities for job training for homeless or disadvantaged adults.

I would even let the military oversee the education of these disadvantaged people, both children and adults, and use the power of the military to help place these people in jobs when they are trained. I would train them to be Civilian Military Contractors, and give them preferential treatment when bidding on military contracts.

There is already a "Troops to Teachers" program, and I would use this program to help poor and disadvantaged Americans.

4. Jobs.

We need to eliminate all corporate taxes, and go to a consumption based tax system, or a flat individual tax system, by which every individual American pays, say, 10 percent of their income in taxes.

No more than 10 percent, though. I have to live on the income that I get, and I believe that the Government should make do with 10 percent of all of the money that the whole working population can generate.
10 percent is enough for Jesus Christ. It should be enough for the Federal Government.

You have no idea how jobs would bloom if the drag of confiscatory taxes were to be removed from American industry. Rich people are in the business of making money. Not providing jobs, not manufacturing products, MAKING MONEY.
That's all.
All other things are peripheral. Job creation, product production, innovation, invention, marketing...all peripheral to the process of making money.
Rich people are the creators of jobs.
The more money they are allowed to keep, the more they will expand markets, the more new, innovative products they will produce, and the more new industries they will promote.

The more jobs they will create.

The better off everyone will be.

I'll say it again, in case you missed it. The more money the "Rich" are permitted to keep, THE BETTER OFF EVERYONE WILL BE.

Due to the Bush tax cuts, unemployment is already very low in America, and would be at the lowest point in history, if it weren't for the recent hurricanes which devastated large areas of our country, closing many businesses which employed a large number of people.
These businesses WILL reopen in time, because the people who own them are not tired of making money.
These lost jobs WILL be back.

I will tell you something else. The reason that I live in Florida right now is that the job market in North Carolina was very slow, and I AM PORTABLE. I can live anywhere. If I cannot find a job where I live, I will move to where the jobs are.
I've done it before, and I would do it again.

Anyone can. You just have to make up your mind as to what is important to you.

You have to decide whether you would rather be poor where you have always lived, or successful somewhere else.

There is one other factor at work here.
The job market is exactly that. A MARKET.
If you don't have anything to sell, you aren't going to make any money.

Get a skill. Get an education. Get something that belongs to you, besides time by the hour, that employers will pay you money for.

Invest in yourself. Time, effort, money.
If you do this, you will not be poor.

5. Retirement.

Let everyone who is interested, opt completely out of Socialist Security, and invest the same amount of money that would have gone to the Socialist Security system into Money Market accounts, or put it into 401k programs, or even into the Stock Market, or Real Estate Investments.
Mandate that every worker put at least some money away for their retirement, but put the individual in charge of their own account, and where the money goes.
Stop using the livelihood of our Senior Citizens as a tool to grow a voting block, and let Americans figure out what is best for them, themselves.
Put the PEOPLE back in control.
It's the American way.

6. Healthcare.

Hospital Emergency Rooms already provide stabilizing treatment for anyone who shows up, regardless of their ability to pay. I think that this is a good policy, however, it is extremely taxing to these facilities.

If all homeless people were already relocated to closed military bases, and being educated by military people, and trained for jobs by the military, then their healthcare could be provided by the military as well.

The "Working Poor" should already be offered health insurance by their employers. That is where my health insurance comes from. I have never been offered a job which came with absolutely no benefits, and health insurance is the first benefit that businesses provide for their employees.

7. CLOSE THE BORDERS.

The vast majority of disadvantaged people in America today, the vast majority of people working their lives away for minimum wage, the vast majority of people working jobs with no benifits, shouldn't even be here in the first place.
If it were not for illegal immigrants who are willing to work for sub-minimum wages, and in sub-standard working conditions, these conditions would not exist, and Americans who might be willing to do the work that illegals do, might be able to negotiate a better wage, and better conditions for these jobs.

Everyone in America who accepts any job, negotiates their own deal for that job, at the time of hire. Benefits, pay, the whole bit. Most people do not realize the power that they have during the negotiation process. Push for a better deal for yourself up front. Chances are, you will get it. (If you have anything to offer a potential employer. If you don't, then you are at the mercy of everyone. I can't help you, if that is your situation.)

Except for this. Illegals undermine this process. They will work for nothing, and because of this fact, they artificially depress wages, and benefits for all low skilled, or unskilled American workers.

They need to be eliminated from the equasion.

The last factor of my plan is, we, as a society, HAVE to leave a few people behind. This is the cold-hearted and cruel part of our system.
Examples must be made, so that we can provide motivation for the rest of us.
There are some who, no matter how easy or effective the system, in a free country, will choose not to participate. These people MUST, for the good of society, be left alone to fall by the wayside. As per their own choice.

It's a free country.

At least for a little while longer, anyway.