Moving Forward

One of the things that needs to happen in this country is a switch from private to public for things like health insurance, pensions, education.

Our citizens need to be allowed to live their lives productively but also with a safety net since some of the old safety nets have disappeared.

Take health care.  Employer provided health care worked for many but has a fundamental flaw, it requires an employer.  Make no mistake, the cost of this was included in the products we buy, Employers have no other source of funds.  Of course Employers need to maximize profits and as the cost of health care grew, it became a target for cuts, both in contributions and deductibles.  While the Affordable Care Act normalized requirements and basic coverages, it is still a bit of a crap shoot that becomes almost a matter of chance.  Everyone should have access to a basic level of coverage no matter where they work or if they work at all.  How to achieve this is negotiable.

Similarly everyone should have a basic level of retirement they can rely on.  Social Security was designed to supplement Employee defined benefit plans, many of which have vanished.  Further Social Security itself is starting to run out of funds and it needs to be stabilized and improved.

As a country we have generally provided free public education through high school, but the quality has varied greatly based on location and economics.  Its time to extend that to include merit based higher education that doesn't leave our students facing a lifetime of debt.  Education is the key to our countries future and it needs to be a priority.

Of course there are other issues that we need to address, there always are.  Climate Change is a danger to our entire planet and is not some sort of hoax.  Those who still are contributing to the problem should have to pay for the damage they cause.  Economic incentives are the simplest way to motivate change.

Paying for these things requires an adjustment to our tax system and a reprioritization of where we want to spend our money.  After the Cold War we were able to reduce defense spending and actually eliminate the deficit.  We need to do something similar today.

The country needs to move together to improve everyone's life.

Its why it exists.