I've heard from a number of source, not the first of which is this one, the following bailout proposal. Since the $350B left to spend in the bailout package is approximately equal to two months of federal government income, just have a two month holiday on all taxes of all forms.
This sounds totally reasonable, but the same way a flat-dollar rebate (though there were adjustments to fix this) is extremely progressive, this tax holiday would be extremely regressive. Many poor Americans pay no tax at all (and I suppose the shut off valve for taxes wouldn't take away earned income tax credits ...) and of course those who pay the most in taxes would see the most benefit. So of course conservatives are all over this but don't be fooled - it's a (thinly) veiled regression of the tax code.
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this is interesting. on one hand, i like that it's simple and easy to keep accountable, but on the other, ANY sort of regressive tax makes my skin crawl.
ReplyDeletenot that i have any clue as to how i would better spend the money. anyone else?
I don't know if it's feasible, but in my opinion the best plan would be one wherein the government essentially subsidizes the companies into being green.
ReplyDeleteOK, basically I'm envisioning the government undertaking a massive program to make cars wildly more fuel efficient. Except they already have a vehicle for this model (so to speak) - the auto industry. So I would essentially have them bailout the Big 3 as necessary, and then spend even more on going green - this is the way I envision Obama's Green New Deal or whatever you want to call it. Solve the auto crisis, the energy crisis, and to an extent the employment/economic crisis all at once.
How feasible is it? I don't know, but that's the direction I'd go (though I doubt I was as clear as I'd have liked to have been).