SB 2018-158: Free Higher Education for Atlasia Act (Passed)

[Pericles]

There are three big pluses to this bill. First-it gives all Atlasians access to higher education, which is increasingly a necessity in today's world. In the long-term this will create a better educated and more prosperous society. Secondly, it does so while being fiscally responsible and funded, which was apparently the main thing the Federalists thought was missing from the previous bill. Thirdly, it has the bonus of reforming Wall Street and reducing the risk of another crash and Great Recession. Atlasia needs this bill. Congress should swiftly pass it and he President should sign it into law. And of course if I'm elected President I'll enthusiastically sign it into law.

[Pericles]

Does anybody have any comments or amendments to make this bill even better?

[Pericles]

I oppose the very idea of “free” higher education and cannot support this bill in any form. There’s no such thing as “free”. Somebody has to pay for it - and why should the plumbers and tradesman of the world, who don’t go to traditonal schools, subsidize people getting useless liberal arts degrees?

What about primary and secondary education then? Why not just privatise that? They're increasingly similar in that higher education is also a necessity or close to it. Admittedly they're not the same, but it does people and our country a real disservice to be denied higher education. And furthermore if you look at the funding I doubt many plumbers or tradesmen will be affected.

[Pericles]

What about primary and secondary education then? Why not just privatise that? They're increasingly similar in that higher education is also a necessity or close to it. Admittedly they're not the same, but it does people and our country a real disservice to be denied higher education. And furthermore if you look at the funding I doubt many plumbers or tradesmen will be affected.

No, higher education isn’t a necessity or close to it. Millions of Atlasians make excellent livings without higher education - including plumbers and other tradespeople, who will be taxed to pay for people getting useless liberal arts degrees that have no application in the real world. We need more plumbers, not philosophy majors. Why should we subsidize philosophy majors at the expense of plumbers and tradesmen?

If you read the bill, you'll find that plumbers and tradesmen aren't the ones paying more for this program. This program makes the tax system fairer in order to let all Atlasians have greater opportunities and the chance to get a quality education and a path to the middle class. And those who don't have that opportunity are increasingly losing out in today's society.

[Pericles]

If you read the bill, you'll find that plumbers and tradesmen aren't the ones paying more for this program. This program makes the tax system fairer in order to let all Atlasians have greater opportunities and the chance to get a quality education and a path to the middle class. And those who don't have that opportunity are increasingly losing out in today's society.

If you think banks are just going to be charged a "risk" fee without passing that on to their customers, I have a bridge to sell you. And some of the people who make more than $5,000,000 are college dropouts, like Bill Gates.

The banks have plenty if money and the risk fee is well targeted. And most college dropouts aren't Bill Gates sadly and generally college is an advantage. We should give people the opportunity to be able to make the choice without denying it arbitrarily to those who are less wealthy.

[Pericles]

If there is greater funding needed depending on the level I can also change capital gains and the estate tax.

[Pericles]

Given that the SEC is free to determine the risk fee between 1% and 8%, I've created a low estimate where the SEC charges entirely 1% and a high estimate where the 8% is entirely charged. The actual income would be somewhere in between, once against depending on the SEC's decision. The figures are annual.

Funding:

High estimate - $5.61bn
Low estimate - $4.36bn

Cost:

$10.77bn

What about the 4% surcharge on incomes of $5 million and above? Did you factor that in?

[Pericles]

Given that the SEC is free to determine the risk fee between 1% and 8%, I've created a low estimate where the SEC charges entirely 1% and a high estimate where the 8% is entirely charged. The actual income would be somewhere in between, once against depending on the SEC's decision. The figures are annual.

Funding:

High estimate - $5.61bn
Low estimate - $4.36bn

Cost:

$10.77bn

What about the 4% surcharge on incomes of $5 million and above? Did you factor that in?

Yep.

Ok I'll increase funding in the coming days.

[Pericles]

Arbitrary cut-off amounts is not a sound economic policy, a sliding scale works best for these types of legislation, because somebody whose family is making $131,000 would get no funding, while somebody whose family is making $129,000 would save potentially tens of thousands on tuition. It would encourage tax evasion and disincentivize parents or individuals from taking raises or promotions if it comes at the cost of losing the student's tuition benefits.

A sliding scale subsidy system would mitigate many of these problems, such as those with a family income of over $70,000 receiving 100% of tuition paid for, and slowly adjusting it to $130,000 being cut off from that point.

That's actually a good idea, I should amend the legislation to do that.

[Pericles]

Amendment

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I intend to also amend d to exempt housing but I want the wording to be done well and so would appreciate constructive input.

[Pericles]

The amendment is adopted.

I'm not expecting there to be any more official business tomorrow, so that's probably it for me. It's been nice serving in the Senate with you all!

I'd just like to say I'll miss you as a Senator and you've done a great job-all Fremontians and Atlasians should be very happy with your service.

[Pericles]

I am going to have to oppose this bill. Given that we as a Nation are already running a deficit of around 900 Billion Dollars, the fact that this bill's funding seems to be rather shaky overall, I cannot support this bill from a fiscal standpoint.

What are your concerns with the funding? I changed the initial funding as it was inadequate to include a financial transactions tax, so with that added I'd think the bill would be revenue-neutral or actually reduce the deficit, but no estimates have been done on the amendment as I want input on how to exempt housing from the financial transactions tax and generally make sure the amendment is written properly, and then we can move to a vote on that amendment.

[Pericles]

I support the general idea, but the current financial crises needs to be addressed first.

That's why it needs to be fully funded. In that case it costs nothing and is a good bill. And the $10.77 billion cost(before fudning) is a drop in the bucket anyway compared to the $904 billion deficit. This bill is good for Atlasia. Ad a more educated populace is good for the economy and in the long term this will be good for the government too with greater revenue resulting from higher productivity. But fundamentally if this is a good bill it should be passed, the deficit isn't going to be an issue here.

[Pericles]

The amendment to section 4 is fine but the rest is hostile. Either the amendment should be amended or I'll introduce my own counter amendment.

[Pericles]

My new amendment-adding to my previous amendment. Underlined and bolded are the changes to my previous amendment, bolded is the rest of the amendment that is still to be voted on.

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[Pericles]

It's terrible to think that there are those who think it's a good idea to hurt the middle/working class by charging an extra fee for housing transactions over $300k, especially since in several parts of the country, that amount gets you a very small, sometimes run down house (and in some cases you can't even get a house, but a condo or apartment) in a poor neighborhood.

I'd also have to see if I can find the source when I'm on a computer, but nationwide, the median price for a single family home based on 2016 numbers was something around $320k.

Do you have a suggestion for an alternative value for housing? And how come you didn't call out LT-he also supports the same fee? Your choice whether to score political points or actually provide the leadership you promised.

[Pericles]

I'm open to amendments and am happy to accept constructive criticism but the bill has to be improved, not gutted. I don't have time for point scoring.

[Pericles]

I've specifically said that I'm open to an amendment to subsidize the trades as well, and that, despite the funding concerns, the bill-once the financial transaction fee is passed(that means my amendment has to be passed) would likely be revenue neutral or even reduce the deficit.

[Pericles]

I don't think that much of the incidence of the tax would fall on consumers-and this issue is outweighed by the revenue raised from it. The fee also is intended to serve as a disincentive to risky behavior from the banks, so as well as raising revenue it helps create a healthier financial system-which would of course benefit consumers a lot more than any possible negative impact from the fee. And I take Lumine's concerns to mean we shouldn't just subsidize universities, and that's a concern that has validity, but not one that should topple the entire bill. As stated previously, universities are also beneficial and people should have the opportunity to access them-and the benefit of this approach is people have greater choice and opportunity to decide their own future.

[Pericles]

I urge a delay in voting on any amendments as negotiations are ongoing and I can't promise that these amendments are the final versions of themselves.

[Pericles]

Nay.

[Pericles]

The amendment is defeated. Pericles, is the earlier amendment you proposed still to be considered?

Yes.

[Pericles]

I thought I already amended this to change the housing fee. Done now.

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[Pericles]

Let's vote on the amendment and then move to a final vote.

[Pericles]

I've changed my mind. I want a vote to start on Tuesday, providing thumb21 does a final report on the bill on Monday. Midnight on Monday would be good.