shua for mideast assembly

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

As the Mideast regional election approaches, I'd like to present some of the ideas and priorities that I would, if elected to our fine assemble, seek to implement.

Openness, Accessibilty, Participation
Since entering Atlasia, I have wanted to see more openness in the ability of every Atlasians to make an impact, to be well informed, and to make the process of policymaking generally more open and accessible. This is one reason I believe in the regions: that more people can be involved when power is dispersed. 

However, I have had some frustrations with the Mideast government over the past year. These have not been the result of any policy or any person, but are structural problems. It has at times seemed that it was a closed system - the same people in power, domination by a single party, and a lack of accessible information and opportunities for involvement for those outside of government.
None of these issues are as bad as they could be, or as they may appear. Indeed I believe we are already moving in the right direction. The creation of the new Regional government board, and separate threads for particular bills, is a very helpful development to making the workings of government more understandable. Our governor has been encouraging of new participants to be involved in government, an effort was influential in my decision to be a candidate this election. While I am still open to the idea of limits on consecutive terms, the relative newness of our current candidates makes me think it may well not be necessary.
 
Still there is more we can do. Some possibilities include making sure a succinct review of the bills and agenda to be reviewed by the assembly can be read and understood by Mideast citizens, who will then have a time to review and comment. Legislation considered and enacted should be explained as to its purpose and implications. It is important also to allow more citizens to be more directly involved in policy making. One idea I have suggested is to put forward some legislation as ballot measures. The point is both for an element of direct democracy and to engage the public in a discussion of what issues face our region.

please leave your questions and comments. I will soon give my thoughts on taxes and other issues.

[tmthforu94]

I completely agree with your assessment. Best of luck to you, Shua!

[California8429]

First off, every citizen is welcome to participate in our debate, Badger is the top example of this, it's like he's a voting member practically. Any citizen has the ability to shape the bill. Even as a dominated assembly, we hold up bills for other criticisms, suggestions, and debate. The child board as you've said has been a big help to increase assembly activity, though it also is in the government board which few people read except candidates and elected officials and hence can discourage less active Atlasians to participate.
 
The problem I have with a bunch of ballot box type votes is it takes a long time, it's the reason we have the Assembly. If citizens really want to be active and introduce their own legislation, they are free to due so and it's defended in the Constitution. Citizens can bring bills up to debate if they really have a passion for it and want to see it passed.

What you talk about is very noble, but I just don't think our region is big and active enough with enough people to really do all of this.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

A-Bob, thanks for mentioning some of the things that citizens can already do to be more involved. One problem we have is that these avenues are not well known. If we can find a way to better communicate these democratic avenues as well as what issues the government is dealing with, that would be a good way to make our region more active, and also attract more citizens over time - since I do believe Atlasians want to live in a region where they can have a sense of direct involvement.

[California8429]

We can look into the Governor posting updates about current laws being debated with the links so citizens can look at that since the Governor's office is in the election board, that way there's a bridge between the two.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

We can look into the Governor posting updates about current laws being debated with the links so citizens can look at that since the Governor's office is in the election board, that way there's a bridge between the two.

yes, that would be very good.

here are my thoughts on taxes:
Financing our Region

I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of taxes. But they are essential for the operation of our government's essential functions, and so I am very interested in creating a sound and just policy.  I do believe our tax code should be simple, low and somewhat progressive. Taxes and fees should not be burdensome to the poor, those starting out a career or a new small business. Nor should they discourage growth or drive away success.
So how do we finance our regional government and public services? There’s no perfect solution. A reasonable approach would be a combination of income/corporate and sales taxes, supplemented where appropriate by fees and tolls.
A sensible tax policy could look something like this:
-sales tax kept at or below about 5%. no tax on food, medicine, agricultural feed and seed, homemade/homegrown items.
-no personal income tax on first 15K of income, with simplified but progressive rates between 1% and 5% (for example:  15K-65K: 1%, 65K-115K: 2%, 115K-315K: 4%, >315K: 5%) with personal tax deductions related to care of dependants and health insurance/savings accounts.
-remove most special corporate tax breaks and subsidies while keeping corporate tax rates in line with income tax rates.
-no property or inheritance tax
-some fees related to specific services may be appropriate, such as tolls to fund highways, but should not be disproportionate or prohibitive.

[tmthforu94]

Something on a lot of voters minds, I'd say...Would you have voted for the Labor Relations Act?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Something on a lot of voters minds, I'd say...Would you have voted for the Labor Relations Act?

No, not as currently written.  I would have supported the original language, before any amendments, and I'd like to start afresh from there. For section C, I believe violations should be remedied by damages to aggrieved parties rather than punitive fines to the government. D, I find confusing. E does deal with an important aspect but I'm not sure it provides an adequate recourse for public/"emergency" employees. 

[tmthforu94]

Something on a lot of voters minds, I'd say...Would you have voted for the Labor Relations Act?

No, not as currently written.  I would have supported the original language, before any amendments, and I'd like to start afresh from there. For section C, I believe violations should be remedied by damages to aggrieved parties rather than punitive fines to the government. D, I find confusing. E does deal with an important aspect but I'm not sure it provides an adequate recourse for public/"emergency" employees. 

Thank you, I appreciate your response.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

  We have some excellent candidates for Assembly this time around.  I'm having quite a hard time figuring out who not to vote for.  It is good that we see some different candidates from the current officeholders - which is not in any way to denigrate their work. For example, while I am among those who have problems with the Labor Relations Act, I know that it was a good faith effort to try to reconcile various interests on a difficult issue. I do think we can do better in the next Assembly, as also I do think we can vastly improve on the Abortion Reduction Act so that it actually does what it says in the name.  I'd like to see us revisit our general criminal justice policy, to base it more on restitution rather than retribution.  Also we might consider whether an Attorney General position would be helpful to us in advocating disputes on behalf of our region. I think we may need to clarify some jurisdictional issues between our region and the national government concerning the District of Columbia. There has also been some talk of election reform that we should consider.
   We have a challenging but exciting time ahead of us.  I hope I have given some evidence in this campaign so far that I am engaged with interest in the important process of deliberation that is our Assembly at its best. If elected to the Mideast Assembly, it will be my first elected office in Atlasia, so I do hope also that you will consider a vote for me to be a vote to broaden our democratic experiment, especially as I will do whatever I can to encourage the participation of all our citizens in the process of government.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Badger has been hard at work estimating the income and expenditures we would see under the current budget proposal. As can be seen here, it looks like we may be coming up quite a bit short. I believe that by cutting spending, and having a tax plan more like the one I have laid out here under "Financing Our Region", we will be able to make a significant reduction in our deficit.

[California8429]

The tax plan you laid out would actually produce slightly less revenue than our current model

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The tax plan you laid out would actually produce slightly less revenue than our current model

I don't actually see how that's possible, but I'll take a closer look at it. In any case, I'd also look to remove the mortgage interest deduction and about 7 billion in corporate tax expenditures.

[California8429]

The tax plan you laid out would actually produce slightly less revenue than our current model

I don't actually see how that's possible, but I'll take a closer look at it. In any case, I'd also look to remove the mortgage interest deduction and about 7 billion in corporate tax expenditures.

our sales tax had to move to 5.7% and our income tax brackets are about the same

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

here are the originally proposed rates that Badger used for his analysis:

Income Tax Rate:
0%    $0 - $13,000
1%    $13,001 - $40,000
1.5%    $40,001 - $100,000
2%    $100,001 - $180,000
2.5%    $180,001 - $300,000
3%    $300,001 - $750,000
3.5%    $750,001 - $2,750,000
4.5%    $2,750,001+

here are the rates I proposed:
15K-65K: 1%,
65K-115K: 2%,
115K-315K: 4%,
>315K: 5%

as you can see, these rates are higher on taxes above 115K than these, which I suspect would more than offset having a .7% lower sales tax. I really do think having a sales tax above 5 percent is bad for business and for the wallets of people on a budget.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I'd like us to reexamine some of our tax expenditures. these are tax breaks that are distributed in order to influence societal choices. unfortunately they can have unintended consequences - such as when a deduction for local taxes rewards localities that tax and spend more, or when mortgage interest deductions encourage people to buy homes they can't afford, or when employer-paid health insurance deductions drive up healthcare costs while keeping insurance out of reach for those working two part-time jobs. 

so here's where I'd start, saving the region about 36 Billion in tax expenditures:   

Tax Expenditures and Tax Cuts ($163.75 billion)

Corporate Tax Breaks ($15.53 billion)
$7.50 billion ...... R&D Tax Breaks (No Change)
$1.01 billion ...... Energy, Mining and Timber Tax Breaks (No Change)
$2.03 billion ...... Tax Free Bonds (No Change)
$4.99 billion ..... Other Corporate Tax Breaks (No Change)

Personal Business & Investment Benefits ($7.09 billion)
$5.55 billion ..... Tax-Free Bonds (No Change)
$0.56 billion ...... Enterprise & Empowerment Zones and New Markets credit (No Change)
$0.98 billion ....... Other personal investment tax breaks (No Change)

Pension & Retirement Deductions ($46.49 billion)
$17.55 billion ..... Employer-paid Pensions (No Change)
$15.55 billion ..... 401Ks & Keogh plans (No Change)
$2.41 billion ...... IRAs (No Change)
$10.12 billion ..... Group and personal life insurance benefits (No Change)
$0.86 billion ...... Other retirement benefits (No Change)

Health Insurance Tax Benefits ($34.63 billion)
$30.99 billion .... Employer-paid Health Insurance (No Change) - I would like to see this changed to a deduction for individually purchased plans
$1.53 billion ...... Self-employed medical insurance premiums (No Change)
$1.00 billion ...... Medical Savings/Health Savings Accounts (No Change)
$1.11 billion ...... Deductibility of medical expenses (No Change)

Housing tax benefits ($22.43 billion)
$10.00 billion ..... Mortgage Interest (No Change)
$4.51 billion ..... Deductibility of property taxes on homes (No Change)
$7.01 billion ..... Exclusion of net imputed rental income on owner-occupied homes (No Change)
$0.91 billion ...... Housing bonds & low-income housing investments (No Change)

Other individual deductions and exemptions ($37.58 billion)
$8.12 billion ..... Charitable contributions (No Change)
$7.91 billion ..... Local taxes (w/o home property) (No Change)
$1.56 billion ...... Workmen's compensation (No Change)
$7.33 billion ..... Education deductions and credits (No Change)
$7.01 billion ..... Child credit (No Change)
$0.98 billion ...... Child care credits and deductions (No Change)
$0.56 billion ......... Deduction for the blind and elderly (No Change)
$1.02 billion ...... Untaxed foreign personal income (No Change)
$1.01 billion ...... Employee parking and transit expenses (No Change)
$0.35 billion ...... Adoption and foster care tax credits (No Change)
$1.34 billion ...... Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)- revenue loss component (No Change)
$0.39 billion ...... Other fringe benefits (No Change)

[California8429]

We're cutting all $163.75 billion btw

Apparently they'd be ineffective (which I'm fine with to save money )

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

as I understand it, if you got rid of all those, then we wouldn't have a budget shortfall.

Wouldn't the tax cuts be subject to the current budget though? As in here's the 10% rate say for something, but you only have to pay 8% this year?

Still, I'm win with save $163.75 billion

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand your question, A-Bob. In a nutshell the above listed tax deductions are included in the upcoming budget to the same extent as allowed in RL (which according to Torie most states will allow deductions to the same extent as the federal government does). As there is currently no proposed change to the level of such tax deductions, they will already be included in the final calculation of revenue collected and therefore don't impact "spending" levels at all. If such deductions are to be expanded or reduced from present levels in the future, however, that will then obviously affect revenue levels.

it looks to me like the only change that's been made has been in how it's counted  (from the expenditure to the revenue side of the equation). a reduction in deductions as I am proposing should actually increase tax revenue.

[California8429]

as I understand it, if you got rid of all those, then we wouldn't have a budget shortfall.

Wouldn't the tax cuts be subject to the current budget though? As in here's the 10% rate say for something, but you only have to pay 8% this year?

Still, I'm win with save $163.75 billion

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand your question, A-Bob. In a nutshell the above listed tax deductions are included in the upcoming budget to the same extent as allowed in RL (which according to Torie most states will allow deductions to the same extent as the federal government does). As there is currently no proposed change to the level of such tax deductions, they will already be included in the final calculation of revenue collected and therefore don't impact "spending" levels at all. If such deductions are to be expanded or reduced from present levels in the future, however, that will then obviously affect revenue levels.

it looks to me like the only change that's been made has been in how it's counted  (from the expenditure to the revenue side of the equation). a reduction in deductions as I am proposing should actually increase tax revenue.

I read that as in the next budget we create. I will take it up with Badger thanks

[Badger]

Since Shua PM'd me for clarification on this, I'll reply here to answer both your questions.

The allocation of these various tax breaks in the "spending" side of the column (a rather odd placement, IMHO) is based on the Nathan Newman on-line budget sim both the federal budget and A-Bob's regional budget proposal are modeled on. They should more properly be used to figure out tax revenue, not "spending", but whatevs.

In terms of all those deductions listed, the key is that A-Bob's proposal does not propose any changes (increased or decreased) in the amount permitted to be deducted. As resident tax expert Torie indicated that these deductions are all generally allowed for state taxes in RL, then they currently have no effect, positive or negative, in the current calculations of regional tax revenue.

Put another way, this deductions are all currently allowed in the Mideast Region "to the same degree currently allowed in real life". And yes, until someone proposes a change to any of these deductions (increase, decrease, eliminate---whatever) and thereby forces me to do more research, that IS as specific as I'm going to be for now.

That said, since the regional budget isn't set in stone yet, yes, modifications to those deductions can be made to the budget proposal.

And thanks, Shua---I am so SO looking forward to determining the amount of revenue lost in 10 different states in RL by allowing deductions on Keogh plans and the like.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

thank you very much Badger!

yes, I am interested in proposing changes such as those outline above. I realize that would mean more work for you, so of course if there's anything I can do to assist please let me know.
And if it makes a difference, I wasn't even planning on proposing any changes to Keogh plans

[big bad fab]

Elect shua ! Some fresh blood in the Assembly !

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Elect shua ! Some fresh blood in the Assembly !

thank you!

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Congrats!

[Badger]

Congrats!