Since we're talking about taxes, here's my rough plan (numbers would likely need to be adjusted to make it revenue neutral):
* Replace all federal taxes with the following:
* ~30% payroll tax, paid by employers and invisible to employees.
* ~$10k tax credit to employers per full time equivalent (FTE) employee who is a citizen or is authorized to work in the United States.
* Federal minimum wage set at 150% the FTE tax credit amount divided by 2000 hours, i.e. $7.50/hr based on a $10k credit.
* ~20% federal VAT.
* ~50% estate tax on the value in excess of $10M.
* ~10% tax on capital gains and interest in excess of $250k for a given tax year.
* ~$200 per-child-per-month payment to primary caregivers if either the primary care-giver or the child is a U.S. citizen. This is a direct payment, not a tax credit.
* Fund SS, SS-Disability and Medicare out of general revenue; get rid of the dumb accounting tricks.
* Convert SS to a one-size-fits-all payment, without respect to lifetime earnings, available starting at age 70.
* Tune the numbers so that revenue is about ~18% GDP during non-recession years.
* Specify via legislation that the "fixed" values, e.g. $10M, $200/mo, $10k, automatically adjust upwards without the need for legislative "fixes" (which become political footballs).
* Make immigration easier/cheaper/quicker; especially for, but not limited to, those who are highly skilled/educated. Anyone with passable English and a STEM degree (bachelors or higher) should be expedited.
