Suggestion: an Optional “patriotic Rich Americans” Tax

 America is broken. Obvious, obvious, obvious. Let’s go looking for blame. This won’t take long, a child could do it. We simply start with the people at the top who make the rules governing how things happen. Legislators. Senators. Representatives. Democrats. Republicans, the President… Politicians. It is their responsibility to make America work. There is absolutely no argument that collectively they have failed. They OWE us a better country.

Who else? Who are the people guiding the decisions of our politicians? Who tells them what to make law? Who has the influence to make a politician vote in a manner harmful to Americans? Again absolutely, unabashedly obvious. Lobbiests who contribute to their war chests. No one denies it. Considering that they control politicians, and determine policy, they are the ones who put us here. They, too, OWE us a better country.

Who else? Who provides lobbiests with the money to bribe politicians to defend their interests, whether or not that is good for America, or Americans. Big industry, where billions, even trillions of dollars exchange hands on a daily basis. These are the recipients of huge favors granted by congress (etc.), and the most blessed benefactors of this incredible country and the way it works. It is big business who have the luxury of power to make policy in America. It is their policy that has brought us to where we are. Their power, their policies and their practices have broken America. They, too, OWE us a better country.

If only there were a way to lump them all into one easy-to-identify group and hold them accountable. Curiously there is. Every one of them is a 2%-er, and as a group, they OWE us a better America. A very nice detail here is the fact that they indeed have the solution available to them. Money. The way they got it was to weaken America. To make bad policy. To make bad laws. To skew things to their financial advantage without considering implications or the negative effects on anyone but themselves.

The way they became 2%-ers is what broke America. It is absolutely their fault. 2%-ers OWE us a better country. Taxing the 2%-ers is not only logical, it’s fair. And here’s the beauty of it. When a trillion or so is put into millions of jobs rebuilding America’s infrastructure and developing wiser, cleaner, more renewable energy policies, new taxpayers are created, the economy grows, we get stronger, DOW goes up, – and the 2%-ers get richer anyway!

It seems so simple. The 2%-ers owe it to us to make America strong. If they are true Americans, they know in their gut that America need them now. And they know how to help. Considering it is they who make the rules, I doubt they’ll pass a big mandatory tax increase on themselves anytime soon… but maybe an optional “Patriotic Rich American” (PRA) tax could be no more than a suggestion, and those 2%-ers who contribute can then be identified and thanked for helping heal this wounded country. (I would gladly do business with a 2%-er PRA). I believe that there are 2%-ers who will contribute – and in a big way – to America’s recovery, if it’s not forced on them. I believe they understand that continuing “as is” can not be the best, or even most profitable, path.

Can “Patriotic Rich American” 2%-ers save America? Yes. Will they?