General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How can a person who fights for the TPP be considered a friend of the 99%? [View all]joshcryer
(62,265 posts)My beef is that we're attacking the symptom as opposed to the cause.
And when Democrats do talk about attacking the cause (in one case it's the corporate tax rate which has way too many loopholes) it's sort of ignored or deflected. Democrats say "we need to close the loopholes and lower the rate," everyone focuses on "lowering the rate." Why? The high end is higher than Germany. So why not adjust it down to Germany's rate, and then close the loopholes? It's a win win.
Now you'd call be a pragmatist for saying that, I think it's just common darn sense.
Additionally, give tax incentives to companies which do keep their manufacturing here and who do hire American employees.
Of course, that wouldn't stop something like TPP from being created, but it could probably be made public at that point, because it wouldn't have the kind of economic subterfuge that is necessary to maintain our import economy while at the same time marginalizing our biggest global threats (China and Russia). Slave manufactured goods and oil are unsustainable, and the US knows it.
Automation is going to take over slave labor and renewables are going to take over oil. The question is whether we get off the import economy before it happens or if we strangle the rest of the world while we do it. It appears that we are doing the latter. And the latter will take a lot longer because it means letting the almighty "markets" bring forth renewable energy and automation as opposed to a grand bargain which could bring it about decades sooner.
Lest I ramble on further about how a living wage is going to be absolutely necessary in this new world.