The Top 10 Laws and Policies Needed in America

The Top 10 Laws and Policies Needed in America

1. Eliminate all 2,300 Federal Subsidies.

Growing at 100 new ones per year and costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually, subsides try to over ride market forces and are therefore a “slice of Communism” - the most failed economic system ever. Here is where you can find lists of the subsidies - https://www.cfda.gov/ Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. However, they don't show the budgets and spending here. Instead the government deliberately hides the subsidies in many departmental budgets so that we the people cannot see their true annual costs. So when the government asks you what you want to cut to reduce spening – Military, Medicare, Social security, etc.? - tell them to just cut all the subsicies and restate all the departmental budgets for the last 20 years with the subsides out of them and instead in one Federal Subsidy Budget, namely the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

2. Kill and Replace Unaffordable Obamacare

Focus first on cost reduction measures. Government medical fraud is estimated to range between 10-25%. Private insurance is estimated to be less than 1%. So let private insurance companies instead of government workers manage government medical programs. Do real tort reform to cut down lawsuits that all of us pay for in our insurance and medical costs. Half of all Medicare costs occur for patients in their last year of life. Much of it are for procedures on terminally ill patients that don't really help the patient but are great for doctor and hospital revenues. Have cancer and only six months to live – well you also have blocked arteries, so let's do an expensive and painful quadruple bypass so that we can make sure that you suffer expensively and needlessly for the entire six months. The terminally ill patient may not even be capable of making such medical decisions. So in order to cover those situations without intrusive and unwanted government interference, everyone who signs up for Medicare (or is already on it) must also complete a thoroughly designed living medical will (which they can change at any time), available online to all medical providers, who are required to follow it and that no one, including family members, can over rule. Require all medical providers to charge the same price for their medical services to all patients. No more one price for the insured, and a price ten times higher for the uninsured. Get rid of all State insurance mandates so that national insurance policies can be competitively sold including "disaster" policy options for those that want medical insurance only for the large medical expenses.

3. Fix Social Security

Most of us only think of Social Security as a pension fund. However, it is three separate insurance programs – pension, disability, and widows with minor children. We currently fund them all with one Social Security tax. That tax is capped at a set dollar amount of $128,400 in 2018. Income above that limit does not get SS taxed. I agree with the reason not to tax all income in terms of the pension only. All of us in the pension plan should get back, when we retire, what we put into the program plus reasonable investment growth. So yes, we need to cap the income level for SS pension directed taxes to equate with the maximum limits set for Social Security benefits.

However, on the other two SS insurance funds (disability and widows with minor children), those are purely “welfare” programs. On welfare programs, a progressive tax on all income earned is typical and fair. So let's have two SS taxes – a capped tax for just the pension meant to equalize investment and return, and a SS welfare tax with no income cap on the rest. The tax percentage on the welfare part would likely need to be about 2%, with about 4% taxes to the cap for the SS pension. The exact numbers can be worked out by actuaries.

When your spouse dies, you receive the higher of the two SS checks and lose the other check. Depending on your spouses beneifts, that is a 33 to 50% loss of income. Your expenses (housing, property tax, insurance, car payment, energy bills, etc) don't go down 33 to 50% when a spouse dies. So offer upfront, at the beginning of collecting SS benefits, same as is done with private pensions, to collect slightly less SS benefits while both are alive and not lose the entire second SS check when one spouse dies.

One last recommended reform regards SS disability benefits. When unemployment benefits ran out after being extended to two years during the 2008 Recession, some unemployed applied for and received SS disability payments due to “stress”. Supposedly, they were too “distressed” to work. Close that ridiculous and expensive loophole by eliminating “stress” as a covered SS disability. That will help reduce total SS costs fairly so that we can keep SS taxes from rising to unacceptable levels.

4. Kill the Social Security "Torpedo Tax" on Earned Benefits:

This hits the middle class retirees hard. Once income is past $32,000 for singles and $44,000 for married couples, you may be subject to SS taxes that can be as high as 50%!! That is a much higher percentage than the wealthiest Americans pay on their income taxes. Eliminate the Torpedo tax. Better yet, eliminate all taxes on SS benefits which were originally promised never to be taxed.

5. Make all Decisions based on Race or Ethniticity illegal:

Only merit should be considered for college admissions, job offerings, and job promotions. Those with the most merit are admitted, hired, or promoted. No more reverse discrimination to achieve "diversity" goals.

6. Stop All Illegal Immigration with Real Tough Policies and Enforcement Measures:

No jobs, no schools, no housing for illegals and require strict checking and enforcement at businesses and schools. Anyone, including mayors, governors, and police who do not enforce these laws or does not report immediately to immigration authorities, or actively seeks to protect illegals go to jail for a long time. No asylum given at our borders. Illegals who want asylum must apply to the US Embassy in their own country and get approval or denial there. Anyone caught illegally in our nation is photographed, fingerprinted, and DNA taken, then stripped of all money and possessions except clothes, and immediately deported without trial. They are never allowed to come back to the US and if they do will be sentenced to jail first, then deported.

7. Re-define Citizenship to fit the Realities of our Modern World:

Only children born to American citizens anywhere in the world and those born in the USA to legal residents are citizens. The rest are “foreign nationals” born on US soil, not citizens. Neither they nor their parents are allowed to stay here. No more "anchor babies".

8. Stop all School "Social Promotions:

Much of the failure of public schools is a parental problem of some parents not working with their children to make them focus on their school work. Their kids are not trying, the parents are doing nothing about it, and expect the teachers to somehow do the teaching and the parenting job. Send kids to “study” detention daily who are failing, and if needed to summer school to learn the material. No more "social" promotions to the next grade. Leave them back in the same grade if they fail. If it happens a second time, bring the family to Family court. Those kids may be in a poisonous parental situation (for example drug addiction or alcoholism) and may need to be separated from the parents who have failed them.

9. Eliminate All taxes on Overseas Profits Invested in the US:

We want overseas profits to be invested in the US. That brings jobs and wealth to America. Though we have reduced the tax on overseas profits invested here, we remain the only nation on Earth who taxes these investments in our american economy. It is the height of stupidity to punish global companies who invest their overseas profits here. Let's end this immediately!!!

10. On Civil Lawsuits, Loser Pays All, including the attorney fees of their opponent:

We are a sue happy nation and ultimately all of us pay for those costs. Most other nations have much less lawsuits than America because they employ the loser pays all rule. If the loser used a lawyer(s) and did not lie nor withold important information to that lawyer(s), then the lawyer(s) pay all the opponent's cost plus refunds their fees to the loser. This should greatly reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, plus encourage legitimate lawsuits to be settled out of court.

The Top 10 Economic Lessons for America with Explanations

The Top 10 Economic Lessons for America with Explanations

1. No other financial vehicle has created more long term wealth for Americans than the stock market. Take any 75 years of stock market performance you want and the average annual growth will work out to 10-11%. Here is a chart of stock market performance starting in 1900 - http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia1900.html Also, check any 30-40 year period you want to see how the stock market grows if you buy and hold - Stock Market Performance Calculator - http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm

2. A single stock market investment of $2,000 for a newborn child, based on historical stock market performance, has a high probability of being worth over $1,000,000 by the time the child turns 63. Can't afford $2,000? - $1,000 could grow to over $500,000; $500 could grow to $250,000. Still substantial. If you are fortunate enough to have the funds, a single $5,000 investment at birth could grow to over 2.5 million dollars by age 63, while one $10,000 investment could grow to over $5,000,000. Why not do this for your newborn child or grandchild? Note - Even if the future growth rate of these investments is less than 10-11%, the results will likely be quite good too. For example, $2,000 at 8% growth still will be worth over $250,000.

3. A person who invests $2,000 a year in the stock market every year starting at age 23 until age 65 will make a lot more money than a person who waits until age 44 to start. How much more? Based on long term stock market performance, the 23 year old at age 65 could potentially collect $128,000 a year for the next 42 years while the 44 year old would likely collect only $16,000 a year for only 21 years. If you invested $5,000 a year, the 23 year old would collect $320,000 a year for 42 years, while the 44 year old would likely collect $40,000 a year for 21 years. Give yourself the power of compounding growth by using time (youth) to make your fortune without ever having to 'earn' big money in your job in order to get rich.

4. Invest in Roth IRAs (and Roth 401Ks if available), not Traditional IRAs (nor Traditional 401Ks if the Roth option is available). Traditional IRAs are a government designed sucker's bet. Since over decades, your IRAs are likely to be worth many times more that your initial investment each year, the taxes on your withdrawals will be much larger than paying the little bit of tax the year you put money into a Roth IRA. Additional advantages of a Roth IRA include not being forced to withdraw funds each year starting at age 70 plus your heirs won't have to pay taxes on withdrawals from their inherited Roth IRAs. For example per point 3 above, would you rather be taxed on $2,000 income today by investing $2,000 in a Roth IRA or $128,000 worth of income or more 42 years later by investing in a Traditional IRA?

5. Never buy individual stocks – buy mutual funds, ETFs, and Index funds instead. Hold them for decades – don't buy and sell them as the stock market inevitably churns. Individual stocks can go to zero, but the other vehicles spread the risks over many companies and they are not likely to all go out of business. Most people simply do not have the time to study stocks that they bought on a daily basis to determine when to buy and sell. They are already at a disadvantage to the mutual funds which make up 80% of the marketplace that constantly buy and sell these stocks and ultimately they, not you determine if a stock is going up or down. Also most people are too emotional to make smart decisions or correctly time the market on buys and sells. Most people tend to buy when the stock market is doing well and sell when it is doing poorly. That results in emotionally buying at high prices and selling at low prices – a recipe for losing money and/or reducing long term growth results. When stock markets tank, 3 out of 4 stocks go down with it. That's just a historical fact and it sets up the emotional panic that influences people to make bad choices on buys and sell. 4 excellent ETF stock indices to consider purchasing - SPY (S&P 500), SLY (S&P 600 small caps), MDY (S&P 400 midcaps) and QQQ (Nasdaq Top 100).

6. Mutual funds, and ETFs are categorized several ways - by industry or 'general' – multiple industries, by growth or value funds, by small, medium, and large caps or a mix of all of them, by region of the world, by emerging markets, etc.. Over time as you purchase them, you want to move toward a mix of all of those categories. Keep in mind that it is easier for small and medium sized companies and emerging markets to grow more quickly than large sized companies and mature markets. For example, when companies like Walmart and McDonalds had only 100 stores decades ago, there were more opportunities for them to double and re-double repeatedly across the nation and world then now that they have saturated the nation and/or the world with thousands of stores. Therefore, the case is the same for mutual funds specializing in small and mid-size companies – and since they have research departments plus are spreading the risk among many companies, their downside risk is smaller than with an individual company.

7. Never increase your mortgage payments to pay off your mortgage early. You are giving the bank an interest free loan at great risk to yourself. Instead, put the money into a savings account or CD. It has a couple of advantages. Even at low interest rates, it will grow in time to an amount large enough to pay off your entire mortgage sooner than if you paid it off through higher monthly payments. More importantly, if a financial crisis occurs (loss of job, medical crisis), you will be better prepared to hold onto your house to either weather the crisis or sell your home before bankruptcy occurs, preserving your hard earned equity in the house. By paying off your mortgage through extra monthly payments, you have less money in your personal savings accounts, possibly little or nothing left, to weather the crisis and may lose the house and all your savings that went into it. However, don't put all of your savings into this mortgage payoff endeavor. Leave a significant amount of savings to invest in higher risk but higher long term return (stock market) investments even if it means taking longer to pay off your mortgage.

8. Avoid investments in illiquid companies that pay monthly dividends for two to eight years, before self liquidating. Also avoid investments in commodities and especially avoid General and Limited Partnerships in oil and gas exploration despite the nice tax breaks. Rule 5 applies here. These are indivudual companies, not pooled assets, and they can and sometimes do go bankrupt. They are bought through certified Financial Planners (not stock brokers) who are associated with a larger company enforcing financial guidelines with their Financial Planners. Madison Avenue Securities and also VFG Securities are common companies that work with their associated Financial Planners. Normally, these investments maintain limited flexibility to either liquidate early or late so that they liquidate in hopefully the best market conditions. For oil and gas General Partnerships (normally for one year to get the tax break, and then changed to a Limited Partnership), though they carry lots of insurance, if sued, all your assets and wealth can be utilized to satisfy the final settlement – not a risk worth taking.

9. Raising taxes on Corporations is really a tax on you. Corporations get their money from their customers – ultimately you. They cannot print money like the government. So when you raise taxes on corporations, they must get the money to pay for the taxes somehow while still making the investment returns expected by their stockholders and board of directors. Their first choice in dealing with the additional taxes is to raise their prices – you pay for that. However, market resistance to the new higher prices has the natural impact of lowering demand for their products and services, thus reducing their revenues. Unacceptable result for any corporation. They have two choices – lower prices to get more demand or hold prices and find other ways to reduce costs so as to increase profits. Either way, they have to come up with other options to pay the extra tax. The options are not good ones – layoffs, salary cuts, reduce or eliminate raises, slow down or eliminate business expansion, or go out of business. All those options are essentially a hidden tax on you because you are ultimately paying the price for this tax in reduced income to you either directly or indirectly (as the people laid off, etc. spend less making your employer poorer which eventually affects your income). Note, if they cannot maintain their previous profits even after taking these actions, then their tax liability goes down and despite the higher tax rates, the government loses, not gains tax revenues because there is less profit to tax. More so, when employees are laid off or salaries cut or grown more slowly – since government taxes their income too but can't tax zero income or must accept smaller income available to tax.

10. Raising Minimum wages only hurts the people you are trying to help. Getting a job and job experience is the key to eventually entering the middle class for those without job experience and/or skills. They have double to quadruple the unemployment rate of skilled and/or higher educated workers. 75 years of 30 minimum wage history shows that whenever minimum wage rises, the unemployment rate for unskilled workers rises. History also shows that most of these workers are under 24 and most live in middle class households with multiple family earners. Also, people earning more than the minimum wage are also hurt by “compression” as their wages are now worth less than before in terms of purchasing power. That is because whatever the bottom minimum wage is, products and services have not been increased. So income dollars, though nominally higher for minimum wage workers can't buy any more goods and services than before because there aren't more to buy. A minimum wage worker now more highly paid due to government raising the minimum wage does not produce any extra goods and services. More money chasing the same amount of goods could become inflationary and those earning the least amount of money will always be able to buy the least amount of (the same amount of goods and services produced in America). The often quoted “liberal” argument that minimum wage workers will spend all or most of their raises thus lifting the economy leaves out the fact that businesses will have less profit to invest in expansion and/or give more raises or hire more people offsetting the money spent by minimum wage workers. It also forgets that the always sky high unemployment rate for low skilled workers gets worse every time the minimum wage is raised.

Vegans and Vegetarians Kill more Animals than Meat Eaters

It's kind of ironic and counter-intuitive that meat eaters like myself keep more animals alive than vegans. Think about it. What would happen if overnight, the entire world would turn vegan? First of all, the hundreds of millions of chickens, cows, pigs, and lambs raised for human food consumption would no longer be needed. The farmers who own them could no longer afford to feed them. Those animals would starve to death whether released (not practical) or not. The land the farmers own, including grazing land and therefore could no longer feed the farmers grazing animals, would need to be converted to crops to feed humans, but that would not be enough land to do the job. Also the land used to raise crops such as corn to feed farm animals would also need to be converted to feed humans. Still would not be enough food generated. Prairies and forests would then need to be converted for human food production. The animals and insects that occupied that land would lose their habitat and also die of starvation. Many will likely go extinct. Ocean fishing would increase dramatically in order to feed humans and the fish population would decrease substantially. Eventually, food sources may still be insufficient leading to higher levels of human starvation. In other words, vegans upset the balance of nature and through their diets kill more animals than they save – the direct opposite of their intentions.

Police Shootings - Who's Guilty

When you are stopped by police for questioning and/or arrest and you run from police, what options does the police officer have? It's his job to protect the community and thus stop you from getting away. He could possibly run after you, not knowing whether or not you are armed, and risk getting shot and killed. If he catches up to you and a fight most likely ensues as you are trying to stop from being arrested, you might win that fight, grab the cop's gun, and kill him/her as happens a few times every year. If he doesn't catch up to you and you get away, then the community is at risk as you may be a threat to kill or rob others. So if the cop shoots you as you run away - that's your fault, not his. If you had obeyed police orders as you are required to do by law and did not resist arrest as again you are required to do by law, you would be alive, and if necessary, given a fair trial. Who is more likely to get killed as a percentage of population - Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or cops? Correct answer - cops. Parents teach your children to obey police orders, don't resist arrest, and don't verbally curse or harass cops who have stopped them. If people actually do that, all groups will have a lot less deaths during police encounters.

Veterans Health Care – How to Improve

Give the veterans who qualify for health benefits under today's rules a special VA Medicare card enabling them to go anywhere for their health care needs. Sell off to private medical companies and/or close the VA facilites. It would be better for the veterans and likely much cheaper for the government. When I qualified for VA benefits 3 years ago, I was warned not to drop out of my Medicare plans. The warning was a good one. I simply don't utilize the VA facilites because there are very few of them, it takes a long time to get an appointment, hospitals are more than an hour away plus poorly rated by the VA itself, and anything "expensive" isn't covered. I feel sorry for the vets in need who have no other real options.

Illegal Immigrants - How to Handle Effectively and Fairly

Most illegal immigrants are coming here to better their lives, not because they are in mortal danger. A few, possibly, but not most. That's why we currently have asylum procedures at legal ports of entry. Illegally sneaking over the border outside of these legal ports of entry is done because they know that they have no case for asylum or for remaining in the US. Let's make some effective, common sense changes to our immigration laws that rewards people who come here legally and has zero tolerance for those who do not.

Yes, for the families who sneaked illegally across our borders, keep the children together with their parents and/or accompanying adults, and also photograph, fingerprint and DNA them, then immediately deport them without a hearing, plus make it the law that they will never be allowed in the US for any reason again, while instituting a policy of checking those seeking asylum at our borders against those records. Also, change the asylum laws. If that's what a person or family wants and believes they deserve, then apply at a US Embassy, not at a legal point of entry. It has to be quicker, cheaper, and faster to get to a US Embassy within their own country then to cross through Mexico for weeks to get to the US. If the embassy approves, you're allowed in; if not, you go home. Also photograph, fingerprint and DNA the ones approved to ensure that the approved people come here, and not others with that paperwork. Always remember, for non-asylum reasons, we already have procedures and laws that allow over one million new immigrants a year to enter the U.S. LEGALLY with a path toward citizenship – that's more than all other nations on Earth combined!!

Also, for those who come here legally and temporarily on a visa, but then stay past their visa date and tell nobody, also expel them, but first take their photo, fingerprints, and DNA sample. Make exceptions for those who may have been incapictated medically to leave or notify anyone on time. For those who request a visa extension before the visa runs out for common sense reasons, such as the need to repeat a failed college course in order to qualify for a degree, grant the extension.

Finally, for all illegals currently under the radar and in our nation, pass a new law - no jobs, no public education, no drivers' licenses, no house nor apartment rentals or purchases, and no government benefits. Pass another law giving them 9 months to get out from the date of passage and publish it massively. If they don't get out within the 9 months, when caught, have the government take all their possessions – houses, cars, furniture, money, bank and brokerage accounts, then send them back with just the clothes on their backs. The 9 month delay is a humane measure intended to give them ample time to sell homes, cars, businesses, etc. and keep their wealth before deporting themselves willingly. Mexico once had a similar law for many years to keep Central Americans from emigrating to comparatively “rich” Mexico and it was very effective. Last point - pass laws with extensive jail times for all politicians and police who won't work with federal authorities on identifying and transferring illegals in their custody, and also any American citizens who knowingly assist illegal immigrants to stay here and avoid immigration authorities.

How Much Savings Needed for Retirement

At an "expected" 6% return on savings, you need to save at least 17 times annual income to match your current income. At 4%, you need 25 times annual income; at 8% you need 12.5 times annual income. From those numbers you can subtract the annual "value" of your expected Social Security benefits. For every $1,000 a month in expected SS benefits ($12,000 a year), your SS "value" is equivalent to savings of $300,000 at 4%, $200,000 at 6%, and $150,000 at 8%. Therefore $1,500 a month in SS benefits increases the value 50% at each interest rate; while $2,000 a month in SS benefits doubles the equivalent savings value at each expected interest rate return on investment. Despite fears that SS will go bankrupt and there will be no benefit, that fear is illogical. SS benefits are paid out of SS taxes collected each month from those working. While it is possible that without changes, there may be future SS benefit reductions, it will never be zero. Worst scenario without changes is a 25% reduction in benefits. The wrath of the people will likely force Congress to make changes at the last moment of the start of benefit reductions, as has been done in the past. Finally, do not expect to need less money in retirement unless your plan is to watch TV all day, 7 days a week.

Improving Our Public Schools

If you really want to improve the situation, increase charter schools and make it easier to fire incompetent public school teachers (and frankly all incompetent civil servants). The best way to do that is to ban all government employee unions, given the conflict of interest generated when politicians, who owe their own jobs to union support, negotiate labor contracts with those same unions. Secondly, much of the failure of public schools is a parental problem of some parents not working with their children to make them focus on their school work. Their kids are not trying, the parents are doing nothing about it, and expect the teachers to somehow do the teaching and the parenting job. Send kids to study detention daily who are failing, and if needed to summer school to learn the material. No more "social" promotions to the next grade. Leave them back in the same grade if they fail. If it happens a second time, bring the family to Family court. Those kids may be in a poisonous parental situation and may need to be separated from the parents who have failed them.

Guidelines for a Happy Marriage

Keep the Romance alive:

- Kiss each other in the morning when you wake up and in the evening when you go to bed.

- Kiss each other when one of you leaves or returns to the house.

- Occasionally Kiss and hug each other for no reason during the day.

- Hold hands when walking together even if it's just from the parking lot to the store.

- Recognize when your spouse is very weary and/or not feeling well, and react by being extra kind and helpful.

Share Life's big decisions together:

- No financial secrets.

- Big ticket purchases are decided together as equal partners.

- Be financially responsible to live within your means, which includes building up your savings and investments, and not gripe about “things” you want but cannot afford and therefore must do without.

Disagree nicely and without resentment:

- There are no “bosses” in a marriage.

- You are not and can never be clones of each other, so expect disagreements as a normal part of any relationship.

- Your love and relationship are “permanent” and far more important than any disagreement, which normally is just a “temporary” bump in a long term relationship.

- So never yell and especially never use violence to “win” a disagreement. Mistreating the person you love and have shared so many intimacies and good times with is a loss, not a win.

- We all “snap” occasionally, so if your spouse yells at you, avoid the natural temptation to yell back. Instead, speak softly and caringly to your spouse to calm him or her down. That partner should recognize that reaction to also speak softly and calmly.

- Some disagreements cannot be immediately settled. Table those for a discussion at another time.

- Never withold your love and caring attitude due to an unsettled disagreement.

Don't be Stupid:

- Never cheat on your spouse.

- Never commit crimes.

- Never get high, drunk or stoned. Get high on life instead.

Investment Advice for Novice Investors

Investment Advice for Novice Investors

The most important point here is the age factor at which you start investing. Saving and investing in your 20s will grow to a size of 4 to 15 times more (depending on the rate of return) than if you start in your 40s or 50s. Even better - Investing a small amount one time in a newborn child or grandchild can have that investment grow by over 500 times by the time that child reaches retirement age. Start investing young and make time your friend. Otherwise, time becomes your enemy.

When it comes to IRAs, always invest in Roth IRAs. Ignore the ignorant financial advisors who recommend comparing tax rates now versus retirement. It is much better to pay a little tax now for a Roth IRA, than to pay even a low tax rate at withdrawals of Traditional IRAs that have doubled in value several times since the original deposits. Finally, most people are ignorant of smart investing and are afraid of the stock market, especially in their 20s and 30s. The stock market offers their best chance for the largest investment returns over the long run.

Take advantage of 401K plans that have company matches (usually adds 50 to 100% to your initial investment). Most are “Traditional” 401Ks instead of “Roth” 401Ks, but the company match still make it very attractive. 

Here are some tips to help the novice investor. Never buy individual stocks - they can go to zero or just stagnate far longer than any stock market, plus you are not smart enough to know when to get in or out. Buy pooled assets such as mutual funds, ETFs, and index funds and hold onto them for decades without selling. Only have a small amount to invest - The SandP 500 ETF index (SPY) is all you need (should use the ampersand symbol instead of "and" between S and P, but this system overrides it adds "amp;" to the ampersand symbol - &). It reflects the stock market trend which over the past long run has averaged 10 to 11% average annual growth or a doubling "average" every 7 years. SPY is composed of 500 of the largest stocks ( virtually no risk of all 500 going to zero), is cheap to buy (about $5 to $7 at most brokerage houses) and has the added value of being able to buy or sell it instantly during open market hours (as do all ETFs; mutual funds buy and sell prices are calculated after the market closes and if you buy them after the market closes, then your price is determine after the next day's stock market close which is why it is better to buy these within the last hour the market is open but not too close to the end). Want a technical stock market play also - buy the ETF - QQQ, which reflects the top Nasdaq 100 stocks.

If you also want to buy mutual funds, learn about and then buy a variety of mutual funds (these are "managed" assets where the manager is buying and selling trying to time the market - very hard to successfully do), including "growth" and "value" MFs, small caps, medium caps, large caps, and "general" (combination of all 3 company cap sizes). Other considerations - domestic versus international MFs, emerging market MFs, and industry MFs (for example, tech, medical, retailing, transportation, etc.). ETFs mimic many of these funds and are cheaper to buy. Very important - there are "load" mutual funds that take 5% off the top of your initial investment (never buy these - you need 5% growth just to break even) and no load mutual funds. Learn to utilize "research" tools that brokerage houses give you online to determine which mutual funds have been consistently good performers in both the short and long term. 

Roth versus Traditional IRAs and Tax Bracket Insignificance

The tax bracket both now and at retirement is totally meaningless as a decision point of whether to invest in Roth or a Traditional IRA. What matters is the amount of principal taxed. Again, a $1,000 IRA investment as whatever tax bracket is chump change (only $100 to $390 depending on tax bracket) compared to what it grows to at the time of withdrawal. For example, with a young person at age 23, given the historical long term growth rates of the stock market (an average doubling every 7 years), he/she gets to withdraw $64,000 a year for each of 42 years starting at age 65. A minimal tax bracket of 10% still dings him for a $6,400 tax payment each year for a Traditional IRA compared to less than $400 in each of the years invested. Remember, Roth IRA withdrawals are not taxed. So let's add it up on a total lifetime basis. 42 years of paying taxes upon investment of $1,000 for each of those 42 years is a maximum of $390 times 42 or $16,380. For most people, because they are not in the 39% bracket, it will be far less (at 10%, it would be $4,200 in tax). Now for the retirement years - 42 years of you and likely your heirs of withdrawing $64,000 a year in order to deplete the entire account (which is the intent of generating IRA income, plus the government basically forces you to withdraw each year, even at a measly 10% tax bracket is 42 times $6,400 each year for a minimum lifetime tax of $268,800, and possibly double or triple that for higher tax brackets. So which do you think is better - a Traditional IRA with minimum lifetime taxes of $268,800 or a Roth IRA with maximum lifetime taxes of $16,380 and probably much less than that for most middle class people? The answer should be very obvious. Don't let the Federal government become your "investment partner" which it does become with Traditional IRA investments. 

illegal Voting

If another nation or organization tried to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States by military force, all of us would fight back and kill those that tried to take away our freedom to govern ourselves. However, that is not the only way a legitimate government can be overthrown. For example, enough illegal votes from either non-citizens or citizens cheating and voting multiple times either under their own name or that of others, including dead people, if large enough in number, could also overthrow the legitimate government of the US by preventing that legitimate government from being honestly elected.

The end result is the same as a military takeover and should be viewed and treated the same – an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government of the US. The penalty should be severe - automatic execution of those who vote illegitimately.  

The Democratic Party – The Party of Slavery and Discrimination

Just remember that it was the Democratic Party that strongly supported slavery from the day of its creation in the early 1800s, and the Republican Party that freed them. The Democrats started the American Civil War to preserve slavery. 600,000 Americans were killed in the Civil War – far more than any other war in American history. When the bigots of the Democratic Party lost the Civil War, it was the Democratic Party who for over 100 years supported segregation, discrimination, and the suppression of voter and property rights for Blacks (to keep them on their former slave plantations). Democrats also joined the KKK in large numbers and were responsible for much violence and murder against Blacks. Democrats voted 100% against the Constitutional Amendment that made Blacks citizens, while Republicans voted 100% for it and got the Amendment passed.

In the 1960s, when the civil rights laws were passed after much violence by Southern Democrats against Blacks (and Whites) marching for its passage, 35% of Democrats voted against them to only 15% of Republicans who voted against them. Democrats did not immediately obey those new civil rights laws, with Democratic governors physically blocking Black students from entering all White colleges. The Federal government had to call out the National Guard to enable Black students to attend those All White colleges.

Since then, Democrats have been trying to overcome their sordid past by attempting to buy back the Black vote by generously increasing welfare benefits. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson described his Great Society Program (cumulative cost to date 22 trillion dollars – more than the total national debt) he was quoted as saying - "I'll have those n*****s voting Democrat for the next two-hundred years". The net result is that the Democrats have destroyed Black families and engineered massive Black poverty. 3 out of every 4 Black children are born to single parent households – the engine of poverty (28% of single moms are in poverty while only 5% of married couples are in poverty). Poverty is the engine of crime (Black crime rate, including murder, is 8 times higher than the national average). The lack of fathers has led to behavior problems causing education and crime problems out of proportion to the Black population when compared to the total population, depsite the fact that we spend on average $20,000 per public school student (twice the national average) in city areas with large Black populations. The Democratic Party is akin to a dangerous, addictive drug for Blacks. For their own long term safety and well being, Blacks need to wean themselves off of this dangerous, self destructive political affiliation.

Immigration reform

If you want meaningful immigration reform, then just do what Mexico did to stop illegal immigration from Central American nations who consider Mexico to be "rich". Mexico does not allow them to get jobs, nor go to school, nor receive government benefits, nor rent an apartment. If caught, Mexico takes all their assets and money, then deports them. Problem solved. For good measure, make it impossible for those caught to ever become US citizens or to become legal Permanent Residents, or to even visit the U.S. again. Institute this law, suspend enforcement for 9 months to allow those illegals who wish to leave voluntarily enough time to sell homes or take care of other personal matters before physically self deporting themselves. For their minor children who were born here, children belong to parents first, nations second. Therefore the minor children leave with them – no family breakup involved. Long term, change the definition of citizenship to account for modern times, especially transportation advances from 1776. Only children born to American citizens anywhere in the world and those born in the USA to legal residents are citizens. The rest are “foreign nationals” born on US soil, not citizens.

We tried Amnesty in the 1980s when we had 11 million illegal aliens. 30 years later, we have another 11 million illegals. If we again grant them the amnesty that the Democrats want today, then 30 years from now, we will have another 11 million new illegals. If you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it.

Gender Pay Gap Myth

Equal pay for men and women already exists in the only comparison that matters - men and women in the same jobs with the same years of experience and educational achievements earn the same pay. That should not be a surprise - it has been US law for 50 years. Any other comparison such as one national average pay scale for each gender is a meaningless, statistical fraud deliberately and knowingly perpetrated by liberals and Democrats for unjustified political reasons. You cannot logically take part time workers and full time workers, HS drop outs and grads, college dropouts, college graduates with bachelors, masters, and PHD degrees across every field of work and average them all out to one "national" pay rate per gender and have it mean anything. See links:

The myth of gender pay gaps:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/01/no-women-don-t-make-less-money-than-men.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gender-pay-gap-is-a-complete-myth/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/10/03/millennial-women-education-wage-equality-column/16644149/

http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/another-bogus-effort-to-bridge-the-phony-gender-pay-gap/

Judges and the Constitution

Unless the Constitution is strictly interpreted by our judges, then the Constitution isn't worth the paper it is written on. To be able to "bend" the Constitution to suit a judge's political whims denies all of us the rights and freedoms guaranteed to us by taking away our legislative rights through the election of politicians that match our political views. Our very wise Founding Fathers, recognizing future, unseen needs to amend the Constitution gave us the means to do that through Constitutional Amendments approved by the vast majority of citizens. That is the way our freedoms and rights are maintained. Judges legislating from the bench are in essence dictators who deny all of us our rights to determine our future.

Medical Marijuana Needs to be Legalized Everywhere

People are needlessly dying because medical marijuana is not allowed in many states. Medical marijuana consisting of "CBDs" is an ingredient that does not get you high (the "THC" ingredient in large volume gets you high). CBDs have helped many people, including cancer patients. We allow morphine in all 50 states for extreme pain management despite the fact that it comes from the same plant that the illegal and dangerous drug that heroin comes from. We need to treat the medically beneficial part of marijuana the same way and therefore legalize it. There's no harm done nor “high” obtained from true medical marijuana. All cancer, and especially terminal cancer patients, should be given the opportunity to possibly save their lives through its usage. Why would you condemn them to possibly needless suffering and/or death.

Marijuana Cancer Cure - http://thefreethoughtproject.com/main-stream-media.../ and http://www.collective-evolution.com/.../20-medical.../ and also - http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/.../cancer-institute.../ and also http://www.cancer.gov/about.../treatment/cam/hp/cannabis-pdq

Benefits of medical marijuana on video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hifOl2yXU40 and http://www.awetv.com/miraclecure/ and also (one hour long) - https://vimeo.com/82053228
CBDs – Safe, effective, and does not get you high - http://realitysandwich.com/171680/high_health_cbd_food_supply/

Usage and Morality of the Atom Bomb In World War Two

72 Years after WWII ended, it still surprises me that the issue of whether or not America should have used the atom bomb on Japan in WWII is still debated. Any fair analysis of that decision needs to be based on what was known in 1945 about the war and about nuclear bombs. Much was known about the war; little was known about the bombs. It was clear through each conflict in the Pacific, that Japan, no matter how hopeless the military situation, would fight to the last man; surrender was not an option. Even the civil population would either fight or commit suicide, rather than surrender to the enemy. Kamikaze (suicide) attacks on ships using planes, human rocket bombs, and human submarine bombs were employed, rather than surrender. The civilian population in mainland Japan was being trained to fight however they could alongside the Japanese Army the expected American invasion. They were expected and willing to fight for their emperor to the death. American generals estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 American deaths in the invasion of mainland Japan. The number of Japanese dead was expected to number several million. The number of kamikaze planes and submarines found after Japan’s surrender indicate that these forecasts were probably quite accurate.

What’s little known or talked about is that both Japan and Germany were working on developing atom bombs and both planned to use them against the Allies. Japan had two facilities working on atom bombs, one in Japan and one in Asia. As the Allied victories placed them closer to Japan, the Japanese attempted to accelerate their atom bomb program with the intent of using them on the allied invasion forces.

When it became clear to Japan that they were unlikely to develop a functional atom bomb in time, they planned to develop and utilize a ‘dirty’ conventional bomb with radioactive material and explode it in San Francisco, hoping to kill thousands of Americans. They made elaborate plans. Japan asked Germany for and was sent 1,000 pounds of uranium by submarine. Fortunately, the war with Germany ended in May, 1945 while that sub carrying the uranium to Japan was still in the Atlantic Ocean and was surrendered to American forces. Japan had the two largest submarines ever made at the time, capable of carrying three small planes safely underwater and launching them at the surface wherever they pleased. The date had been set to drop the dirty bombs on San Francisco. It was August 17, 1945. Note that this planned date is only a few days after America actually dropped atom bombs on Japan (August 6 and 9, 1945). There was also a plan by Japan to drop carefully constructed bubonic plague bombs on our West Coast cities in September, 1945.

So when America captured the sub with the uranium in May, 1945, we knew then that Japan was working on an atom bomb. We did not know if they had or were close to a working model and we did not know if earlier shipments of uranium had been shipped to and received by Japan. Such news had to be alarming to America and its WWII allies. If Japan had or developed such a bomb, there is no doubt that it would have been used. Even if Japan was not close to a working model, a conventional war with Japan would have bought the Japanese much more time to successfully develop and use such a bomb.

Even after we used the two atom bombs against Japan, the Japanese military leaders tried to convince their emperor not to surrender. It was their (accurate) opinion that America had no more atom bombs to use. When the emperor made the decision to surrender, some of the military leaders unsuccessfully tried a military coup to dispose the emperor and prevent Japan’s surrender. These actions show the tenacity of the no surrender attitude of Japan and its people and therefore further validate the forecasts of millions of casualties in a conventional invasion of the mainland.

When you look at the man (President Truman) who made the decision to drop the atom bomb against what was known about the war and the Japanese at that time, it is hard to dispute how he could have come to any other decision. The decision actually saved millions of lives on both sides of the conflict. We killed as many people (100,000) in one night of conventional bombing of Tokyo as did a single atom bomb. The atom bomb was more effective in ending the war and ultimately saving lives.

Finally, look what America and President Truman did after the war. We did not respond like some vengeful monster. Despite hundreds of billions of dollars of crippling war debt, America rebuilt the economies of Japan and Germany by taking on additional debt of many billions of dollars. We also established democracies in those nations that still flourish today. We took no land. We took no reparations. Those nations are free and independent. They are also our allies today, not because they had to (they were not forced), but because they wanted to be our allies.

All war is horrible. The dead and the wounded of that war, whether by conventional arms or nuclear arms were not any less dead or less wounded. If we had not used the bomb, Japan would have. All nations today are more knowledgeable of the dangers and consequences of nuclear war, particularly on the incredible expansion in number and size of today’s weapons. The situation is much different today then it was then. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been enough of a learning curve to avoid war altogether. Hopefully, it is enough to avoid nuclear war which today could easily wipe out humanity.

Student Loans

The very ease of getting a student loan plus the financial ignorance of the students have been exploited by colleges to raise tuition, plus room and board, much faster than inflation and also to expand their Administrative staffs to bloated levels while paying ridiculous salaries to "star" professors. Given that over half of college students never graduate, no student should get a college loan for the first two years. Let them go to cheap Community colleges instead (and work part time if they need to). If they don't drop out after qualifying for their junior year, then consider college loans, but put a cap on it of no more than $15,000 a year. Also, no loan unless the college the student plans to transfer to, accepts all the student's college earned credits to be transferred (otherwise, expensive colleges will deliberately reject many of the credits forcing the financially naive student to spend more time and money at the college he/she transferred to). Some Community colleges have expanded from two years to four years. Encourage more to do so. That way, many more students could graduate inexpensive colleges without the need for student loans. Now, with less demand for their services, the expensive colleges will be forced to compete for students by lowering costs to reasonable levels and also utilizing alumni donations to help students instead of constructing new buildings and monuments to themselves. Everyone benefits.

Invest in Roth IRAs, not Traditional IRAs, plus use Roth Conversions

Always start off investing with Roth IRAs from day one, never a Traditional IRA, if you qualify. It is better to pay a little tax upfront, then pay a lot of taxes decades later when you begin (and/or are required) to withdraw from your IRA (even if your future tax bracket is lower) when your investment has likely multiplied in value several times (using long term stock market averages, a $1,000 IRA investment in your 20s can grow on average to over $60,000 in your 60s – better to pay the federal income tax on $1,000 now than on over $60,000 later) . Roth IRAs held over 5 years are NOT taxed at withdrawal, and are not forced to be withdrawn, thus saving not only you but also your heirs lots of taxes too.

If your income is too high that the government will not allow you to take out a Roth IRA, there is a work around method. Take out the Traditional IRA. Next convert it to a Roth IRA and pay the taxes that you would have paid anyway if you were able to take out a Roth IRA in the first place. There is no limit on the number nor amounts of Roth Conversions. Why does the government allow this? No one ever accused our government of being smart.

Educate your heirs if you are leaving them a Traditional IRA not to withdraw all of it in a single year, but instead convert the entire amount to an inherited IRA. Otherwise, up to 50% or more of their inheritance may be lost in Federal and State income taxes. If they are under 59 ½, then another 10% tax is charged. For really high inheritances, the Estate tax could push that to 80% or more. A Roth IRA held 5 years or more avoids these tax issues. A Traditional 401K can also be converted to a Roth IRA (usually after your retire or leave the company). This is one time you may want to discuss with a good, tax knowledgeable financial adviser. Like most government programs, there are plenty of “rules” and mistakes can be very costly and irreversible.

For people with Traditional IRAs, there are two options to reduce Federal income taxes through a Roth Conversion. The biggest tax break would to become a General Partner for one year, then reduced to a limited Partner, using non-IRA money, in a new oil or gas well project (you can do that for as little as $20,000). You get to reduce your taxable income by 80 to 100% of the investment principal. Personally, I don't like the risk of that option (look at how much the price of a barrel of oil has changed in just a year's time recently and in the past). Also, though the chances are remote, when you are a General Partner, you could be sued for everything that you are worth (most partnerships of this type carry lots of insurance to prepare for this relatively rare possibility)

A more conservative option is to invest in income producing non-liquid assets (non-liquid for 2-8 years) within a Traditional IRA. A few months later, move it to a Roth IRA and get a “forecast market valuation” of its worth at the time of the Roth Conversion. To make it worthwhile, you need to convert in $100,000 minimum chunks each year, but don't do so much as to raise yourself to the maximum tax bracket ( or if on Medicare, exceed the maximum annual income limits which could double your Medicare premiums the following year. You will need a certified Financial Planner (not a stock broker) to help you. They are generally affiliated with either Madison Avenue Securities or VFG Securities.

Never let Politics Determine your Family and Friends

Politically, like almost all other nations, the US is a very divided nation. There are virtually no extended families out there that are either all Republicans or all Democrats or all Independents. However, one issue all sides strongly agree on is that the US is a nation of freedom and we want to keep it that way. Therefore, when you think about it logically, if you are cutting ties with family members or friends because you do not like their political views, then you are a wannabe dictator - the anti-thesis of freedom. You cannot logically believe in freedom for all and at the same time sever your ties with family members or friends who do not agree with your own political viewpoints. Learn to recognize and accept the fact that none of us are always right nor always wrong. That is an undeniable characteristic of all humans. Those who disagree with our own political views are not evil and do have what they consider good reasons for their viewpoints. Normally, there is some truth on both sides of any political issue, no matter how passionately we feel that only our viewpoint is the only correct viewpoint. People are a lot more than their politics. They earn livings, make sacrifices for others, love family unconditionally, contribute to charity, try to live a good moral life, help others when needed, have triumphs and disappointments, etc. See the whole person, not just their politics.

How does US Health Care Compare to other Nations?

An "Investor's Business Daily" article a few years ago (prior to Obamacare) provided very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization.
Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%
Canada 42%
Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:
U.S. 93%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%
Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%
Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million:
U.S. 71%
England 14%
Canada 18%
Not sure why percentages were used. The latest comparison to all nations can be found in thhe following link - https://www.statista.com/statistics/282401/density-of-magnetic-resonance-imaging-units-by-country/ Note that England and Canada are so low that they are not listed in the top 15.
Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health:
U.S. 12%
England 2%
Canada 6%
And now for the last health statistic:
National Health Insurance:
U.S. NO (this comparison was done prior to Obamacare).
England YES
Canada YES

The Importance of Perseverance

If I was asked to describe in one word, what is needed for success, that word would be “Perseverance”. Those who persevere in all aspects of life (education, work, personal finance, relationships, etc.) are likely to succeed; those who don't persevere are likely to fail and be less happy in life. Success requires constant effort throughout life. The road to success especially in achieving educational goals, satisfying careers, well paid jobs, desired promotions, nice homes, furniture, cars, and vacations plus saving and investing money for today's needs, future family needs, and future retirement needs is a long and sometimes difficult road. It takes a lot of daily effort year after year for several decades to first achieve the educational goals needed for success and then to achieve the career goals of job and income needs and satisfaction.

The road to success necessarily makes you weary at times. At those times, you will likely ask yourself – when will this struggle end? Is there an easier way? Can I really take two more difficult years of college to graduate or work every day for another 20 years until I reach retirement age? Or you may stop making efforts toward your goals, falsely promising yourself that this is only a temporary break and you will renew the struggle (for example, to continue your education), when in reality, stopping the struggle and enjoying the break from that struggle just makes the thought of renewing the effort to pursue your goals seem even more difficult in the future.

We literally get through life one day at a time. We don't have to accomplish years of effort and goals in one day, whether it be to continue our education or employment or saving money, etc. When you are struggling to persevere to the goals that you have previously set for yourself, remember that. Just get through today. Don't put the weight of all the years left that is needed to achieve your goals in the future on your shoulders today. Perhaps, promise yourself a reward for today's seemingly extra tough struggle, be it a dessert, or a nap, or a short drive to somewhere nice, etc. to help you get through today. Do what it takes, but just get through today. There will be other difficult days in the future, but there will also be many good days and/or good moments in the future too.

Why persevere to pursue this struggle at all? Very simple answer – history shows that the odds are very high that your life will be infinitely happier and more satisfying for the next several decades that it (hopefully) takes for you to reach the end of your life, than if you make the decision (or let inertia make the decision for you) to just give up.

It was certainly the truth for me (both for school and for work) as it was also the truth for my father. Perseverance toward our goals, very difficult, tiring, and exasperating at times, made our goals happen, and life is and was very good due to it.

Causes of the Great Depression and the Great Recession

If you only know when things happened and not why, then you are economically ignorant and therefore part of the problem. FDR, by raising taxes to balance the budget whose revenues had dropped because so many people were out of work and not paying taxes thus reducing disposable income which in turn lowered demand for products and services, plus by enacting trade barriers to imports which other nations retaliated, causing entire industries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to collapse, throwing many more people out of work is the reason why it took 10 years and a World War to get out of the economic mess of the Great Depression. The recession of 2008 was the result of high defaults on home mortgages. The high default rate occurred because in the 1990s, Bill Clinton put Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act, which put pressure on banks and mortgage lenders to lower borrowing standards "so that the poor can buy homes" on steroids. Not surprisingly, these loans had high default rates. It took years for the percentage of these type of loans to total loans to all borrowers to become large enough to have a meaningful impact on the economy, To his credit, Bush recognized the problem early on in his first term in office and tried to change the law 18 different times. However, the Democrats, led by Congressman Barney Frank screaming "don't fix what isn't broken" blocked passage of the bill. When the inevitable happened and too many loans defaulted sinking the economy, Democrats lied and blamed "greedy banks" for the problem. Gullible people bought it. The Democrats passed all sorts of new regulations after Obama got elected, but none of them fixed the real problem - the Community Reinvestment Act forcing banks to give loans to unqualified buyers. Therefore, history is likely to repeat itself in the future and the economically ignorant will not have a clue as to the cause. 

Student Loans

The very ease of getting a student loan plus the financial ignorance of the students have been exploited by colleges to raise tuition, plus room and board, much faster than inflation and also to expand their Administrative staffs to bloated levels while paying ridiculous salaries to "star" professors. Given that over half of college students never graduate, no student should get a college loan for the first two years. Let them go to cheap Community colleges instead (and work part time if they need to). If they don't drop out after qualifying for their junior year, then consider college loans, but put a cap on it of no more than $15,000 a year. Also, no loan unless the college the student plans to transfer to, accepts all the student's college earned credits to be transferred (otherwise, expensive colleges will deliberately reject many of the credits forcing the financially naive student to spend more time and money at the college he/she transferred to). Some Community colleges have expanded from two years to four years. Encourage more to do so. That way, many more students could graduate inexpensive colleges without the need for student loans. Now, with less demand for their services, the expensive colleges will be forced to compete for students by lowering costs to reasonable levels and also utilizing alumni donations to help students instead of constructing new buildings and monuments to themselves. Everyone benefits.

How NOT to Unintentionally Disinherit Your Children

If you have re-married or do so sometime in the future, you need to be aware of how you could unintentionally disinherit your children. In a second (third, fourth, etc.) marriage, even if the current spouse is not listed on any of your IRA beneficiary forms, by Federal law, the current spouse, if she/her survives you, gets all the money in the account, and the other beneficiaries (for example, your children) get nothing. There is one exception to this law. If you have a signed waiver where the current spouse gives up her/his rights to the money, then your IRA(s) will be distributed to the beneficiaries in the manner that you designated. That is why our own Trust mandates a premarital agreement at least 30 days before any future marriage in which the prospective bride and groom are each represented by different legal counsel. Should you be in similar circumstances, you need to be aware of this law and how to ensure that your inheritance wishes are followed. 

If I ran for President

If I ran for President, I would be a lot more specific on my plans concerning jobs, wealth, debt, and unfunded government liabilities. First, I would end all 2200+ Federal government subsidies totaling over one trillion dollars a year. Next, I would require all healthy welfare recipients who are not working to work, creating menial public works jobs if necessary. That takes care of annual deficits and produces a surplus. I would stop being the only major nation who taxes companies from bringing their overseas profits to invest in America creating new jobs in the process.

I would revise income taxes to be taken at the gross income level without deductions in a progressive manner, but at a lower tax rate so that the impact is tax neutral on individuals and as with Social Security, there would be no tax forms to fill out.

I would add a Social Security option, based on life expectancy tables, to fully collect the highest SS check when one spouse dies (just like today), but with the option on the second lower SS check to collect some, all or none of it when the first spouse dies by taking a little bit less of the second lower check when both spouses are alive (similar to what most pensions do today).

Also on SS, I would fund it differently. SS consists of a pension, disability, and child welfare for widows. I would fund SS by having one SS tax for pensions designed so that people get back what they put in thus limiting as today the amount of income taxed, and a second welfare tax for the other two programs which taxes all income (at a tiny 1-2% which is about all that is needed).

I would eliminate overtime pay in the calculation of government pensions to eliminate the fraud of working massive overtime in the last year of work to boost pensions from 50% of income to 100% at taxpayer expense.

I would repeal the Community Investment Act and similar laws that force banks to make mortgage loans to unqualified buyers "so that the poor can buy homes" which later they default on their mortgages because they couldn't afford it in the first place (the real cause of the 2008 Recession courtesy of Bill Clinton who expanded the original Jimmy Carter program and which Democrats wouldn't let Bush fix).

I would fix health care costs by first allowing insurance policies to cross State lines and compete. Most importantly, since up to 50% of medical costs are spent on terminal patients in their last six months of life, I would have two types of insurance policies. One type for those who just want to be kept comfortable when near death and one who want every effort expended (driving up costs exponentially) to keep them alive for a few more weeks (though even with that, I would have some reasonable government limitations). Those that choose the comfort option would pay a lot less in insurance than those who don't. No family member can override the option chosen by the patient when they bought their insurance.

I would also have third party insurance companies administer all government health care programs as they have less than 1% medical fraud while the government medical fraud rate is estimated at 10 to 25%, costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

I would get rid of the asylum loophole at the border by requiring foreign asylum seekers to get approval and documentation of approval from an American embassy to show at a legal point of entry. Without it, or even with it if they cross anywhere but a legal point of entry, they are immediately deported without a trial.

I also would change the definition of citizen. Those born of American citizen parents anywhere in the world are citizens. Those born in America of legal permanent residents are ctizens. All others are not citizens even if born in America. They are foreign nationals born on American soil.

Finally, I would take some of the new budget surplus I created to increase the size of our Army which is now too small to defend ourselves in a conventional war and is the cause of so many repetitive deployments overseas by our current troops. 

Political Correctness - the Hallmark of all Dictatorships

Political correctness is an abusive political tool to say that one side is always right and the other side is always wrong. To those who believe in political correctness, I say who determined what is politically correct? You don't know and therefore cannot tell me, can you? More importantly to validate politically correct issues and answers, first show me a complete list of all the politically correct issues and the politically correct answers. Next show me the dates when a national vote was taken on these issues along with the vote counts for and against. If you cannot do that, then you are just making it up as you go. That makes all my issues and all my answers as politically correct as yours. The entire concept of political correctness, I repeat, has absolutely no place in a freedom loving democracy. Political correctness is the hallmark of all dictatorships. If you are not politically correct in a dictatorship, then you are jailed or tortured or killed or all three.

Black Killings - The Real Problem

A lot of protests and media press has been given lately to a handful of cop killings of blacks as if there is a huge national conspiracy by cops to kill blacks. Yet, very few blacks are killed by cops and those that were killed were engaging in criminal and violent activities plus resisting arrest and deserved what they received. The media has even supported the frequently seen protest lie concerning Michael Brown of "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" when all the witnesses who were actually there and testified under oath in court, including Black witnesses, that it never happened that way. Instead the 300 pounder put his head down and charged like a football player engaging in tackling violently toward the officer.
Of course, all the so called Black Civil Rights leaders have promoted the myth of cops killing blacks simply because they are black. More Whites are killed by cops than Blacks, but that fact is ignored. Also ignored is the fact that thousands of Blacks are murdered each year - 93% of them are murdered by other Blacks. In 35 years, over a quarter million blacks have been murdered by other Blacks. That's more than double the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam and Korean Wars combined.
If "Black lives Matter" as the protesters and Civil Rights leaders love to shout at cops, then why don't all those hundreds of thousands murdered Black lives by other Blacks matter? Why are they not trying to address and fix the real threat to Black lives instead of the miniscule handful of Blacks killed, normally for excellent reasons, by cops? If you are a Black person, you have a lot more to fear from other Black people than you do from cops. Imagine how many more Blacks would be murdered if it weren't for cops?

Immigration Reform

If you want meaningful immigration reform, then just do what Mexico does to stop illegal immigration from Central American nations who consider Mexico to be "rich". Mexico does not allow them to get jobs, nor go to school, nor receive government benefits, nor rent an apartment. If caught, Mexico takes all their assets and money, then deports them. Problem solved. For good measure, make it impossible for those caught to ever become US citizens or to become legal Permanent Residents, or to even visit the U.S. again.

Social Security Unfair Taxation

Since 1993, retired couples have been taxed on their Social Security benefits despite the original promise by FDR that Social Security benefits would never be taxed. Passage of the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act HR 3894 would fulfill the promise made to seniors on Social Security by eliminating Social Security benefits in the calculation of federal income taxes.
For a retired couple with a total income (including SS) of $65,343 or more, their Social Security is taxed at a 28.2% rate. A non-retired couple has to earn $146,400 to pay taxes at a 28.2% rate. This is unreasonable and unfair!