Ending Poverty

I am a middle-income taxpayer and have been for most of my life; however, because of my large family, and because of my divorces, during many years, I found it tough to make ends meet. I have been the sole or primary support of my family for decades. I know very well what it is to struggle to survive.

 I support:

  • Doubling the minimum wage and indexing it to the cost of living.
  • Guaranteeing the right of all workers to organize and to strike and forbid replacement of striking workers.
  • A guaranteed income for those who cannot work.
  • Ending the oppression and harassment of homeless persons: abolish vagrancy laws and police “trespassing,” end the practice of tearing down and destroying tent cities and the homemade dwellings of homeless persons, and provide a basic income and services to end homelessness.
  • Making it illegal for prospective employers to use applicants’ credit records to screen job applicants.
  • Banning mandatory private arbitrations between businesses and individual consumers.
  • Protecting and serving the “unbanked” millions by outlawing “payday” loans, high-fee “check cashing” services, and front-loaded cash cards which do not enjoy the protections of bank-issued debit cards.
  • Creating incentives for banks to provide “second chance” bank accounts to the “unbanked” and those who have had credit and banking problems. These bank accounts could not be overdrawn, would provide debit cards and free online bill pay, would provide a certain number of free money orders per month, and would charge a fee of $5 per month.
  • Regulating bank check holds on low-balance bank accounts and banning the banking practice of prioritizing amongst multiple NSF checks so as to maximize fees paid by low-balance customers to banks.
  • Offering incentives and protections for banks and credit unions to provide “second chance” low-interest consumer loans to customers and members who have credit problems in place of payday loans and other forms of predatory lending.
  • Prohibiting the practice of insurance companies correlating home and auto insurance premiums with credit scores;
  • Fixing subprime mortgage rates for two years;
  • Extending unemployment benefits by 26 weeks;
  • Phase out current tax cuts over a four year period;
  • Replace the current tax system and structure with a 10 percent flat tax on all individuals earning incomes above poverty level and on all corporations and business entities. Institute luxury taxes, defining luxury in the broadest sense to include such things as pollution and degradation of women as well as things commonly defined as luxuries
  • $500 rebates to all taxpayers;
  • Institute a rollback of hostile corporate take-overs; require board approvals for all takeover bids, mergers and acquisitions, except in the case of insolvency where management is recalcitrant and is not acting in the best interests of shareholders.
  • Repeal the Taft-Hartley Anti-Union law.
  • Eliminate all tax havens (there are about forty havens including Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, etc.) whose existence constitutes a form of legalized theft by allowing financiers, companies, political leaders, criminals and the very wealthy to hide “their” money and to avoid paying taxes and obeying the laws and regulations of the U.S.

Fixing bankruptcy laws by:

  • Removing credit counseling requirements now required so people can qualify as “debtors”;
  • Eliminating mandatory arbitration;
  • Creating minimum homestead exemptions;
  • Curbing excessive mortgage company fees in bankruptcy;
  • Ending the bankruptcy code’s special treatment of home mortgage loans;

I support the Credit Card Bill of Rights Act which would prohibit:

  • Bait and switch interest rates and fee hikes for any or no reason during the life of a credit card;
  • Assessing hidden and unfair interest rate charges by charging interest on balances already paid off;
  • Maximizing interest charges by requiring consumers to pay off balances with lower interest rates before those with higher rates;
  • Charging late fees when consumers mail payments seven days in advance of the due date;
  • Applying unfair interest rate hikes retroactively;
  • Setting a cap on interest for charged-off accounts;

Additionally:

  • We should require honest and full disclosure of credit card terms in ways which are understandable to ordinary consumers;
  • Outlaw the practice of making arbitrary, unpredictable and changing payment-due dates (resulting in missed payments and late fees);
  • Ban “universal default,” the practice of hiking interest rates or closing accounts for consumer behavior unrelated to the card (like a falling credit score).

Moving towards a gift economy:   A gift economy is one in which gifting — free and voluntary giving — replaces quid pro quo exchanges of goods for goods or money for goods or services. Examples of gifting we are all familiar with are tithing in religious communities, giving offerings, shareware or “open source” developing, and institutions like public libraries and churches. Potlatches are a kind of gifting. Freecycling is another kind of gifting and is becoming increasingly popular in metropolitan areas. Women are intimately associated with gifting, oftentimes, without realizing it, in that women have been the primary caregivers and homemakers, cooking, cleaning and caring for their families. When giving is valued in its own right, instead of viewed as something which should be exchanged for money or compensation, and all are giving as much and as often as all are receiving, all such giving is viewed as dignified quite apart from exchanges of any kind.