Fixing the Economy privately and saving mortgages.

It's been a while since I've posted anything, between work, the holidays and the whole family thing I just haven't had time for much else so lets catch up a little bit.
The President seems to have gotten his way with national Health care, much to the dismay of most americans (if you read between the lines you'll see that the only thing that he's really changed is the fact that the insurance companies will now have a lot more mandatory customers!). Now there is talk about Immigration reform and about how we should now bail out a bunch of people with bad mortgages, that's the topic for today.

It seems like everything that the politicians want to do will end with more governmental control and more taxes( or, fees, as they like to call them now, like we're too stupid to know the difference?) piled upon our already dwindling personal resources.
I think that I have come up with something to help bail out the economy without excessive governmental control, let me know what you think.

1.) Get rid of early withdrawal penalties on 401k's, IRA's and other types of retirement accounts, however, there would still be a catch involved.

2.) Any person that has such an account, even if they haven't reached the age to normally withdraw from it, would be able to take money out of their 401k, etc..

3.) This money would be used by the Individual to pay off credit card debt totally and to get their mortgage caught up if they are facing foreclosure, or, are simply caught in a very bad( adjustable rate, etc..) mortgage. The individual would also be able to take money from their account in order to refinance their loan to better rates.

4.) The next time that the individual does their taxes, they would also have to send proof that the money that they took out of those accounts was used to pay off thier credit card debt and that ALL of the cards, with the exception of no more than one or two MAXIMUM were cancelled when they were paid off. They would also have to prove that they'd fixed their mortgage problem.

If these Ideas were utilized, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, would be able to keep their homes. The reason that I included credit card debt in my plan is simple.
Millions of people are enslaved by their tax burden, mortgage debt and by credit card debt.
Let's say, for example that Joe Sixpack has an 401k plan that he's had since he first started working, he's in his late 30's or early 40's, his 401k has about $50,000.00 in it. joe has an 80/20 arm mortgage that costs $1500. per month and a total of about $20,000.00 in credit card debt, If Joe has ever been late or missed a payment they may have jacked his credit card rates up to 29% or there abouts. Joe and his wife both have steady jobs but they can barely afford to make the minimum monthly payments on their credit card ( let's say about $1,100.00 a month or so.) debt, if anything happens to his, or his wifes job, then they are pretty much screwed. Because of medical bills or a work slowdown( loss of hours, etc...) they may have fallen behind ($6,000 or 7,000) on the mortgage payments and face losing their home. Under my plan, Joe would take money out of his 401k to pay off the credit card debts, to catch up on his mortgage and to refinance to a much better (4 to 5% or so) rate, if this reduces his monthly debt to$1,000.00 or so for his mortgage, plus the credit cards are all( exept one or two) cancelled and all of the balances are paid off, then, in effect, Joes family has gotten a raise of about $1,500.00 a month, and Joe probably still has $20,000.00 or $30,000.00 left in his 401k ( remember, often times your cedit card companies will negotiate a settlement if you can afford to pay a large portion of the balance owed all at once, assuming that you've carried a large balance forward for a long time.) plan. They've saved their home and they can afford to go out to eat more often, go to movies, buy things(paying cash of course!), save some money, maybe even start investing in stocks or bonds.
If you multiply Joe Sixpacks family by millions( who knows how many?) of americans, then this would probably create many, many more jobs for americans.

The only downsides to my plan are this.

1.) Not everyone has a 401k plan, an IRA account or some other retirement plan that they could take money out of. Unfortunately, there's just no way to solve everyone's problems.

2.) This would require the Government to, in effect, declare a tax holiday on retirement plans and would require them to forego tax/ withdrawal penalties and, ultimately, some governmental control over the lives of those people involved.

That's all for tonight, have a good one and I'll see you on the beach.

Illegal Immigration Reform-part 2

In part one I discussed several ways to put an end to illegal immigration. in this part to I'll talk about amnesty eligibility and paying the costs involved.

1.) All current Illegals should come forward, register with the government and pay a registration fee. this would be applied at, oh, lets say $1000.00 for a single illegal immigrant adult and $200.00 to $500.00 per extra ( Spouse) person. This would raise about 10 to 30 ( Based on estimates ranging anywhere from 12 to 40 million Illegal Immigrants currently in the U.S.) Billion Dollars. Portions of this money would be used to Pay for Background checks on those people that pay the fee, they would be allowed to stay in the U.S. pending the outcome of their background ( Criminal, they would be required to give up DNA samples, Fingerprints, etc.., and Medical.) checks. They should also be checked out in their country of origin. Of course, all of this would require many more people at the local, state and federal level( can you say" A LOT of Jobs created?? ) to handle the checks andthe paperwork involved.

2.)No communicable diseases or Criminal (Felony ) record: If the Illegal Immigrant passes their check with a clean bill of health, then they would, at this point, be allowed to apply, while staying in the U.S., for permanent Legal ( of course they would have to pay all of the fees normally associated with doing so.) resident status. My Wife came to the U.S. Legally before I met her, after we got married we applied for Permanent resident status for her, and ultimately, she became a U.S. Citizen, all told, this took about 7 years and cost us somewhere around $10,000.

There was a hospital on Ellis Island, thousands of Immigrants from europe were detained there and eventually sent home because they had tuberculosis or some other disease. this is why we should have the medical check, The criminal check should need(remember those photos, dna samples and fingerprints mentioned earlier? ) no explanation.

These applicants would be required to give a valid address when they pay their initial fee. they would then have to check in physically on a monthly basis. while their status is determined.

3.) Paying the initial fee in installments: The applicant would have they option of paying a down payment( at least $250.00 ) of their initial fee. this would encourage them to try and become legal, of course, if they don't pay the remaider, or fail their backgroud checks, then all bets would be off and they would be detained and deported.

4.) All applicants would be required to sing up for English classes: this requirement would be waived if the applicant can demonstrate at least a 50% profficiency in reading, writing and speaking english.

5.) Eventual Citizenship: All applicants would ultimately be required to attain U.S. citizenship, they would have to do this within 5 to 7 years of obtaining resident alien status.

6.) Social security: if an applicant is successful, social security funding would start on the day that they're approved, If they have been here working for any amount of time before this (illegally) using a taxpayer I.d. # to file taxes, then any ssi deductions taken before that date would be forfeit to the government.

7.) Children of Applicants: Minors that aren't here legally would not be charged a fee, because they did not come here by choice. On their 18th birthday provided that they either graduate from High School or get a G.E.D. and have no criminal or gang record, they would then be given american citizenship, if they do not meet these requirements they would then have to pay the fee as an adult would in order to avoid deportation, they would also have to follow all other steps to eventual citizenship. This policy would start with all illegal immigrant children that are here when the law goes into effect, and end when the last children (with proof that they were all ready here when the law started!) turn 18 years old.

8.) Some exceptions: A.) Military service. If a person is absolutely unable to pay the initial fine then they may join the armed services for a term of 5 years,this is not excessive as the military all ready requires a 5 year commitment if you go to one of the service academies and get an officers commission, the applicant would receive full citizenship after they finish their term of enlistment. The French all ready offer this if you do five years in the foreign legion. Of course the applicant would still have to pass all background checks.

B.)Criminal record and a review board: If, for example, an applicant had been convicted of a felony (excluding manslaughter, murder, rape or pedophilia ) many years before, had served their sentence and been released back into society, this person would be able to go before a review board. The board would determine, after seeing the record and actions of the person since their release. the applicant would have to prove that they've been a positive influence on society (by bringing witnesses,letters from employers, friends, church pastors or other personally known figures of authority. if the board decides positively then the applicant would be able to pay their fine and proceed.

9.) Penalties: A: If an applicant is not qualified they would be given a certain amount of time to put their affairs ( sell their house , if one is owned, or other personal property that they may not be able to take back to their home country.) in order. they would then be required to report on a certain date for transportation and deportation.

B: Any person who follows these procedures and ultimately attains full citizenship May lose their Citizenship and be deported. If at any time after receiving citizenship, that person is convicted of a Felony, they would serve their sentence and then be deported.

C: Any person who is legally deported and returns to the U.S. Illegally, would face a minimum 3 year felony sentence, on top of any other charges, if they are caught. this would be for the 1st offence with 3 additional years added for every time that they are caught in the U.S. after that time. I know it seems rather totalitarian, but they would eventually realize that they aren't welcome here and quit trying to come back.( I believe that I covered this in one of my earlier points.)

If implemented this policy would eventually save the U.S. ( that's all of us!) untold amounts of money and put many Americans back to work. Have a nice day and see you on the beach!

National health care-part four

As I write this the national health care plan seems to be stalled out in Washington, this is probably a good thing for us as the bill seems to be quickly growing into a huge monster. The problem now seems to center around the abortion issue, well, as usual, never fear, for I, have a plan and it's actually pretty simple.

Unless I'm mistaken, Planned parenthood is the main abortion service provider in the U.S.,the people on the right feel that the Government shouldn't pay for abortions with their tax dollars, and they're absolutely right( the left feel that they shouldn't have to pay for private (read religious) schools with their tax dollars in the form of vouchers, they are also right. It's simple, add a donation slot on to our tax return forms, If you feel that abortion services should be payed for by government funds, then, feel free to check yes in this box and fill in the amount that You would like to contribute to the fund out of Your Income tax return, these funds, along with private or corporate donations, would be the only Government funds, used for this purpose. Those who are morally or religiously opposed to abortion services could then be assured that their money is not used for something that they don't agree with, and, of course, the other side would be able to put their money where their mouth is. Come to think of it, we could also use this same concept for at least two other sometimes controversial issues, mainly, government funding for the National Endowment for the arts( anybody else remember the uproar about Robert Maplethorpe's art a few years back?)and also for Private school vouchers. This is not an Original concept,we already have a box on our tax forms for campaign funds( which I never check off, they take entirely too much of our money as it is!!)

So, there you Have it, My Ideas on National Health care, let's just hope that our "friends" in Washington actually get a look at this before they drag us all screaming over a cliff.

Have a happy Holiday, no Matter which one you like( I prefer Merry Christmas Myself) and stay frosty, see you on the Beach!!

national health care- part two

Sorry about the delay between postings. Between job hunting(yes, right now I'm part of the 10% plus unemployed Americans), family stuff and just trying to keep my sanity I've been pretty busy. Anyway, Here's some more of my ideas to help us out.

4.) More ideas on keeping costs down.

Put caps on malpractice suits and on legal fees collected(by the Lawyers). Many states, New York and California are two examples, have little or no cap on malpractice settlements(for pain and suffering, etc...)in these states health care is much more expensive because the cost to insurers and practitioners is more likely to be much higher. In Colorado, where I live, there is a $250'000.00 cap on punitive damages. This means, for example, that If something bad happens and you get screwed up for life, you may be awarded whatever amount is needed to cover your medical care and your costs for the rest of your life. However, you won't get twenty million dollars for getting scalded by a hot cup of coffee, that's why you rarely here about ridiculous, frivolous lawsuits originating in Colorado.

By capping what Lawyers could collect we would also drive down the cost of everything, not just medical care (I've heard that about 10%, maybe more, of the cost of everything that we purchase is to cover the cost of potential litigation.) Right now, the standard practice is for a lawyer to receive as much as 33% of whatever they win for their client( I've also heard of cases where they'd received as much as 40-45% of a settlement.) If this were capped at about 10% or so we would all save a lot of money.

5.)Loser pays.

In many other countries, If you sue somebody then you'd better have a really good reason to do so, because, if you lose then you have to pay all of the legal and court costs involved, that means yours and whoever you tried to sue. We don't have that kind of system in place, that's why many Americans are ready to sue at the drop of a hat. If the U.S.A adopted this practice then we'd all get a break. Another thing is to take away the right to sue someone if you are hurt while committing a crime, we've all heard of someone getting killed or crippled when they tried to rob a store or a person and their would-be victim defended themselves or their property. In Mexico, as an example, if you're hurt while doing a crime then you're screwed, no lawsuit for you(should of thought of that before you tried to commit a crime!)