9 votes
I disagreeRank2678
Idea#675
Send every American a one time check of $10,000
The average credit card holder is $8,000 in debt, people who had debt could pay it off and those who HAVE managed to stay out of debt would be rewarded. the extra cash would jump-start the market AND help save auto makers AND the banks(have to put your $10k somewhere)
it would only cost around $200,000,000,000 (2 hundred billion)
we bailed out the banks for 750 billion...
There's no guarantee that those people with credit card debt would pay it off.
Instead let the IRS pay off your credit card debt and pay for it by charging those people a slightly higher income tax.
Can you imagine what would happen to such debt if it automatically translated into higher income taxes?
Or we could allow individual taxpayers to write off a portion of debt servicing in much the same way that corporations are allowed to service debt and amortization prior to reporting "profit" and paying income tax. It would not be a dollar-for-dollar tax credit but it would be representative of your tax rate and easily integrate into the current system.
In fact, you are legally allowed to do this if you report your income on a 1099, but as most taxpayers use the standard deduction rather than itemizing on their 1040's and 1040a's - this type of benefit is only used by the more wealthy who can afford prudent tax advice or adequate education and financial planning.
By simplifying the tax code, incentives, and expectations, we can drastically reduce poor financial behavior.
Another idea would be to extend or modify the current mortgage provisions to include consumer debt as well. After all, the majority of Americans rent and are effectively paying the tax liability of the other portion that are rent-generating homeowners as well as their own. These individuals receive a double benefit by pushing their tax liability onto the renter and by claiming the mortgage interest credit from the government. The only issue I see with including consumer debt is how to mitigate individuals from charging untold excesses to their cards, only to push the payment onto the federal government. Allowing for housing provisions beyond simply mortgages would ensure the government is only directly subsidizing a necessity for all Americans. It would have the same effect, though indirectly, of freeing up excess capital for prudent individuals to use as they chose.
I feel majority would dig themselfs out and spread the rest around unlike any of the bailed out companies and banks have done so far.
This would be far more effective than propping up failing institutions.
I like the idea of a taxpayer bailout. I'm sure inquiring minds could figure out a best method.
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