Op-ed by Buttigieg: Bring balance to the U.S. economy

[femmedem]

" … So when I’m president, I won’t measure the success of our economy by the size of our GDP or the heights of the Dow Jones. I’ll measure it by how much a worker has in her pocket, whether a single parent can afford to pay their child’s medical bills, or if a senior can retire with dignity. And I will take unprecedented steps to bring balance back to our economy, so that our government looks out for American families and not just American corporations.

First, we will mobilize an American majority to usher in a fairer and smarter tax system. My administration will roll back the Trump corporate tax rate cuts and require large corporations to release all tax returns so we can see how they are gaming the system. In addition to raising corporate taxes to 35 percent, we’ll implement a financial transaction tax on banks and financial institutions that will raise $800 billion in revenue. We’ll implement a risk fee on big banks to discourage reckless behavior while generating an additional $100 billion that can be invested in our schools, roads, bridges, and other services for the American people. We’ll also crack down on the use of tax havens, so that profits can flow to the U.S. Treasury and not Bermuda. Instead of subsidizing oil and gas companies, we’ll invest more than $200 billion over the next decade to develop clean energy technologies.

Second, we’ll hold corporate America accountable. From the opioid epidemic to low-income neighborhoods filled with pollutants, decisions made in boardrooms on Wall Street and committee rooms in Washington have devastated communities like mine all across the country. That culture of corporate impunity will end when I’m president. Pharmaceutical companies who put profits ahead of American lives will be penalized — and when egregious misconduct takes place, their patents will be on the line. Big tech companies that trade away our privacy will face greater antitrust enforcement, and be subject to breakup when they block competition. We’ll impose multimillion dollar fines on companies who interfere with union elections, and end the legal fictions that enable corporations to misclassify their workers as contractors to avoid providing full employee benefits.

Third, after decades where the middle class has declined hand-in-hand with rates of participation in organized labor, my administration will shift power away from corporations and back to workers. We’ll guarantee bargaining rights for all American workers, and implement new tools like multi-employer bargaining. We’ll double the percentage of workers who are in unions in this country, and raise the minimum wage to $15. While we’re at it, we’ll expand overtime protections and ensure workers get the predictable hours, wages, and support they deserve... "

Full column: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnist/buttigieg-bring-balance-to-the-us-economy-20200108

[msongs]

1. sounds good nt

[bluewater]

2. "end the legal fictions that enable corporations to misclassify their workers as contractors"

Proceed, Mr. Mayor.

How will you legally do this?

By saying contracts between 2 parties are illegal?

How will you even get such a sweeping plan like this passed thru Congress?

Details please, or does only Elizabeth Warren have to provide details?

[radical noodle]

9. They can change the rules about how a contractor is determined

and what taxes one must pay for that contractor. Take out the loopholes. Having what amounts to an employee and calling them a contractor puts all the burden of benefits and taxes on the "contractor." There are ways to regulate that.

[bluewater]

10. The Supreme Court has already ruled on the contractor/employee issue.

Department of Labor (DOL) Regulations
The relationship between independent workers/business owners and their hiring companies is described as "merely contractual" and not an employment relationship for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations. Thus, independent contractor relationships are not subject to FLSA provisions for minimum wage, overtime, youth employment, and record keeping.

The DOL discusses Supreme Court decisions on independent contractors, which have held that there is no one single rule or test to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or employee for FLSA purposes. The Court has held that it is the total activity or situation that determines the proper status. Among the factors considered significant are:

The extent to which the services rendered are an integral part of the principal's business
The permanency of the relationship
The amount of the alleged contractor's investment in facilities and equipment
The alleged contractor's opportunities for profit and loss
The amount of initiative, judgment, or foresight in open-market competition required for the success of the claimed independent contractor.
The degree of independent business organization and operation.

Businesses have already figured out how to hire people as contractors and not employees to meet the existing Supreme Court guidelines.

What can Mayor Pete actually do as president to change what is established Supreme Court precedent?

It would be nice to actually have details backing up his rhetoric on his proposed plan to "end this legal fiction".

[Sherman A1]

3. I agree

which is why I support Andrew Yang's Universal Basic Income proposal. https://www.yang2020.com/policies/the-freedom-dividend/

[MBS]

4. good sense, fresh and compassionate perspective.

Thanks for posting this!
I'm (obviously) a fan, but he's in so many places these days, it's getting to be almost impossible to keep up.

[bluewater]

5. "implement a financial transaction tax on banks and financial institutions"

"we’ll implement a financial transaction tax on banks and financial institutions that will raise $800 billion in revenue"

Details please.

What type of financial transactions will be taxed? When stocks are traded in the mutual funds that people have their 401k's invested in?
When people pay their credit cards and bills every month?

Who exactly will be paying this new and sweeping tax.

And how will you get this passed thru Congress?

Again, please provide the level of specifics you demanded from Warren over her health care plan.

[bluewater]

6. "Pharmaceutical companies who put profits ahead of American lives will be penalized"

Soaring rhetoric, but what exactly does this mean?

On what legal basis will the federal government be telling corporations how much profit they are allowed to make?

I thought we had a free market economy?

Are you advocating socialism here, Mr. Mayor?

How will you get such a sweeping and radical change passed thru Congress?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I see you have multiple areas where you want more details!

I am sure that Pete Buttigieg will supply such details in good time.

[bluewater]

8. "Pete Buttigieg will supply such details in good time" Really?

Warren was criticized by Mayor Pete and others for taking a month to provide details on her health care plan.

Will Mayor Pete hold himself to the same standard?

Will the media hold Mayor Pete to the same standard? (Not likely... Misogyny means women candidates will always be held to a higher, stricter standard)

[crazytown]

11. I would like to hear what Pete is proposing (if anything) to ensure

Amazon, Chevron and the like pay tax. He states the problem, what is his proposed solution.

Elizabeth Warren announced her plan in April.

Here’s How Much Amazon Would Pay Under Elizabeth Warren’s Corporate Tax

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren rolled out a proposal on Thursday to levy a 7 percent tax on corporate profits above $100 million, which if enacted would raise an estimated $1 trillion from the country’s wealthiest businesses.

There would be “no loopholes or exemptions” for the so-called Real Corporate Profits Tax, Warren said, and it would be paid on top of what corporations owe under U.S. tax law and apply to profits earned domestically and abroad, preventing companies from shifting profits offshore to avoid the tax.

Using a surtax, rather than raising the corporate rate, would allow the tax code to target larger, more profitable companies.

Under her plan, Amazon.com Inc. would pay a tax of $698 million and Occidental Petroleum Corp. would pay $280 million, Warren’s policy team estimated.

https://fortune.com/2019/04/11/elizabeth-warren-corporate-tax/