Maybe Huey Long had the solution to capitalism run amok.

[Karmadillo]

Instead of bailing out Wall Street and the insurance industry, we could bail out those who really need bailing out.

http://www.hueylong.com/programs/share-our-wealth.php

Share Our Wealth
(a.k.a. Share the Wealth)

In a national radio address on February 23, 1934, Huey Long unveiled his “Share Our Wealth” plan (also known as Huey Long's "Share the Wealth" plan), a program designed to provide a decent standard of living to all Americans by spreading the nation’s wealth among the people. Long proposed capping personal fortunes at $50 million each (roughly $750 million in today's dollars) through a restructured, progressive federal tax code and sharing the resulting revenue with the public through government benefits and public works.

Share Our Wealth Proposal
•Cap personal fortunes at $50 million each (equivalent to about $750 million today)
•Limit annual income to one million dollars each (about $12 million today)
•Limit inheritances to five million dollars each (about $60 million today)
•Guarantee every family an annual income of $2,000 (or one-third the national average)
•Free college education and vocational training
•Old-age pensions for all persons over 60
•Veterans benefits and healthcare
•A 30 hour work week
•A four week vacation for every worker

Long advocated free higher education and vocational training, pensions for the elderly, veterans benefits and health care, and a yearly stipend for all families earning less than one-third the national average income – enough for a home, an automobile, a radio, and the ordinary conveniences. Long also proposed shortening the workweek and giving employees a month vacation to boost employment, along with greater government regulation of economic activity and production controls.

Long charged that the nation’s economic collapse was the result of the vast disparity between the super-rich and everyone else. A recovery was impossible while 95% of the nation’s wealth was held by only 15% of the population. In Long’s view, this concentration of money among a handful of wealthy bankers and industrialists restricted its availability for average citizens, who were already struggling with debt and the effects of a shrinking economy. Because no one could afford to buy goods and services, businesses were forced to cut their workforces, thus deepening the economic crisis through a devastating ripple effect.

“Our present plan is that we will allow no one man to own more than $50 million,” Long told an audience of millions, acknowledging the limit could be lowered to $15 million or $10 million as the details were worked out. “It will still be more than any one man, or any one man and his children and their children, will be able to spend in their lifetimes; and it is not necessary or reasonable to have wealth piled up beyond the point where we cannot prevent poverty among the masses.”

Long believed that it was morally wrong for the government to allow millions of Americans to suffer in abject poverty when there existed a surplus of food, clothing, and shelter. He blamed the mass suffering on a capitalist system run amok and feared that impending civil unrest threatened the democracy.

Reality Check
A Roadmap for the Future
Huey Long never received credit for the government reforms that resulted from his Share Our Wealth movement. The Great Depression persisted for six years after Long’s death, and the federal government gradually adopted policies to regulate the economy and provide for the public good. Many of today’s federal programs address causes championed by Huey Long:

•Social Security
•Veterans Benefits
•College Financial Aid
•Works Progress Administration
•FDIC bank insurance
•Medicare and Medicaid
•Food Stamps
•Housing Assistance
•Graduated Income Tax and Inheritance Tax

“The same mill that grinds out the extra rich is the same mill that will grind out the extra poor, because, in order that the extra rich can become so affluent, they must necessarily take more of what ordinarily would belong to the average man,” said Long.

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