American Labor Party Positions
CEO COMPENSATION
- CEOs of publicly traded corporations manipulate those corporations to pay themselves absurdly high incomes, often in the form of stock options, at the expense of public shareholders, small investors, pension funds, and others. Even billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett publicly acknowledge this system is abused. Since corporations have shown that they cannot police themselves, stock option grants should be prohibited for already highly compensated corporate officers and directors.
WELFARE FOR THE RICH
- Multi-millionaire athletes and billionaire sports team owners receive public subsides in the form of taxpayer financing for sports stadiums. Public funding of sports facilities should be prohibited, as should all other subsidies and taxpayer benefits to business and corporations.
MILITARY FORCE
-Taxpayer funds are used to support hugely expensive wars that should be used to support basic domestic needs such as education and health care for Americans. Military force should be abolished, except in direct defense of the United States.
FOREIGN AID
This aid is typically wasted or stolen, and should be used for the legitimate domestic needs of US taxpayers. Foreign aid should be abolished.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT – White-collar criminals steal millions and receive lax sentences, or none at all, while small time drug dealers, usually minorities, serve serious jail time. We are in favor of capital punishment, but it should be applied first to those who are stealing tens of millions of dollars via white-collar crime. We’d be delighted to see some corporate CEOs in the electric chair. Or better yet, hung in front of the stock exchange on Wall Street.
WAR ON DRUGS – This is really a war on young minority men, the most disenfranchised segment of the American public. While the government spends billions fighting recreational drugs like marijuana and cocaine, and jailing million of black and Hispanic young men, corporate pharmaceutical companies make billions drugging American children with Ritalin and other “mood stabilizers.” Recreational drugs are often no more dangerous than legal drugs, and should be legalized.
LEGAL REFORM – The American Labor Party favors greater income for those who are producing real value; the American legal system has been taken over by greedy lawyers who file class action suits and seek punitive damages in every absurd instance. This ultimately raises the price of most goods for everyday working people, and is an indirect transfer of wealth from those creating value to the vultures getting rich off the legal system. Class action and punitive damage suits should be prohibited, and tort reform should be instituted.
EDUCATION – The existing system favors students of wealthy parents who can pay for a superior private school education. A voucher system would enable all children and their parents to have a choice of educational options, and would remove much of the unfair advantage that currently accrues to children from affluent households. Competition and choice, such vital ingredients of the private provision of goods, should be incorporated into the educational system.
TAXATION – The tax code is ridiculously complicated, and should be radically simplified. Any income tax, or social security tax, on those with an income of less than $50,000, should be completely eliminated. This can be balanced in part by a huge reduction in defense spending, as well as elimination of many wasteful and/or ineffective government programs. Also, marginal income rates, on combined local, state, and federal income taxes, should be 49% for any income over $1M per year until such time as the federal deficit is completely eliminated. All exemptions and eliminations after line 1040 should be eliminated.
GOVERNMENT SPENDING – There should be wholesale elimination of government spending except when it can be proven to benefit lower and middle-income workers. These programs typically benefit special interests, corporations, or the affluent. There is a reason why the Washington DC area has the most affluent citizens in the country, and the world, and some of the most expensive real estate. Money funneled here from federal taxation goes to the vast army of lawyers, consultants, associations and others currying the favor of government officials. Foreign Aid should be completely eliminated; defense spending should be vastly curtailed; programs benefiting business should be privatized or eliminated. All business subsidies, including farm subsidies, should be eliminated.
IMMIGRATION – Should be allowed to the extent that immigrants can demonstrate proficiency in the English language, and can be shown to understand the American legal system. It is impossible to have a functioning body politic without a common language, and it is impossible for workers to understand their rights and obligations without speaking a common language. We think that this stipulation will hold immigration to levels that will make it possible to raise the market price for entry-level workers, given the increase in labor demand that will be spurred by the reforms we suggest.
MINIMUM WAGE – Should be dramatically increased, perhaps doubled, by lowering compensation levels for the most highly compensated employees of a corporation. Businesses with less than a hundred employees would only have to pay the existing minimum wage. The expense to increase the minimum wage will be offset by elimination of Social Security and various other mandated employer expenses.
HEALTH CARE – As in the case of education, every citizen with an income less than $50,000 should receive health care vouchers allowing them to use a designated amount of medical care per year, but not including cosmetic, psychological, or other optional treatments. MEDICARE should be restricted to those with an income of less than $50,000 per year.
SOCIAL SECURITY – This system, which is currently another onerous tax on the working poor and middle classes, should be entirely eliminated, and replaced with the medical vouchers and welfare payments to those below designated income levels.
BUSINESS REGULATION – Should generally be dramatically reduced, as this constitutes a hidden tax on consumers, raising costs for the goods they buy, and decreasing employment. Further, it supports a vast and unproductive government bureaucracy.
WELFARE – Payments should be increased, but should be temporary, except in cases where someone is declared medically unfit to work.
CULURAL PROGRAMS – such as the National Endowment for the Arts, and other programs, should be entirely eliminated, thus freeing up funds for essential services like education and health care. Workers are perfectly content to utilize the vast array of cultural and media goods provided by private enterprise.
CEO COMPENSATION
- CEOs of publicly traded corporations manipulate those corporations to pay themselves absurdly high incomes, often in the form of stock options, at the expense of public shareholders, small investors, pension funds, and others. Even billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett publicly acknowledge this system is abused. Since corporations have shown that they cannot police themselves, stock option grants should be prohibited for already highly compensated corporate officers and directors.
WELFARE FOR THE RICH
- Multi-millionaire athletes and billionaire sports team owners receive public subsides in the form of taxpayer financing for sports stadiums. Public funding of sports facilities should be prohibited, as should all other subsidies and taxpayer benefits to business and corporations.
MILITARY FORCE
-Taxpayer funds are used to support hugely expensive wars that should be used to support basic domestic needs such as education and health care for Americans. Military force should be abolished, except in direct defense of the United States.
FOREIGN AID
This aid is typically wasted or stolen, and should be used for the legitimate domestic needs of US taxpayers. Foreign aid should be abolished.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT – White-collar criminals steal millions and receive lax sentences, or none at all, while small time drug dealers, usually minorities, serve serious jail time. We are in favor of capital punishment, but it should be applied first to those who are stealing tens of millions of dollars via white-collar crime. We’d be delighted to see some corporate CEOs in the electric chair. Or better yet, hung in front of the stock exchange on Wall Street.
WAR ON DRUGS – This is really a war on young minority men, the most disenfranchised segment of the American public. While the government spends billions fighting recreational drugs like marijuana and cocaine, and jailing million of black and Hispanic young men, corporate pharmaceutical companies make billions drugging American children with Ritalin and other “mood stabilizers.” Recreational drugs are often no more dangerous than legal drugs, and should be legalized.
LEGAL REFORM – The American Labor Party favors greater income for those who are producing real value; the American legal system has been taken over by greedy lawyers who file class action suits and seek punitive damages in every absurd instance. This ultimately raises the price of most goods for everyday working people, and is an indirect transfer of wealth from those creating value to the vultures getting rich off the legal system. Class action and punitive damage suits should be prohibited, and tort reform should be instituted.
EDUCATION – The existing system favors students of wealthy parents who can pay for a superior private school education. A voucher system would enable all children and their parents to have a choice of educational options, and would remove much of the unfair advantage that currently accrues to children from affluent households. Competition and choice, such vital ingredients of the private provision of goods, should be incorporated into the educational system.
TAXATION – The tax code is ridiculously complicated, and should be radically simplified. Any income tax, or social security tax, on those with an income of less than $50,000, should be completely eliminated. This can be balanced in part by a huge reduction in defense spending, as well as elimination of many wasteful and/or ineffective government programs. Also, marginal income rates, on combined local, state, and federal income taxes, should be 49% for any income over $1M per year until such time as the federal deficit is completely eliminated. All exemptions and eliminations after line 1040 should be eliminated.
GOVERNMENT SPENDING – There should be wholesale elimination of government spending except when it can be proven to benefit lower and middle-income workers. These programs typically benefit special interests, corporations, or the affluent. There is a reason why the Washington DC area has the most affluent citizens in the country, and the world, and some of the most expensive real estate. Money funneled here from federal taxation goes to the vast army of lawyers, consultants, associations and others currying the favor of government officials. Foreign Aid should be completely eliminated; defense spending should be vastly curtailed; programs benefiting business should be privatized or eliminated. All business subsidies, including farm subsidies, should be eliminated.
IMMIGRATION – Should be allowed to the extent that immigrants can demonstrate proficiency in the English language, and can be shown to understand the American legal system. It is impossible to have a functioning body politic without a common language, and it is impossible for workers to understand their rights and obligations without speaking a common language. We think that this stipulation will hold immigration to levels that will make it possible to raise the market price for entry-level workers, given the increase in labor demand that will be spurred by the reforms we suggest.
MINIMUM WAGE – Should be dramatically increased, perhaps doubled, by lowering compensation levels for the most highly compensated employees of a corporation. Businesses with less than a hundred employees would only have to pay the existing minimum wage. The expense to increase the minimum wage will be offset by elimination of Social Security and various other mandated employer expenses.
HEALTH CARE – As in the case of education, every citizen with an income less than $50,000 should receive health care vouchers allowing them to use a designated amount of medical care per year, but not including cosmetic, psychological, or other optional treatments. MEDICARE should be restricted to those with an income of less than $50,000 per year.
SOCIAL SECURITY – This system, which is currently another onerous tax on the working poor and middle classes, should be entirely eliminated, and replaced with the medical vouchers and welfare payments to those below designated income levels.
BUSINESS REGULATION – Should generally be dramatically reduced, as this constitutes a hidden tax on consumers, raising costs for the goods they buy, and decreasing employment. Further, it supports a vast and unproductive government bureaucracy.
WELFARE – Payments should be increased, but should be temporary, except in cases where someone is declared medically unfit to work.
CULURAL PROGRAMS – such as the National Endowment for the Arts, and other programs, should be entirely eliminated, thus freeing up funds for essential services like education and health care. Workers are perfectly content to utilize the vast array of cultural and media goods provided by private enterprise.