The Big Ideas Project

Forgive student loans for people 65 or older with income of less than $35K. Lower interest to 2% and defer student loans for anyone under 65 with income less than $35K. Allow student loan payments, principal and interest, to be tax deductible for anyone earning less than $60K.

Submitted by Timothy Salt in Taxes & Budget Dec. 29, 2014, 1:58 p.m.

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#469

457 votes

Do not allow corporations to deduct more than $1m dollars for any employee on their taxes. Citizens should not be subsidizing outrageous compensation. Corporations can pay more than $1m if they want, but it will come from aftertax money, if there is any.

Submitted by PCIdeas in Taxes & Budget Jan. 15, 2015, 11:38 a.m.

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#481

438 votes

U.S. corporations currently have 2 or 3 trillion dollars in oversea accounts that would be taxed if brought back to the U.S. (at 35%).We should stop negotiations that would allow them to bring it back taxed at 6% rate. Instead, pass a law to return all of the money and use the 35% tax to fund needed infrastructure improvements, creating millions of jobs in the process.

Submitted by Darrell N. from NY in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 5:09 p.m.

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#482

436 votes

Military is 55,5% of our budget. That make us THE country of war. OUR BUDGET IS BIGGER THAN THE 10 COUNTRIES THAT FOLLOW US COMBINED! We have to stop this now. Reduce military spending by 2% per year, until it reaches 25% of our budget. Still ours will be the biggest military budget in the world (by far), but we will have no more deficit. And relocating part of those savings we can have the best free education and health for all, and the best retirement system in the world.

Submitted by Eduardo G. from HI in Taxes & Budget Jan. 13, 2015, 8:06 p.m.

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#492

423 votes

To save Social Security: 1) Eliminate the cap. Pay SSI based on entire income. 2) Create a limit above which Social Security checks are not sent out. For example, individuals over 65 whose annual income exceeds a certain amount -- say, $150,000 (needs to be adjustable for inflation) -- do not draw their SS checks unless their income dips below the cutoff. Their money will be there for them when they actually need it. That should do it!

Submitted by morrigan in Taxes & Budget Jan. 3, 2015, 10:46 p.m.

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#503

410 votes

Tax capital gains as regular income. Set income tax rate of 90% on incomes exeeding 300 times more than the minimum wage.

Submitted by John in Taxes & Budget Dec. 9, 2014, 2:44 p.m.

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#524

386 votes

Congress should keep their hands off Social Security and medicare/medicaid.. Social Security is a forced saving account, which belongs to the individuals that have paid into it. There should be no cutting it, not privatizing or redistributing of these funds with out the vote of the American People. If anything, it should be expanded as a one source health program for all. It has worked quite well for many, many years. Why reinvent the wheel to cover our people with healthcare benefits. .

Submitted by Barbara K. from FL in Taxes & Budget Dec. 11, 2014, 1:40 p.m.

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#527

383 votes

Tax corporations based on a system that better measures their true net income without the special subsidies and loopholes. Further, if a company gets government contacts, subsidies or benefits from government sponsored research have them taxed fairly without the ability to take advantage of loopholes that reduce their taxes to 0.

Submitted by Richard W. from IL in Taxes & Budget Nov. 16, 2014, 7:12 p.m.

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#548

367 votes

Renew President Obama's original idea. Do not tax senior citizens (at full retirement age), who make less than $50,000 / year. By Publicly supporting this idea, Independants and some Republicans may change colors. It shows who really cares for the "Small Guy".

Submitted by James S. from CA in Taxes & Budget Dec. 18, 2014, 9 p.m.

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#569

345 votes

Because Federal tax revenue is never recycled to fund federal government expenditures, the Federal government can order the Federal Reserve to pay the $1.3 trillion in student loan debt without costing taxpayers a single dime. Bernanke issued by computer key stroke, $13-$29 trillion to bailout banks, auto and other industries. It can do the same for student loan debt.

Submitted by Potomac Oracle in Taxes & Budget Jan. 1, 2015, 3:43 p.m.

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#571

343 votes

Churches that tell their members how or who to vote for should be taxed. Religious organizations are practicing out of their scope of practice when they get involved in politics, they should only be allowed to preach religious dogma. If they engage in political rhetoric then they should be taxed.

Submitted by Danny T. from CA in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 9:26 p.m.

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#581

338 votes

Inheritance taxes should be raised to prevent continuation of a class of rich that did not earn their wealth, except that family farms (owned by firms not publicly traded) should be exempt assets.

Submitted by William Appel in Taxes & Budget Nov. 11, 2014, 4:17 p.m.

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#584

334 votes

Outlaw foreign tax shelters & all other means of offshoring money to avoid taxes. Individuals fined the entire amount & jailed for 5-20 years, depending on the amount of money & degree of evasiveness. Ditto for the CEO, CFO of both a corporation & of its Accounting firm. Corporations pay an additional fine of 25% of the amount & forfeit rights to bankruptcy. Individuals & corporations which expatriate to avoid taxes lose citizenship & pay stiff tariffs if they do business w/U.S. from abroad.

Submitted by Timothy Salt in Taxes & Budget Jan. 13, 2015, 2:01 p.m.

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#599

320 votes

Return to REPUBLICAN top tax rates - either Eisenhower's 91% or at least Nixon's 70%.

Submitted by David in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 3:43 p.m.

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#603

317 votes

Stop tax exempt for churches sports and any other group. The NFL makes billions they should be paying taxes. At one time Churches were very poor. But you have Churches making millions.

Submitted by Gerrie Kallio in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 3:14 p.m.

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#627

296 votes

If corporations are legally defined as "people", then they should be taxed at the same tax rate as "people". Tax reform for big business would curb a huge amount of the social and economic stagnation in this country. Hard-working individuals and families would have a chance to make fair and livable wages. Upsurge minimum wage across the board, and our economy will strengthen. In its current state, it's the albatross around all of our necks. Reform is holistic, not singular.

Submitted by StacyG in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 4:26 p.m.

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#632

293 votes

Review how "part time" is legislated: FICA should be collected on an hourly basis, not on full time versus part time. If Walmart had to pay *per hour* into FICA, they could not be des-incentivised to provide full time positions, we might have less part-time employees that don't make enough money to live. These folks should accrue social Security benefits even if they work part time.

Submitted by ELICEC in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 5:55 p.m.

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#634

292 votes

Reinstate the progressive tax code of the 1950s and 1960s to slow income inequality, to provide a strong social safety net, to support quality, low cost public education, and to repair the infrastructure. Individuals and corporations use the public infrastructure to make money. Without investment, the public infrastructure decays. Taxes are the one way to make sure profits are reinvested in the US and not other countries. Taxes - made in America, stay in America, pay for America.

Submitted by KH in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 8:09 p.m.

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#640

290 votes

End the tax loop hole in the Free Trade Agreements where U.S. companies manufacture their goods overseas then ship them back to the U.S. tax free.

Submitted by CitizenX911 in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 8:48 p.m.

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#647

286 votes

Progressive taxation: For each bracket you move up, your taxes increase by a small percentage, perhaps 5%. The less you make, the less you give back, down to nothing if you make virtually no income. The more you make, the more you take home, but the higher percentage you give back. Must apply to ALL forms of income. Capital Gains, passive income, everything. No more hiding by not making a "Salary".

Submitted by Reform It Now in Taxes & Budget Dec. 10, 2014, 11:14 a.m.

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#648

285 votes

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