You can’t cut any taxes or programs to fund your idea. Nothing else in your government is going to change. It can’t be a tax that you avoid somehow. The money comes from you and similar people in your situation. Don’t try to get around it in some way.
What would you pay more taxes to support?
Universal Health Care
This. Absolute game changer. If my job gave me the money they spend on my behalf for the crappy health insurance they provide, it would likely result in an actual increase in my net pay after the increased taxes to pay for the program. Cut out hundreds of thousands of parasitic middlemen, like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. Throw out the crazy quilt of non-doctors who decide what medications and procedures are are covered. Reduce billing staff because of the major paperwork reduction (don’t need to deal with hundreds of different insurance plans). And do away with coding - the letters and numbers on a bill that can drastically change a procedure’s cost to the patient.
Let’s do one that wouldn’t end up saving the taxpayer in the long run.
Universal access to legal council.
Too many matters are not brought to the court which probably should be because of costs to the litigants, and far too many times are costs to the litigants used as a weapon to keep people from exercizing their rights under threat of getting buried.
It’s the worst kept secret that whoever has more money is gonna win the case 9/10 times and making lawyers salaried public servants as opposed to hired mercenary litigants, and providing access to legal services and council for free at point of service, would go a long way towards balancing the litigious inequality that is often experienced in the US.
So yeah, I’d pay more in taxes for the little guy to have the deck not be so blatantly stacked against them in the judicial system.
Funding the IRS to go after rich tax cheats.
Increased support for Ukraine.
It’s at the moment more important than solving any domestic issues.
(I most likely don’t live in your country, only argue for your favored domestic issues if you really have nothing better to do).
Jury duty stipends indexed to cost of living.
Today, in my county, you get $20 a day. That won’t even cover parking near the courthouse.
Serving on a jury shouldn’t prevent you from being able to make rent for the month.
Public healthcare, public education, public internet
Single p(l)ayer healthcare.
Pre-k childcare
Court room staffers
Education. Mental health facilities. Drug treatment. Healthcare.
Improved access to mental health treatment. We have free healthcare here, but the mental health side isn’t great. This would also include support for those who are neurodivergant, suffering from trauma, experiencing gender dysphoria, etc…
Honestly, I think something that would be good as a policy is that at least once a year schoolchildren see a counsellor. Just to talk about anything that’s bothering them, and give them help for things that are happening in their home life.
While I agree with this, I’m a bit hesitant of the implementation. I have received mental health (MH) care from the Veterans Affairs (VA) and private providers. Private providers are in another level of care to the point that I pay out of pocket rather than go to the VA where they basically treat me like a problem to their life, liar seeking disability and drugs, and child that needs babysitting. They can be some gaslighting jerks. If we get universal health care including mental health, I would hope that it would follow something like Medicare that pays for private providers of our choosing rather than setting up a government agency that provides it directly.
For example, I received VA MH care for about 7 years. They declined to give me an ADHD assessment when I told them I have considerable attention issues. The psychiatrist literally looked away from his computer, looked at me, and said, “I’m not going to give you stimulants.” I was then diagnosed with bipolar 2 and placed on antipsychotics for 5 years until I insisted against medical advice to come off of them. I also sought care for traumatic events, which they told me weren’t traumatic. A friend that is a psychologist then told me that I was autistic. I asked the VA for an autism assessment. The VA psychologist already agreed I was likely autistic, but told me that her supervisor declined to allow an autism assessment, “Since [I] was in the military, [I] can’t be autistic.” After telling friends this and listening to their advice, I sought private care. They assessed me thoroughly and diagnosed me with autism and ADHD. I was then referred to a psychiatrist and prescribed ADHD meds. My life hasn’t been this put together ever. I honestly think VA MH made my life worse, resulted in poor relationships, hampered my career, and caused some deep trust issues.
That’s a problem here as well. I’m hoping that if we invest more resources into it, they’ll not feel that they have to withhold and prioritise treatment. Give them the resources to treat everyone, rather than the few who tick all the right boxes.
Although that’s just wishful thinking on my part, most likely. And probably also requires social change as well as economic…
If they tied every expenditure to a tax that is directly related to the expenditure I’d like taxes. No more big pot of money. Military paid for by it’s own tax from commerce that benefits from a military. Roads paid for by taxes on car sales or registration tax PR something, etc.
