[lbo-talk] (no subject)

[chuck at hvgreens.org]

Doug, All,

I am on the State Central Committee of the Michigan Green Party.  I would like 
to discuss strategies for economic policy our party can pursue on a state level 
that would have some chance of winning.  Our state, Michigan, has an initiative 
process that lets citizens propose State Constitutional and Legislative changes.
These are some of the ideas I have thought of:

  a) A proposed change to the State Constitution that would both lower the 
State Sales Tax from 6% to 5% and increase taxes on the top 5% (ie. income >= 
$139K/year) of the income distribution an additional 4%.  The net result would 
be an increase in revenue to the State of about $700 million, which would 
offset a deficit of $1-2 billion in the current fiscal year.  

  b) Require all businesses in the state to provide 40 hours of paid vacation 
for each 13 weeks of employment.  The 40 hours would apply even if the job in 
question is only part-time.

  c) Place a wage tax of $0.75/hour that would be used to fund a defined 
benefit pension plan for all workers in the state.  Also, index the minimum 
retirement age to collect the pension benefits to the unemployment rate so the 
minimum age drops when unemployment goes up.

I'm looking for feed-back on these ideas, so any comments are appreciated.

Chuck



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