Fix the Real Economy, Healthcare, and Financial Markets

It is now time to quit talking and begin doing the right stuff. It is time to start attacking the root of the problems. Talk is cheap. What you do is more important than what you say. It is the “what” you do that makes all the difference. Substance is what matters/counts.

Winners take responsibility when something goes wrong; losers point fingers and blame others. Leaders are men and women who take action. Talk with no substance and truth is worthless. Be a man or woman of action not just words. Earn respect through your actions. All the so-called “secrets of success” will not work unless you do.

The following list of recommended solutions and substantive action plan, when implemented immediately, would jump start the economy and our country. This will get us back on track and moving in the right direction.

Action Plan and Changes Needed to Fix the Real Economy and the Financial Markets and get to the root of the problem(s):

Move to a FairTax (a Flat Consumption Tax), abolish the IRS, and get rid of Corporate Tax evasion and abuse.

1. It is now time to lower taxes to promote growth and create jobs. The highest total individual and corporate income tax rates should be reduced from 35% (2ndhighest rate in the World) to 20% to empower and strengthen U.S. corporations and workers to compete and excel against foreign workers, companies, and countries around the globe. There should be three individual and corporate tax rates on earned income–10% on earned income less than $50,000; 15% on earned income between $50,000 and $200,000; and 20% on earned income greater than $200,000. You should keep the current top five itemized deductions. There will be NO taxes on all dividend, interest, and capital gains income. If Congress and the government cannot get the above successfully implemented and without abuses, then we should just go to a FairTax (i.e., Flat Consumption Tax) instead. This would have the greatest impact on job creation, lowering the unemployment rate, stimulating the economy, and sustaining growth in the near and long-term. It is time for the President/Congress/Treasury to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

The Seven Signs of National Judgment.

The Seven Signs of National Judgment.

2. You do not need Obamacare or anything like it to fix the current healthcare system. Obamacare just increases costs and premiums while reducing coverage and benefits on their patients/customers and wastes more taxpayer money on government subsidized health plans. Obamacare was a sellout to the healthcare and drug companies who got their dollars worth via campaign contributions and a government bailout. This is the epitome of corporate greed, crony capitalism, and crony politics. The health benefit/insurance companies are the most grossly overpaid and over compensated “middlemen” and intermediaries for what they actually do and the services rendered and performed. It is time to get rid of this government supported and subsidized excessive cost model that does not work for the benefit of patients, doctors, hospitals, or anyone; except for the health benefit/insurance companies. The patients’, customers’, and doctors’ costs have gone up exponentially and coverage/benefits have been cut. This only benefits the health benefit/insurance companies. This model is broken because of corporate greed, crony capitalism, and crony politics. The solution lays directly in front you. It resides in the federal and state discrimination laws of the USA. The health benefit/insurance companies have been getting away with “bloody murder” and violating the discrimination laws of this country. The full force of these discrimination laws need to be applied to the health benefit/insurance companies and then enforced. You need to pass a law preventing the health benefit/insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions and charging them higher premiums and deductibles. The profit motive and being public companies has clouded their judgment and principles on what they are supposed to be doing and accomplishing. Their primary function and job will be to provide high quality and affordable medical and dental benefits and care (i.e., low cost premiums, low deductibles, and full/comprehensive benefit packages and services) to everyone regardless of preexisting conditions. It is time for the President and Congress to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

3. You cannot print your way to prosperity, but you can pave the way to an economic collapse. The Fed printing money is not a sign of economic ‘strength’ but of tremendous weakness. The Federal Reserve and Treasury need to institute a credible and stable strong dollar/greenback policy (i.e., actions not just words).

Abolish the Federal Reserve. The FED has bankrupted the USA.

The Federal Reserves’ cover up of Obama’s and the Democrats’ bad economic policies and actions.

Remember inflation is purely a monetary phenomenon: If a central bank or government prints too much many; you’re in trouble; if it doesn’t, money retains its value. Currently, you need to raise interest rates to where the market is dictating in order to stabilize and strengthen the dollar. In the near term it is time to anchor the dollar back to gold. A stable and strong dollar/greenback policy is an essential foundation for a lawful society and for economic progress. The best, most immediate measure of the true value of the dollar—or any currency—is gold. Currently, trying to create a strong dollar by controlling the money supply  by itself is a waste of time and effort. A strong dollar is equal to a strong and powerful United States of America (USA). It is time for the President/Congress/Fed/Treasury to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

4. You do not need the Dodd-Frank Act and plan either. It is not smart legislation and is too weak. The Dodd-Frank Act is a gift to the big Wall Street banks. This does nothing to fix the root of the problem. The following will solve the root of the problems: 1) You need regulators to start doing their jobs. 2) You need to implement/enforce items 6 through 12 outlined below. 3) You need to bring back the Glass-Steagall Act and laws right away.  4) All of the Exchanges that are now public companies will be taken private. They will become private and  nonprofit organizations with their primary functions and responsibilities being: integrity, accountability, honesty, ethics, regulation, enforcement, monitoring, security, technological innovation, and an efficient and effective marketplace. They will  be merged/consolidated into 5 primary Exchanges. This will effectively prevent the profit motive and the incentive to be in bed with all of the investment banks, hedge funds, and other financial firms clouding their judgment and compromising their principles on what they are supposed to be really doing. It is time for the President/Congress/SEC/Exchanges to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

5. It is now time to aggressively and decisively move the United States of America (USA) to energy independence through the development and procurement of Natural Gas and Nuclear energy. These are our two best energy options/solutions. It is time to start getting our priorities in order and focus our resources, ingenuity, intelligence, and effort on the correct path, direction, and solution. The best overall energy breakdown for the USA now and in the future will be: Bio-fuels (5%), Coal (5%), Natural Gas (30%), Nuclear (35%), Brent Crude Oil/WTI (10%), Solar (10%), and Wind (5%). This breakdown will allow America to move faster, more intelligently, more successfully, and more cost effectively to energy independence. It is time for the President/Congress/U.S. Energy Dept./U.S. Defense Dept. to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

The Markets are rigged.

The Markets are rigged.

6. The “Uptick Rule” on any traded security (i.e., equities, ETFs , etc.) needs to be restored/reinstated and implemented on all domestic and global exchanges and financial markets immediately. Without the original “Uptick Rule” (i.e., based on the “Last Sale” price published on the tape and at an “uptick” price change of 12.5 cents) in place, it creates an unfair and imbalanced playing field that favors the short sellers. This gives short sellers the ability to drive stock prices down to nothing. The exchanges are guilty and responsible for this problem as well as others due to the profit motive. All the SEC needs to do is restore/reinstate the original “Uptick Rule” based on the “Last Sale” price published on the tape. Anything else and currently what the SEC is proposing by using the “Best Bid” price would not fix anything and would cause more problems and manipulation. The Exchanges/Markets were not meant to be casinos. Restore the original “Uptick Rule” and the markets will stop crashing and stop being manipulated by the HFT and Dark Pools software and other algorithmic trading software at the largest investment banks, trading firms, and brokers-dealers. The Exchanges/Markets profit motive and conflict of interest prevents them from fixing these problems and banning HFT, Dark Pools, After Hours Trading, Leveraged ETFs and reinstating the originalUptick Rule“. If you ban HFT, Dark Pools, and After Hours Trading you will create and ensure a fair and level playing field for all investors. In addition, the SEC and Exchanges need to end payment for order flow. The exchanges, investment banks, and broker-dealers are making a lot of money at the expense of the Individual Investor, the public, and the safety/reliability of the marketplace. No and low market volume means no confidence and no trust in the markets. It is time for the SEC and CFTC to start doing their job and start doing the right stuff.

We want Free Markets, Not Crony Capitalism Or Corporatism. Corporatism is Not Capitalism.

7. All ETFs should have the same SEC/FINRA/CFTC/NYSE/NASD reporting, filing, and regulatory requirements as Mutual Funds. ETFs will need to comply with all of the Rules and Regulations of the Investment Company Act(s) of 1933, 1940, and all their later amendments. You should not be allowed to buy/sell/write options, derivatives, and/or futures contracts on all ETFs. It is time for the SEC/FINRA/CFTC to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

8. It is now time to restore the public’s and investor’s trust and confidence back in our markets and exchanges. This can be accomplished by getting rid of and abolishing all HFT, Dark Pools,  After Hours Trading, Leveraged ETFs, and reinstating the originalUptick Rule“. It is time to take casino gambling out of the markets and exchanges. We should merge and consolidate the markets/exchanges into between 5 to 8 major consolidated and regulated markets/exchanges. It is unacceptable to have between 13 to 16 fragmented and unregulated exchanges/markets. This is out-of-control and needs to be fixed. Circuit breakers do not work and are useless. The Exchanges/Markets profit motive and conflict of interest prevents them from fixing the problems and banning HFT, Dark Pools, After Hours Trading, Leveraged ETFs, and reinstating the originalUptick Rule“. If you ban HFT, Dark Pools, and After Hours Trading you will create and ensure a fair and level playing field for all investors. In addition, the SEC and Exchanges need to end payment for order flow. The exchanges, investment banks, and broker-dealers are making a lot of money at the expense of the Individual Investor, the public, and the safety/reliability of the marketplace. No and low market volume means no confidence and no trust in the markets. It is time for the SEC and CFTC to start doing their job and start doing the right stuff.

Corrupt Corporatism is not Capitalism or Free Markets.

9. All leveraged ETFs should be abolished or banned. The SEC should have never approved these products to trade on the Exchanges and in our financial markets. All regulation needs to take place directly at the product level. This is where the problem(s) originate and continue. These products should only exist at Casinos.  They promote and encourage gambling and market manipulation. These products do not perform as specified and their claims are fraudulent. They promote negative price fluctuations and volatility on the underlying securities and indices and perpetuate a disorderly and unreliable marketplace. It is time for the SEC/FINRA/CFTC to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

10. All of the additional changes made to the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) between 1995 and 2000 need to be reversed. The legislation provided the certainty that products offered by banking institutions would not be regulated as financial futures contracts. It also allowed for the deregulation of financial derivative products (i.e., CDS, CDOs, Auction Rate Securities, etc.), which have been destructive to our financial markets. It is time for the Congress/SEC/FINRA/CFTC to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

11. All of these products are defined as securities–notes, stocks, preferred stocks, treasury stocks, bonds, debentures, options, investment contracts, certificates of deposit, warrants, rights, variable annuities, and collateral trust certificates—and are therefore required to be registered with the SEC. However, currently–fixed insurance policies, fixed annuities, futures/commodities contracts, financial derivatives, precious metals, Credit Default Swaps (CDS), Credit Default Obligations (CDOs), Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs)–are not considered to be securities by the Supreme Court’s “Howey Decision”, therefore, they do not need to be registered with the SEC or anyone. This is a loophole that is open to abuse and needs to be closed immediately. All of these products definitely meet the criteria to be considered securities and therefore should be required to register with the SEC. There should be no exceptions. All of these products should have to be registered with the SEC as securities and listed/traded on a regulated U.S. Exchange with a clearinghouse. It is time for the Congress/SEC/FINRA/CFTC to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce with Obama, Democrats, and Republicans is fraud, corruption, and selling out businesses and Americans to the politicians.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce with Obama, Democrats, and Republicans is fraud, corruption, and selling out businesses and Americans to the politicians.

12. All Hedge Funds, Private Money Management firms, and Broker-Dealers doing business within the United States of America (USA) should have to be registered with the SEC and FINRA as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and Fiduciary with no exceptions. It is time for the Congress/SEC/FINRA/CFTC to start doing their job(s) and start doing the right stuff.

All of these key changes need to be made in order to bring order and integrity back to the markets, protect investors, and restore confidence in our financial system. These changes are immediate “hits” with huge positive impacts for the economy, the markets, investors, companies, and economic recovery. Also, they require no $700 billion bailout packages and additional quantitative easing to implement; just smart policy and regulatory changes that can be implemented immediately with little effort or time. What we need now is solid, simple, and substantive solutions and that is exactly what I am proposing. If the above 12 recommended changes are made (i.e., action not words), you will see the markets and the economy rally beyond belief and confidence/hope return to the economy.