“If they give it to the poor, they call it a handout; if they give it to the rich, they call it a subsidy.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

TAKING BACK OUR DEMOCRACY FROM CORPORATE INFLUENCE
Beneath every issue in American politics lies a deeper one, and nowhere is this truer than with our economy. At this time in our history, our economic system doesn’t serve our democratic values. Instead, the government we founded to protect those values has become an instrument of service to an economic system.

Beginning in the 1980s, an economic perspective which deems market forces our most appropriate organizing principle, began to infiltrate both American politics and American consciousness.

According to this view, the fiduciary responsibility of corporations to serve short-term profit maximization of their stockholders – with no particular ethical responsibility to other stakeholders such as workers, community or environment - began to replace democracy as our primary organizing principle. Advocacy for the well-being of citizens and the planet was now to be brokered by market forces, which alone were deemed the appropriate arbiter of our social good.

This view represented a radical departure from a most basic value in our Declaration of Independence: that, “God gave all men the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and that, “governments were instituted among men to secure these rights.” From now on, our government would function more to secure the rights of multi-national corporations to make more money for their stockholders, while We, the People, were to trust that so much money would trickle down to the rest of us that all would be okay.

All has not been okay.

Quite to the contrary, a small minority of Americans - called in today’s nomenclature “the one percent” – has become the recipient of extraordinary government largess, while the American middle class has been decimated. From huge corporate subsidies, to tax breaks for the very wealthy, to deregulation of even the most fundamental protections, to greater and greater permission given to moneyed interests to flood our political system, to the proverbial “revolving door” practice between corporate and government leaders.

American social and economic policy has acted like a vacuum cleaner, taking the majority of our nation’s economic resources and sucking them into the hands of a very few.

It was unreasonable to have expected an amoral economic system to practice ethical largess. Why would a huge multinational corporation - with no particular allegiance to the American worker - feel any remorse about closing an American factory and relocating it in another country? Or fighting an increase in the minimum wage? Or cutting the health benefits of its workers? Or fighting fair labor practices? Or fighting labor itself?

A person with no sense of ethical or moral responsibility is a sociopathic individual, and an economic system with no sense of ethical or moral responsibility is a sociopathic economic system.  

Once billions, even trillions, of dollars started flowing within a system that deems itself responsible to no one but its stockholders – particularly when the Supreme Court of the United States has granted to that system the preposterous notion of “corporate personhood” – then a complete disregard of that system for the welfare of the least advantaged and the least powerful among us, and the planet itself, becomes inevitable.

For all intents and purposes, our government has become a handmaiden to a new corporate order – surrendering to those whom President Franklin Roosevelt called “economic royalists.” This is not just an economic debate or even a political debate; it is a philosophical and moral debate, challenging this generation to decide in our time whether or not a “government of the people, by the people and for the people" shall not perish from the Earth.

Just as an individual can dwell in denial, so can an entire group. Today, the American people are in denial if we think that the existence and perpetuation of our democracy is guaranteed. In order to override the tyrannous effects of an authoritarian corporatism that has now infiltrated the highest levels of our government, we must rise up en masse and elect a new wave of officials deeply dedicated to the democratic ideal.

THE WILLIAMSON ADMINISTRATION'S APPROACH TO THE ECONOMY

A system that does not feel, which has no sense of ethical responsibility to people or planet, is a dangerous guide to America’s future. Living for our principles will provide more economic security than living for short-term corporate interests can ever provide. Our government should not be run like a business; it should be run like a family, where taking care of each other, and taking care of our home, are the values that guide us.

In an economic system that puts utility before humanity, two groups get most short shrift: children, and seniors. That is why we should not think in terms of running our country like a business; rather, we should run it like a family. Not only do I want a massive realignment of investment in America's children, I also want increased social security payments and services to seniors.

Short-term profit maximization, whether for corporations or for the government, is at odds with long-term economic planning. The $2 trillion 2017 tax bill - which gave 83 cents of every returned dollar to our richest corporations and wealthiest citizens - is not an economic stimulus, but rather an economic theft of resources that could have been directed toward genuine economic renewal in the form of a Green New Deal, universal healthcare, better education and free college tuition for those who cannot afford it, cancellation of college loan debt, and equal funding of all public schools.

Every dollar we invest in education, infrastructure, and healthcare helps unleash the spirit of the American people. Everything we do to make it easier for people to create, to work with dignity, to live safely and securely, helps unleash the spirit of the American people. Everything we do to decrease the chronic economic and personal trauma that an unjust economic system has created among millions of people helps unleash the spirit of the American people.

And that is sound policy. The American people have been mentally trained to expect too little from our government, to forget that it is there to work for us and not the other way around. The citizens of the United States have been reduced to saying, “Pretty please?” to forces that would withhold things from us that should be considered basic rights in an advanced society. To those forces, we should not say, “Pretty please.”

To those forces, we should say, “Hell no.”

40% of all Americans are having a hard time earning enough to pay for rent, food, healthcare, and transportation costs, and 62% of Americans cannot be deemed members of the middle class.  Such statistics did not come out of nowhere; rather, they were the inevitable result of the systematic movement of major resources over the last few decades into the hands of a very few.

Only a few Americans can now easily afford health care, only a few Americans can now easily afford higher education, and so forth. For those of us who make it “into the club” in America, there truly is no better place to live. But not enough people can make it into the club today, and that is an unsustainable reality.

How do we close the wealth inequality gap in America today, by which the top 1 percent of households own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined?

In the long term, we should massively realign our investments in the emotional, social, health and educational wellbeing of children eight years old and younger. The greatest source of America’s future economic vibrancy lies in the entrepreneurial spirit alive in any American kindergarten. Our problem is not that we don’t have enough creativity to fuel our economy for centuries; the problem is that we cap it through under-education and a lack of proactive care for our young. An Economic Council of Advisors should include as many experts in child psychology and education as it has economists.

With the US economy, it is the best of times, and it is the worst of times. Our country enjoys tremendous wealth, but the vast majority is owned by the few, while millions of people struggle financially. In too many areas there are pockets of prosperity in a sea of destitution. Fully 40% of adults could not pay an emergency bill of $400. Although the unemployment rate is low, millions of people who have given up finding work are not counted. Financial desperation is contributing to a rise in stress, bad health, opioid addiction, and suicide. For the first time, the next generation is likely to have a lower standard of living. For the first time, the average American lifespan is getting shorter. As financial disparity leads to financial desperation, people are dying.

These problems will intensify as automation, Artificial Intelligence and robots will replace millions of jobs in the next 5-10 years. Some job dislocation has occurred already in areas such as manufacturing. Millions more people will lose their jobs and be unable to find new jobs. Job loss will hit professionals as well as blue-collar workers. Any job that involves repetition is at risk; even lawyers and doctors, including some surgeons, will be displaced. More wealth will be created, but it will increasingly go to the top 1%.

We must address this crisis of wealth inequality and financial insecurity.

POVERTY
The way to have a vibrant society, and an abundant economy, is to help people thrive. To uncap their dreams. To unleash their spirits.

Yet for millions of Americans, dreams are dashed and spirits are left broken every day.

Nothing is more emotionally, psychologically or societally debilitating than poverty. Yet according to figures from the US census bureau, over 38 million Americans live in poverty — almost 12 per cent of our population. Over 93 million live in near-poverty — almost 30 per cent of our population.

Let's take moment to take that in: in the richest country in the world, almost 30 percent of our people live in near-poverty.

Almost 12 million American children live in poverty. And where this is poverty, there is hunger.

As if all that isn’t enough, let’s remember: our political and media establishment have the audacity to say that our economy is “good!" Really? Really?? Whenever someone says, “The economy is good,” you might want to think about what the word “good” should actually mean.

In the 1960’s, President Lyndon Johnson waged a War on Poverty.  Since that time, our government has not only moved away from that kind of thinking; it has moved away from the kinds of policies that work toward the eradication of poverty.

I’m running for president because it’s time to bring it back.

Johnson established the Office of Economic Opportunity to administer the local application of federal funds targeted against poverty. Johnson believed in expanding the federal government’s role in education and health care as poverty-reduction strategies, continuing the basic philosophy of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Yet starting in the 1980’s, such governmental largess was demonized. According to the trickle-down economic theory that became the order of the day, government was seen as the problem - not the answer. The Office of Economic Opportunity was abolished in 1981, replaced by a system of insidious “block grants” to states. That way, forces within individual states could obstruct the application of anti-poverty funds to the purposes for which they were intended. And thus we are where we are today.

Trickle-down economics hasn’t “lifted all boats,” as was promised. Instead, it has left millions without even a life raft.

It’s time to set again a national goal of eradicating poverty. It’s time to reestablish the now-defunct OEC, change the current system of block grants, and put anti-poverty funds back to Community Action Agencies to eliminate poverty, expand educational opportunities, increase the social safety net for the poor and unemployed, and tend to the health and financial needs of the elderly.

Helping people is not “wrong.” Serving people is not “codependency.” And strengthening people is not “enabling” them. It’s time to reclaim the core principle of the United States: that this country should belong to its people.

The massive transfer of wealth into the hands of only one percent of our population, begun in the 1980’s and taken to its penultimate expression in the 2017 $2T tax cut in which 83 cents of every dollar went to the highest earners and corporations, must be called what it is: a massive theft from our public treasury. While wealth inequality did not even exist in the 1970’s, today it is worse than it has been since 1929.

This must stop now.

And when I'm president, it will.

SPECIFICS
The Williamson Administration will champion the following policies in order to close the income gap and improve the economy:

• Universal healthcare, preferably a Medicare-for-all type of plan.
• An increase of the minimum wage to $15/hr. In areas where this is too large a jump to make immediately, the federal government should provide subsidies during a transitional period.
• Making permanent the middle-class tax cuts, while repealing the corporate tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Bill.
• Forgiveness of all college loan debt. Currently, 44 million people owe almost a trillion and a half dollars in student loan debt, a crushing burden that holds back the younger generation from starting businesses and buying homes.
• Free higher education, including tuition at public colleges, community colleges and trade schools.
• A modern Glass-Steagall, separating commercial banks (which take deposits and make loans) from investment banks, ensuring that banks cannot make risky investments. If they fail, they should not be bailed out by the government.
• Holding Wall Street accountable.  No bank that is too big to fail should exist. There are benefits to capitalism. One is, things that don’t work, shouldn’t survive.
• Enhanced Union Support.  My Administration will protect the rights of working people to organize for better wages and working conditions.
• Reduce wealth inequality. See the questionnaire at the bottom of this section for specific actions.
• Equal pay for equal work.
• Paid vacation for all employees, even part-timers. Every industrialized nation but ours guarantees this right.  
• Portable retirement plans for every worker in this nation. A retirement plan that one can take with them from job-to-job. No one should be afraid of their future.    
• Closing the loopholes that give big breaks to big business, and ensuring they pay their fair share of taxes to level the playing field so small business can compete.
• Protecting homeowners from predatory lending practices, and increasing access to loan modifications that enable people to stay in their homes.
• Investing in our infrastructure, creating jobs by rebuilding roads, bridges, and rails, increasing renewable energy power, updating clean water systems, improving our rail system and massively investing in public transit.
• Enforcing anti-trust laws so that new businesses have a chance to succeed.
• Eliminating the income cap on payroll taxes.
• Raising the estate tax (with special care given to help family businesses pay-off the estate tax bill over time so we don’t shut down small businesses).
• Eliminating the carried interest and ETF tax loopholes enjoyed by Wall Street.
• Immediate Cash Relief via Universal Basic Income. Under my plan, the federal government will pay $1,000/month Universal Basic Income to all American adults.  This will provide immediate cash relief to those who need it. It will give people a small but reliable stream of income. It will create a floor so no American needs to be hungry. It will also provide a big stimulus to the economy as people spend this money on food, clothes and other essentials.  [See Andrew Yang’s excellent book, The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income is Our Future (2018)].
• A Green New Deal.  We must act now to remove carbon from the economy and slow global warming. This will create millions of new jobs in renewable energy (solar, wind and water power), architecture and building (green buildings), energy-efficient vehicles (electric cars), new public transit systems, and much more. The greening of the economy has already created millions of new jobs; there are twice as many people working in the solar industry than in coal.  The best way to decarbonize is to put a price on carbon; this incentivizes people to find ways to use less carbon.
• The investment of billions of dollars to rebuild our roads and bridges, expand public transit, and transition to a renewable energy economy.
• The creation of a Caring Economy.  The real wealth of our nation is our people. Investing in care is both humane and good for our economy. Much of the care for children, the sick and the elderly is now unpaid, done mostly by women. If this labor were paid, it would strengthen the economic security of millions of workers, especially women, and ensure that people who need care get it.
• Early Education and Affordable quality Child Care. Focusing on these initiatives will prepare the next generation for the knowledge jobs of the future, and decrease crime, poverty, and incarceration rates.
• Paid Family Leave (to welcome a new child by birth or adoption), Paid Sick Leave (to care for yourself or a loved one), and Paid Caregiving for caregivers.  This will strengthen our families and meet the rising demand for elder care as Baby Boomers age. Moreover, since most caregiving is done by women, it will boost women’s income and economic security.
• A Universal Savings Program.  Under my plan, each child will receive a gift from the federal government deposited in a fund created at birth. Family and friends can add to that fund as the child grows, with the government matching those contributions on a sliding scale. (Less wealthy families will get 100% match and more wealthy families a 10% match.) Eventually the child grows up and can use those funds for wealth-enhancing purposes such as education, training, house down payment, or to start a business. [See Robert Friedman’s book about the Universal Savings Program, “A Few Thousand Dollars: Sparking Prosperity for Everyone” (2018).]
• Reestablish the federal Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty. Change the current Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) back to its original form under the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA), which sent federal funding directly into communities via their local Community Action Agencies to eliminate poverty, expand educational opportunities, increase the social safety net for the poor and unemployed, and tend to the health and financial needs of the elderly. This was successfully implemented before programs were transferred to other agencies and program funds were rerouted through the states, and the OEO was abolished by Ronald Reagan in 1981. Give communities back their power.
  ‍

Here’s how we can pay for these programs:
1.    Roll back tax cuts to the wealthy, including restore the estate tax to estates over $5 million.
2.    Roll back tax breaks to big business. Why are taxpayers subsidizing Big Oil?
3.    Add a fee to financial transactions like buying stocks. Charge a small fee each time someone buys stocks or exchanges currency. There would be no way for the wealthy to dodge the transaction fee which would be charged automatically for each such transaction. This could add trillions of dollars to pay for the above programs.
See The New Operating System for the American Economy by Scott Smith.
4.    Cut waste in the military. Big business dominates our military as it does so many other sectors. Corporate lobbyists push for expensive weapons systems of dubious value to our defense. While I favor a strong defense, I oppose wasting taxpayers’ money on boondoggles. Force projection to every corner of the globe is expensive and counterproductive.

IN CONCLUSION:
We urgently need a plan to relieve financial distress, to create jobs, and to increase prosperity.  It is only by doing this, that the United States can unleash the incredible ingenuity and productivity of the American people.  And – we can afford to wait no longer to get started on this path.  
‍