Abstract

In America today our middle class is being battered by globalization and technology; our K-12 public education system is broken; our universities are saddling our youth with mounds of debt for degrees that do not enable them to compete in the global market place; our National Debt at 15.4 trillion is approximately $50,000 per person, or $200,000 for a family of four.

Path to Victory is a short book discussing these four primary problems, together with a couple of solutions.

AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS

Three tax code revisions that could help create good paying middle class jobs are: (1) Consumer Tax Credit - give every American a tax credit for the amount of goods purchased which were made in America; (2) Manufacturing Income Tax- eliminate income taxes for all products manufactured in America; and (3) Corporate Income Tax - make the first $20 million dollars of corporate income, tax exempt, and reduce maximum marginal corporate income tax rates to 10%.

K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

Results of standardized tests given to 15-year olds throughout the world placed U.S. 17th in Reading, 23rd in Science, and 31st in Math. Solutions are not easy. However, the better the quality of teachers, the better the quality of education each child will receive. Teachers would be empowered to do a better job if parents believed that it is the teacher and not their kid, who is right.  One quarter of freshman entering high school don't graduate. This is unacceptable.  Our schools and our students must strive to be the best in the world. Introducing competition in K-12 education is critical and might best be accomplished with a transferable tax credit for all educational expenses.  Kahn Academy offers a world class free online education and has placed over 3,000 lectures online. All K-12 teachers could place their own lectures online. Alternately, they could use Kahn Academy's lectures to supplement their curriculums as appropriate. 

UNIVERSITIES AND STUDENT DEBT

We need more math and science degrees. Two solutions are a Bachelor of Science Tax Credit for U.S. citizens, and an automatic Visa with a path to citizenship for foreign students, who obtain advanced degrees in math or science and subsequently remain and work in the U.S. for 10 years or more. We should also stop subsidizing the tuition for international students. Before pursuing a college degree, students should make sure the degree is worth the debt. All student loans should be dischargeable in bankruptcy.

NATIONAL DEBT

Our national debt at $15.4 trillion could become an unsolvable problem if interest rates on short term treasury bonds were to increase dramatically in the next ten years, and this is a real possibility.  Today, five year rates on US treasury bonds are 0.63% while Spanish treasury rates for two year bonds are 7.1%.   In July of 2000 (fairly normal times in the U.S.) five year U.S. treasury rates were 6.15%. The best solution is to give the markets confidence that we are getting our fiscal house in order, by passing a balanced budget amendment (which could contain a provision allowing it to be phased in over time), and to then as quickly as possible refinance our short term debt with long term debt.

GOAL

The goal of this book is to get all Americans, including President Obama and Governor Romney, and you, to fully engage in the conversation and solution to these four primary problems so that America's future can be as great as its past. However you choose to engage is good. If you wish to join the conversation on our website visit www.pathtovictory.us and join the conversation by browsing sections of the book and adding comments to each section or by liking us on Facebook using the links provided.