My Vision For A Proactive Government.

1. We should invest in citizens and communities because it is proven to bring back dividends.

• Investing in education gives us increased productivity; lower wage inequality; higher lifetime wages; and increased economic, political, social, and academic leadership. It also has the secondary effects of keeping people out of prison, makes them less likely to abuse substances, and more likely to be involved with civic activities.

• Infrastructure spending has incredible dividends. The most conservative estimate from the Congressional Budget Office puts return to the government at 5% in the short term and greater returns over time. Most other sources, such as the Economic Policy Institute, include the effects on all sectors and put the return at somewhere around 15%. All sources agree that there is a return for private sector businesses, public sector utilities, and reductions in debt over time. This does not include the benefits of investing in rural broadband, which could bring about billions of dollars in benefits for farmers, remote workers, and those in the gig economy.

• There is no doubt that expanding healthcare coverage saves money. Any expansion in Medicare would be beneficial to our healthcare system and our economy, whether through a public option or a bigger Medicare expansion program. The Urban Institute, The Lewin Group, and the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic, and Family Security all state that a public option, including expanding the current Medicare program, would save at least $40 billion a year. More aggressive Medicare expansion has even greater savings by some estimates.

2. We should work to reduce inefficiencies and waste within government programs to save taxpayers billions of dollars each year.

• One of the biggest problems in government is fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. These problems cost the taxpayer millions, if not billions of dollars each year. When you add proposed legislation that is redundant, and is already covered by previous legislation, we have a system that is just expanding the size and the cost of bureaucracy. The Government Accountability Office’s Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication reports have saved the taxpayers over $400 billion over 10 years without sacrificing program effectiveness. Implementing the GAO’s recommendations can save us billions of dollars every year. See more in the GAO 2020 Report.

3. We should be utilizing big data, analytics, and new technologies to significantly reduce fraud.

• The Government Accountability Office has also identified ways that the federal agencies can reduce fraud through using data analytics. GAO estimates that fraud costs the taxpayer around $150 billion per year. With small investments in data analytics, we can make sure that much of that fraud is not just identified, but prevented.

4. We should be asking corporations to provide their fair share of the national tax burden.

• According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 60 of the biggest corporations paid no income taxes last year, including Amazon, Netflix, and a number of other household names. We need our corporations to pay their fair share, and not disadvantage small businesses and working families by putting the tax burden on them.

5. We should be working to close the IRS Tax gap.

• At last estimate, the IRS estimated the tax gap, or the amount owed to the government but not paid, to be over $380 billion. Improved oversight on IRS procedures, more resources for the agency to collect from delinquent taxpayers, and investments in data analytics can help close this gap and bring back the revenue that the taxpayer is owed.

• In January of this year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (an independent oversight office within the IRS) concluded that the average U.S. household is paying an annual surtax of more than $3,000 to subsidize taxpayers who aren’t paying all they owe. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified almost 880,000 individuals making $100,000 a year or more who didn’t file tax returns from 2014 to 2016. Collectively, those “nonfilers” owed an estimated $45.7 billion in taxes. An estimated 1,891 nonfilers owed more than $1 million apiece, or about $13.5 billion collectively. The top 100 nonfilers owed an estimated $9.9 billion in total.

6. We should be implementing automatic Economic Stabilizers so the state of our economy is not dependent on partisan politics.

• Unfortunately, major economic crises have appeared more often than we would like in recent years. Moreover, a crisis in one country is also more likely than ever before to affect the rest of the world. While these crises are difficult, we have also learned a lot more about what gets us through them. We have learned that small businesses need strong payroll protection, that unemployment benefits must be expanded during tough times, that our supply chains must be protected, that healthcare access needs to be expanded to help those without coverage, and that working families will need some help to get them through the most difficult times. We also have a sense of how to deal with crises caused by a variety of economic factors and those brought about by something new - like a virus. The lessons we have learned can be passed as automatic Economic Stabilizers, meant to go into effect because of a crisis and not vulnerable to political infighting or partisan rhetoric. We owe it to working families and small businesses to implement ways to stabilize the economy that aren’t vulnerable to political games.

7. We should be leading the world in renewable energy technology.

• I believe that we should innovate and think creatively about how to move forward. I also think we should come to the same conclusion that most investors have: that green technology is the most promising energy investment we can make. Across the world, nations have recognized that renewables like solar have become so cheap, that it makes it a more viable alternative in energy production. India – the world’s second-biggest coal consumer – has prioritized cheap solar energy rather than coal in response to a slump in electricity demand caused by Covid-19 and a weak economy.  We cannot remain a follower in adapting to cleaner and greener technology. By investing in green technologies, our nation will reap the economic and environmental benefits of being a global leader in this sector.

8. We should be preparing our workforce for the future.

• We need to accept the fact that many of our jobs have been automated away, and if we aren’t smarter about our labor policy, millions more jobs will disappear without any support for displaced workers. We need to make sure that no matter what the industry or why the jobs are disappearing, workers have enough support in place to make it through the immediate future. This means a more expansive unemployment benefits program, incentives for retraining, and economic support through tax credits or direct aid to carry working families through those initial weeks as they regroup. Making sure displaced workers are able to access national service programs can help refocus skills on areas that this country needs. We also need to understand that people may take jobs that aren’t part of the traditional labor force. Parents and caretakers, for example, may not be compensated, and that should be reflected in our tax code to make things easier on working families.

9. We should be empowering entities that provide non-partisan oversight to evaluate the efficacy of policies.

• Oversight, grounded in accountability, integrity, and reliability, plays a crucial role in protecting the American public and safeguarding our tax dollars. It doesn’t just track where the money goes but also helps determine the effectiveness and results of a program. Oversight also helps prevent abuse, favoritism, and fraud. Without oversight how can we be sure that taxpayers or small businesses will be treated fairly? Oversight must be non-partisan and independent of the political winds. While that is sometimes hard for many to grasp, it is, in fact, how most civil servants do their work. The members of an oversight body must be able to perform their duties with accountability, but without fear of retaliation. The results of proper oversight are clear. An estimated 22% of the funds that were distributed after Hurricane Katrina were at risk of being improper or fraudulent. Additional oversight helped minimize that number to about 3% following Hurricane Sandy. Proper oversight is our watchdog in making sure we have programs that spend taxpayer money appropriately and effectively.

10. We should invest in local small business communities through economic stabilization initiatives.

• Small businesses play a unique and crucial role in this country. They are not just drivers of our economy, but they encompass every facet of what makes this country special. They include innovators, scientists, those in service, those who have served, those who seek to create an empire and those who want a sustainable livelihood. The spirit of a small business is, in some ways, the very foundation of the economic soul of this country. Small businesses are also the most vulnerable to economic and social changes. As such, when we look at the economy, we need to make sure that small businesses are the lens through which we create policy. To put it simply, we should have policies that promote small businesses and the people those businesses employ. Doing so will keep working families, entrepreneurs, and our most vulnerable populations in mind while creating policies that help people instead of burdening small business owners.