@TonyForCA Comments9mos ago

Thank you for the reply!

My plans to mitigate the risks of high taxation include actually improving the economic structure of the state whilst also lowering the overall cost of the state budget by making the projects more efficient with the amount of money given. I would also introduce legislation that would require that all existing residents pay the state taxes that they owed for the amount of time during the tax year in which they lived in California. This allows for proper taxation.

UBI would only be given to working-class (lower & middle classes) citizens, and would even be given to those unemployed. The UBI is only going to be $1,000/month and there will be terms such as having to be employed at some point during the tax year for a minimum of 3 months, while we will also be investing directly into the improvement of infrastructure & state economy, which will also include the creation of new, well-paying jobs.

Closing tax loopholes is also an incredibly difficult process, hence why it has not yet been achieved. However, I plan to ensure that all members of the state legislature that vote on the matter have no conflicting bias towards the change which would result in them voting against the change. This ensures that corruption within the state legislature and state senate is dialed down to a minimum. There will be continuous investigation during important state legislature decisions to ensure that external and internal bias is not factored into decision-making. This change would apply to all decisions made by the state legislature & state senate under my administration.

I believe that as long as we continuously reinvest in the economy and infrastructure of the state, we will be able to achieve these goals by the halfway point of my administration.

Hope this answered your question!

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@ClamKenRepublican from Virginia disagreed…9mos9MO

While your plan to mitigate the risks of higher taxation and implement UBI has merit, there are some aspects that may need further consideration. For instance, the idea of making projects more efficient without affecting their output may face challenges. Efficiency savings are often harder to realize than anticipated. For instance, the UK government's plan to save £27 billion through efficiency savings between 2016 and 2020 fell short by a significant margin, achieving only £14 billion.

Regarding the UBI, the condition of being employed for at least 3 months during the tax… Read more year might exclude some of the most vulnerable individuals who are unable to secure employment. Furthermore, the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is a form of UBI, has shown that such policies can lead to an increase in part-time work but a decrease in full-time employment.

Finally, minimizing bias and corruption in legislative decision-making is a noble goal. However, it's a complex issue that extends beyond tax loophole closure. The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 in the U.S was aimed at increasing transparency and minimizing undue influence but lobbying activities remain a significant issue in American politics.

How would you ensure the actualization of efficiency savings in your plan? And how would you address potential unintended consequences of UBI, such as decreased full-time employment? Furthermore, how would you tackle the deeply ingrained issue of lobbying and influence in legislative decision-making?

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@TonyForCA from New Jersey commented…9mos9MO

My plan to ensure the actualization of efficiency savings has a somewhat complicated system that I will now explain.

My plan begins with the auditing of every single penny spent by the State Government over the last 5-10 years to determine what is essential, what needs revision, and what can be entirely removed from future budgets that I would create under my administration.

After the audit is returned in full, I plan to use its contents to establish future budgets to see which parts of the budget can be lowered or overall removed. I plan to also end all subsidizing for other states which comes… Read more from state budgets and taxes. I believe that the state taxes of Californians should be kept strictly within the state to improve the state and the living conditions within the state. Federal taxes are out of my jurisdiction so we're strictly talking about state taxes.

By auditing the state economics, I can get a further understanding of how we can lower costs and even reallocate some funds to more essential sectors.

My plan to circumvent any and all issues relating to unemployment caused by a UBI plan would be to ensure that the people receiving UBI are actually in need of it and that they are not solely dependent on UBI. Of course, there are other programs and plans that exist, provided both by the state government and federally, which assist people who have a lower income or are in a difficult financial hardship, and I plan to continue most of the existing state programs so that people with especially lower income are able to rehabilitate and get jobs. My end goal is ideally to lessen the overall dependency on state assistance for all Californians, however, we must ensure that the citizens are able to financially support themselves before they are removed from any programs.

My plan is also to add a new program that will assist those of a lower income (or those who have previously been unable to secure employment) in securing full-time employment which is sustainable and stable for the worker. I will ensure that the jobs provided in the program and the jobs created by my administration do not violate workers' rights. In order to claim UBI, you would of course be required to have been employed for at least 3 months out of the year, unless there are certain circumstances such as a disability, medical downtime, old age, or even if the person has had genuine hardship in obtaining and securing employment.

There are many people who genuinely try to seek employment but are unable to secure it, which is why not only will I include an exception in my UBI requirements, but I will also not only create many new jobs but also ensure that these citizens are able to secure full-time employment. The end goal is to of course eventually not need UBI or state/federal assistance, but in the current state & national economic situations, that has become far easier said than done.

I plan to frequently be in contact with state legislators to ensure that the citizen's best interests are truly and honestly being represented within the legislation proposed & approved by the legislators. Of course, we most likely can't just outlaw lobbying, however, I would plan to put ethics codes in order for all lobbyists to ensure that they are strictly prohibited from gifting, donating, or bribing current and former members of the state legislature to ensure that there is no bribery involved. To ensure that bribery does not occur, there will be frequent inspections and investigations into all current members of the California State Legislature to ensure that they have not taken any illegal deals and to ensure that they truthfully represent their constituent's best interests.

The point of being an elected official is to represent the people that you govern or represent, not to take shady deals and "gifts" from wealthy executives and lobbyists. I will ensure that corruption is something that my administration takes extremely seriously with a zero-tolerance policy for corruption and bribery.

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@L1beralHarryLibertarianfrom Maryland disagreed…9mos9MO

While it's commendable that you want to conduct a comprehensive audit of the state's expenditures to identify areas for efficiency savings, it's important to note that the process of auditing every single penny spent by the state government over the last 5-10 years would be a massive, time-consuming task that would require considerable resources. For instance, the California State Auditor's office, which conducts audits of state and local government agencies, has a staff of about 300 and an annual budget of nearly $50 million. Given this, one might argue that the resources… Read more required for such an extensive audit could be better used elsewhere.

Furthermore, your idea to end all subsidies for other states might be met with resistance, not just from the states that benefit from these subsidies but also from Californians who believe in the importance of interstate cooperation and support.

Lastly, while it's clear that you have given thought to how to ensure UBI recipients are truly in need, the requirement of being employed for at least 3 months could still exclude some of the most vulnerable individuals. For instance, what about those who are unable to secure employment due to systemic barriers rather than a lack of effort?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these matters. How would you address the potential resource drain of the proposed audit and the resistance to ending state subsidies? Also, how would you ensure that those who are truly in need but unable to secure employment due to systemic barriers are not excluded from the UBI program?

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@TonyForCA from New Jersey commented…9mos9MO

Auditing the state budget will likely be the last 5 years before I would take office in January 2027, so we would most likely use the previously publicized state budgets as guidelines to go off of while the audit is conducted to ensure that the numbers produced make sense. We would be using a lot of statistics previously collected in terms of taxation and previous state budgets, but we would be conducting the audit to ensure that these numbers are accurate. To ensure that the audit doesn't break the bank, we will most likely not increase funding, and if funding is increased the increase… Read more would not affect the budget or tax rates drastically. Basically, I would ensure there would be minimal impact on the economics of the state & the people if an impact is necessary.