Our government seems to be in a perpetual state of financial crisis. The debt is piling up, we have unfunded liabilities up to the stratosphere, and our obligations continue to grow. Seeing as revenues are already going up, you would think that the priority would be to cut wasteful spending and to pull back a little on some programs. For reasons beyond my understanding, that is out of the question. The only option seems to be to give the government more money. Liberals say that this means tax hikes, but that doesn't really need to be the case. You can keep tax rates the same (or even lower them) provided you find new ways to bring in money. I myself have come up with several methods over the years, so I figured I would put them forward in a more official capacity.
Crowd funding
This seems to be the big trend on the internet. There are Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon campaigns, and Go fund me campaigns all over the internet. If people believe in a project or a person, they will willingly throw their money at it.
So, why not tap into that mentality? If the federal government put out an open call for donations to go towards the military, medicare, social security, or the debt; I have no doubt that people would throw some dollars at it. The individual contributions may be small, but the beauty of crowd funding is that those small contributions pile up quickly.
You could do this on the state level too. Have campaigns for better schools and roads, or higher pay for teachers and police officers. There are some who actually want the government to have more of their money. This would be the perfect chance to let them give it away.
Obama has been criticized for always going on fund raisers. While there are times where this has resulted in bad optics, the problem isn't so much that he's out raising money, it is that he's raising money for useless things like campaigns. Just think how different things would be if all that money went towards worthwhile endeavors. You'd be able to fund the programs that need it, pay down debts to free up more capital, and improve the overall quality of life for people across the country.
GreaterGood Style Website
I believe I've mentioned this site before. In any event, I'm a huge fan. They raise money for all sorts of causes like literacy, fighting breast cancer, diabetes research, rain forest preservation, and a few others. They do this through ad revenue generated by daily clicks. Each individual click may not amount to a lot, but with click counts in the thousands, they have been able to do a lot of good and fund all sorts of humanitarian endeavors around the world.
Granted, the government has had problems with websites in the past, but I think that this is a great way for people to support the programs that they like. If you're passionate about education, you can click that button. If you want to get the debt paid down, click that button. You could also do an "across the board" approach (like I do with Greatergood) for maximum benefit.
Like the crowd funding, this can be done on both a state and federal level. It doesn't cost people any money out of pocket and companies would be willing to jump on for the promotion as well as the PR.
Over time, seemingly insurmountable goals could be overcome just by having people click some buttons on their computer screen.
Online Video Monetization
As a way to reach out to younger voters, Obama (as well as a few other politicians) have taken to putting speeches on YouTube. It makes sense as it allows their ideas to go viral and spread to people who may not have otherwise heard them.
It would make sense to take advantage of that and monetize those videos for added revenue. Much like with the previous suggestion, it's driven by ad revenue and hits, but it is different enough that I think it stands as its own suggestion.
If people can make a living off of YouTube, just think of the kind of money that the President of the United States could pull in. He has millions of followers on Twitter alone. Heck, I think even his detractors would watch. Either they would want to hear what he has to say so that they can rebuke it, or they would just watch knowing that it would help balance the budget a little quicker than it otherwise would have.
This could, in turn, result in tax cuts (be they personal or corporate) later on down the line, allowing the private sector to flourish as well.
Wipeout
I think, personally, that this is the best idea of the bunch. Admittedly, the potential gain isn't as great as the others, but it makes up for it in other ways.
I pitched this idea on Google + a while back and think it still stands as a worthwhile plan. Follow me on this. You get 12 Congressional Democrats and 12 Congressional Republicans to compete on "Wipeout" for $50,000 to go towards the program of their choice. I'm guessing the right wingers would put it towards something military related or the debt while lefties would put it towards a social program. In any event, it's a guaranteed win for America as one of the candidates has to win. On top of that, we'd get to see officials attempt to cross wacky obstacle courses; getting hit, thrown into pools, and falling down a lot in the process.
Regardless of what end of the political aisle you're on, this will bring a smile to your face. Considering how grim things have looked in the recent past, this will provide a vital morale boost.
People talk as if balancing the budget and paying down the debt are impossible tasks, but with the right mindset, it could be done with minimal intrusion on the already taxed taxpayers.
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