Four Solutions, 60 Days
A Modest Proposal To Save the U.S. Economy

By MEL LEVY

Everyone is saying the economy has slowed down. The price of gasoline is rising, even though we have plentiful supplies and use is down. Banks are foreclosing on people's homes as we pay for their screw-ups.

Mr. Levy, a retired veteran of 35 years in the transit system who monitored the structural integrity of the subway system's below-river tunnels, is the former chairman of the Civil Service Technical Guild's New York City Transit chapter.

Personal and governmental debt is rising as income falls. We are losing jobs as our standard of living falls.

To me we are in a depression. This depression is motivated by greed. How else can you explain a slumping economy where big oil made about a $500-billion profit last year? Where banking institutions (see Bear Stearns) fail and CEOs get multi-million-dollar salaries and golden parachutes. Where American autos are assembled outside the U.S. (cheaper labor, etc.), yet the price goes up. Where the North American Free Trade Agreement harms the U.S. worker.

How to Fix It in 60 Days

We cannot wait for the economy to correct itself. Too many people are being hurt. Therefore I am proposing a solution to make the U.S. healthy within 60 days.

The first step should be to nationalize the oil industry. As soon as legislative hearings are announced, the price of gasoline will drop by 75 cents per gallon. This will free up money for the consumer for food, mortgages and other necessities of life. When the hearings get going, expect another $1 drop in the price. Big Oil does not want anyone to see its books. They might have to explain how prices go up quickly and down very slowly as the market changes. Also, Exxon Mobil would have to explain paying 7.5 percent taxes on $400 billion in revenue. So this threat should drop the price to about $2 per gallon. If not, follow up on nationalization or price control.

Making Houses Affordable

Step 2 would involve the government taking all the houses that the banks foreclosed on. They should then be offered back to the original owners at the interest rate they were purchased at. This would be done after the government made sure the owners could pay the mortgages.

Don't feel sorry for the banks. They will make money. Those original loans were not made to lose money. They will just make a little less. This too would boost the economy and make people feel good. As for people whose homes were not foreclosed, their rates should also be dropped to the original rate.

Step 3 would be to eliminate all Federal (and any state and local) income tax on Social Security. These taxes are clearly in violation of the spirit of the original legislation. At the same time, there should be no upper limit on collection of Social Security taxes from pay. This step would keep Social Security solvent for the very long term.

These steps would increase consumer confidence quickly, increasing their spending and jump-starting the economy. To keep the economy going long, the following steps should be taken.

Down the Shaft With NAFTA

Step 1 would be to renegotiate or do away with NAFTA. The North American Free Trade Agreement has cost the United States jobs as manufacturing (especially cars) has left the country. While negotiations go on we should impose an import tax on products where we lost jobs.

Step 2 would mandate increased efficiency of the auto engine (vehicles use 40 percent of the nation's oil). Gas mileage should increase by a minimum of 5 percent per year. Not the car fleet but each individual model. This would reduce our energy use and reduce cost.

Step 3 would be to reduce debt service. Much debt service comes from paying interest on maintaining and improving the nation's infrastructure through bonds. Construction is artificially too high. For example, the payment for the first section of the 2nd Ave. Subway is 10 times the real cost. Another such overpriced project is the Big Dig in Boston, where the cost increased by over $14 billion during construction. Many of these costs come from the tie between consultant engineering fees and project construction costs. More use of government engineers would reduce infrastructure cost as the tie would be broken.

End Private Schools, Bilingual Ed.

Step 4 would be to dramatically improve education. This would be done by eliminating all private schools below the college level and doing away with bilingual education, then having children go to local schools.

Public education helped make this country great. Private schools set up a two-tier leave-behind system resulting in a lack of opportunity for those who will always be left behind. Bilingual education guarantees children being left behind. Speaking English in the home and making English the official language would solve the problem. Having children attend local schools would save time and cost (over $800 million in New York City), thereby really promoting equal education.

The aforementioned steps, I believe, will work for both the short and long term.