Should USA Cut All Foreign Aid by 5% Per Country to Save Its Own Citizens?

By Christopher B. Kuch, PhD, MA, MS

We all know our social security system is a huge titanic waiting to sink unless we stop kicking solutions down to the next generation. No one wants to cut the monthly premiums or raise the age. In 2031 24% of social security will be cut. That is the present-day law. In 2035 social security will only be able to pay 80 percent of the benefits to retirees and the disabled (AARP, 2022).

Democrats want tax raises on the wealthy and Republics want to cut federal spending to salvage the system. When a sinking ship goes down, no one cares if it is a blue or red lifeboat. The author calls upon Senators Ted Cruz {R}, Marco Rubio {R}, Joe Manchin {D}, and Jon Tester {D}, politicians that frequently work across the aisle to find common ground and four non-lunatics in Congress to consider this paper.

Save Social Security Act.

• Cut All Foreign aid by 5% per country
• A very minuscule increase in personal taxes (1/1000 or .001%) for the wealthy making over one million per year.
• Incrementally increasing the retirement age by one month per age group.
• Increasing minimal credits by one month per age group.
• A very slight tax on businesses making over one million, the same as personal tax.
• A negligible tax on Fortune five hundred companies. In turn, they get a yearly conference meeting with the US President.
• A $10,000 fee on all federal politicians (Congress, Senate, and Executive).
• A $100,000 fee on all US banks that have funds guaranteed for up to $250,000.
• Ineligible benefits for Americans making over one million per year.
• Reduce the federal EPA by 10%
• Reduce the federal Department of Education by 10%
• Reduce Research and Development Grants by 10%

Cut All Foreign aid by 5% per country

In 2021 the U.S. spent 38 billion in foreign aid to all countries (concernusa.org, 2021). This includes 37 million to Brazil, 32 billion to Canada, 1.7 million to China, 6.8 million to Cuba, 174 million to Egypt, India 127.5 million, Iraq 204.8 million, Italy 1.6 million, Mexico 166.9 million, 6 million to Israel, Switzerland (a really poor country LOL) 363 million, Venezuela takes 207.5 million, Vietnam 159.4 million (didn’t we have a war there?) 1.7 million to our friends in Russia…, Syria takes 826 million, Turkey 12.9 million, are many more but you will just get mad. Which lunatics in Congress agreed to this? 5% of this would be 1,900,000,000 billion. A nice chunk of cash to be spent on Americans in America.

A very minuscule increase in personal taxes (1/1000 or .001%) for the wealthy making over one million per year.

Everyone wants the rich to pay more. But this is really not fair. If you make $20,000 and the tax rate is 20% you pay $4,000. Compare this to if you make $200,000 and the tax rate is 20% that person pays $40,000. Lastly, if you make 2 million you would pay $400,000. So the rich don’t pay less, they pay more. This proposed tax (fee to be politically correct) ask wealthy people to pay a small surcharge to help the elderly who are most in need. You make 1,000,000 one million, you pay an extra 1,000 to the social security fund. In 2022 there were 414.3 thousand Americans making over one million (dqydj, 2023). At a .001 % tax rate, this will bring in about 414.3 million.

Incrementally increasing the retirement age by one month per age.

This is already happening and should be continued if we want a solvent system. Let’s say starting with citizens that are 40 years old now, we increase the retirement age by one month. Followed by those who are 39 years old by two months. If we increase the retirement age by one month per year and go back to people age 28, the overall starting retirement age will increase to 63. This gives plenty of time for workers to adjust, save, and prepare for the new starting age. This will save a few billion dollars.

Age now       Retirement age

40                62 years, 1 month
39                62 years, 2 months
38                62 years, 3 months
—-
28                63 years

Increasing minimal credits by one month per age.

At present people need 10 years of work credits. This paper suggests raising that small by monthly increments until we get to 11 years of work credits. Thus, someone 40 today would need 40 years plus one month of work credits. This would go back to people aged 28, who would need 11 years of work credits under this new system. This increase in social security payroll taxes even by months or one year would generate a few billion dollars.

A very slight tax on businesses making over one million, the same as personal tax.

All businesses, partnerships, LLCs, INC, and Corporations would be asked to pay a very small social security fee starting at $1,000. In 2019 there were 133 million businesses in the US (census.gov, 2023). If you take an average of 1,500 per business, the tax would accumulate to 199.5 billion dollars. There would be a staggered increase to 2,000 dollars for businesses making over 1,000,000. The scale would look like this:

Gross Income               Social Security Fee
1,000,000                      fees beginning at 1,000
1,100,000                      1,100
1,200,000                      1,200
—
2,000,000                      2,000

A negligible tax on Fortune five hundred companies. In turn, they get a yearly conference meeting with the US President.

Successful wealthy businesses can afford to chip in a little more. With all their deductions they will not notice this. This will also fair well for consumers of their products and services by showing Americans they care about the elderly and social security. Local businesses frequently give 25, 50, and 100,000 away in prizes, gifts, and charities. So the top 500 companies that make billions to trillions of dollars each year can afford 2,000,000 million to shore up our social security system. It would bring in 1 billion dollars.

A $10,000 fee on all federal politicians (Congress, Senate, and Executive).

I think most everyone would agree the lunatics in Congress and the Whitehouse can afford ten grand to get us out of the mess they made and their predecessors made. There are 100 senators (174 thousand), 535 congress persons (174 thousand), 24 executive department heads (235.6 to 172.1 thousand), The VP (255.8 thousand), and President (450 thousand). The military, federal judges, and undersecretaries are not included. Their forced 10,000 political fees would bring in about 100 million.

A $100,000 fee on all US banks that have funds guaranteed for up to $250,000.

Banks have money, and when they fail we bail them out. It is time for banks to bail us out. Thus, every bank that has $250,000 federally insured (FDIC) savings, CD, and checking accounts should muster up and pay a 10,00 fee. There are 4,844 large banks in the US in 2021 (moneycrashers.com, 2021). That will bring in 48,440,000 million for the system. They might try to shift their added fee off on the consumer, but the free market system will keep rates and fees low—competition.

Ineligible benefits for Americans making over one million per year.

People making over one million really don’t need that 800 to 3,627 dollar SSI check every month. Yes, they probably paid into it, but compared to people living on just social security this small amount will not be missed.

Reduce Federal EPA Budget by 10%

We have a federal EPA and every state has a state EPA. The rules and policies and regulations are almost identical. Why have two? The federal EPA does… Well, they spend money. According to the EPA.gov website, we give them 10.1 billion dollars each year to…(www.epa.gov, 2023). A 10 percent decrease would bring in 1 billion dollars to help social security.

Reduce the Federal Department of Education by 10%

There is a federal department of education and each state has a department of education. The US Constitution it states education is the responsibility of the states, Thus, why is there a federal one? First, we have grants, Native American education, and a host of other expenses that Congress has and does spend money on. Reducing this swollen agency by just a little can help our social security system. Each year we spend 90 billion on this agency (www2.ed.gov, 2023). If we reduce it by 10% we will have 9 billion to spend on social security.

Reduce National Research and Development by 10%

We research everything. Then we research it again and again. Some of the research projects that are funded are ridiculous. There is a trend in lowering federal research projects and private company spending on research. Yet, it is still huge. We spend about 499 billion as of 2015 and more in 2022 (science.org, 2023). Reducing the funds by 10% will give us 49.9 more billion for social security.

In 2022 the government spent 1.3 trillion on social security benefits. There were 66 million Americans on social security of which 57.2 were retirement and 8.8 disability benefits (usafacts.org, 2022). We have spent millions and millions on Ukraine, but we are letting our social security go broke. Is this the priority of the present government—the white house and Congress?

Summary

$ 262,862,740,000 suggested new savings
$ 1,300,000,000,000 present-day spending on social security
It’s a start. 20 % of new funding. Compromise, compromise, compromise.

Notes

For a more precise look at wasteful federal spending look at David Ditch’s article on March 28, 2023, below:

• How much longer will Social Security be around?
• 6 Charts Show Why Washington Must Cut Spending ASAP

Also  Mary Kay Linge and Maddie Panzer’s piece dated February 7, 2022, is below:

• Watchdog calls out the government’s most ridiculous spending
• U.S. Foreign Assistance by Country
• Foreign aid by country: Who’s getting the most — and how much?
• What are the basics of Social Security & Medicare?
• How much Social Security will I get?
• Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB)
• Number of Banks in the U.S. – How Many Are There?
• Income Percentile Calculator for the United States
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET SUMMARY
• Data check: U.S. government’s share of basic research funding falls below 50%