my solution

what you've all been waiting for

pass a truly progressive flat tax: set a very high standard deduction, about $100,000 per family (and per corporation) if done this year; have congress annually set single rate to balance budget according to CBO estimate (using undistributed net profit as taxable business income); eliminate all loopholes, including per-person exemption, capital gains tax, dividend income rate, etc; treat inheritance as regular income but with bigger exemption for non-liquid assets; end payroll tax, have congress require itself to use general revenue to keep trust funds solvent. also, reinstate glass-steagall to motivate banks to start lending again; freeze foreclosures till housing market returns to normal; start a green infrastructure jobs corps to hire and train workers to clean up hazardous waste sites and install wind and solar generators on all federal land and buildings; don't use military force unless absolutely necessary and all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.

tweak as needed.

comments and criticisms welcomed.