by James Rosone
*******
The winter of 2030 came with a blistering, brutal chill that had not been seen in decades. For seventy plus years, environmentalists claimed world temperatures were increasing, until the 2030s, when it became clear the world was going to be facing a period of global cooling, not associated with carbon emissions. Artic vortexes from the North Pole were becoming common place across North America, bringing sub-zero temperatures and blizzards that were striking remarkably far south; people in Florida were caught completely off guard by the first serious snow they had ever seen. Around the globe, there were fuel shortages and food was in short supply. The frost and ice killed crops with a vengeance, but didn’t hesitate to kill the old, weak or sick of the human kind as well. The global cooling was also effecting the rest of the world, causing a decline in global food production and further extending the global famine.
Russia was beginning to splinter as a nation; more and more provinces were revolting against the central government. Europe was struggling with the massive influx of refugees fleeing Eastern Europe and Africa, all looking for food, safety and shelter. The European Union was beginning to buckle under the strain of both the human and economic suffering. The leaders of the EU shut down the borders with military troops, closing all entry into the EU and turning people away by the hundreds of thousands.
America was fairing no better. The harsh winter had hit the northeast the hardest; tens of thousands of people were being reported dead, frozen to death in their homes because of fuel shortages and inability to afford purchasing what little heating oil was available. Those people that could afford it had to contend with rationing, as well as desperate citizens knocking on their doors begging to be let in. People were beginning to lose their patience with the government and their leaders.
It was during this time of despair and struggle that a new political party was formed in the United States. Its leader was a businessman from Florida named Henry Stein. He christened the new group the Freedom Party (FP) and, in 2030, won the governor’s race as a third party, which drew more attention to the FP. Like most people during this turbulent era, he had lost faith in the political parties of America; therefore, he decided to form his own party as a means of trying to save the once great nation of the United States of America and leave behind the political parties of old.
Henry Stein had served in the U.S. military and fought in the second Iraq War in the mid-2000s; afterwards he became a successful businessman and self-made billionaire. Stein, like most Americans, had become disenfranchised by both parties and the level of corruption that seemed all too rampant in both factions, especially since the Global Depression had begun.
The Freedom Party began as a local political party in Florida, but by the summer of 2032, it had spread throughout Florida and was rapidly expanding across the United States. Over ten million Americans had died from starvation and lack of basic services since the start of the Global Depression. Voters had become so distraught by the warring political parties and the state of the US economy that they began to look for anything, anyone, that could provide them with hope for some kind of better future.
Henry Stein’s group started out as a small state-wide political party in Florida, funded mostly out of his own money. However, with a leader promising measurable change and a country that was rife with political discontent, the group soon turned into a nationwide movement. People wanted strong leadership; they wanted a leader who could turn things around and wasn’t beholden to various political lobbyists and interest groups. While Stein may have had an unassuming appearance on the outside, he was a genius entrepreneur, and he had something that no one else really had at that time—a legitimate plan to restart the economy and the country.
Governor Stein immediately began leveraging the natural resources of Florida to turn the economy around and provide jobs. He incentivized the construction of numerous offshore wind farms to begin. In order to increase manufacturing jobs and help reduce fuel and energy costs for Floridians, Governor Stein started a major project to advance the development of sugarcane ethanol. Slowly and steadily, the Florida economy was starting to grow and even the media was starting to notice that this politically independent governor was starting to make a difference.
In time, the media was fawning over Henry Stein like Barack Obama in 2008; he represented something different. Governor Stein began holding FP rallies across the country, attracting tens of thousands of supporters, waving signs and willing to plaster their entire neighborhoods with as much propaganda as they could get their hands on. After winning two terms as governor in Florida, it became inevitable that he should be a candidate for President of the United States in 2036.
Henry was a man of above average intelligence, having graduate degrees from Harvard, Oxford and Wharton; he was an incredible organizer and extremely business savvy. He was also an exceptional orator and a skilled communicator with not just the average person, but with the media as well. He knew how to deliver his vision for America in layman’s terms, and could also present his message at a PhD level, depending on his audience. As a student of organizational theory, Henry realized that he could not be an island unto himself. He spent a great deal of time recruiting and vetting candidates with like mindsets to run for Congress and Senate under the new Freedom Party banner. By the end of the 2036 elections, Henry Stein’s Freedom Party had won control of not just the Presidency, but also control of the Congress. They also had a strong minority control of the Senate, splitting the Democrat and Republican Parties.
The Freedom Party’s near-complete domination in the elections assured that their agenda was going to meet little opposition. Even before they were fully in office, all the FP candidates journeyed to a small resort in West Virginia to spend the week identifying the new party leaders, legislative priorities, political appointments, committee chairs and members based on their skillsets. They outlined a very detailed plan for delegating who within the party would be responsible for pushing specific items of the FP agenda. These men and women were working together like no other Congress before them to try and craft legislation and executive orders to hit the ground running and take control of the situation in the United States. At a time when hope was at an all-time low, the Freedom Party was determined to restore optimism once again in America.
The winds of political change were also moving elsewhere. The EU elected a new Chancellor, Heinrich Lowden from Germany. Like President Stein, Lowden was a strong leader. He pledged to keep Europe united and to take control of the dire situation that was facing the European Union. Despite the full political and fiscal union being less than six years old, Lowden was convinced a combined European government with a close relationship with the US could succeed.
He had a lot more to deal with than the first Chancellor, who had been elected in 2030, but he was not the kind of man to back down from a challenge. His main platform had been securing the European Union’s borders against the massive influx of refugees who were trying to enter from Eastern Europe and Africa; there was simply not enough food and shelter to take in hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. The people of Europe, who had traditionally been rather involved in foreign aid to needy countries, knew that it was time to help themselves before they could be of any real value to anyone else.
Lowden’s thoughts on a potential conflict with a militarized Russia were notably absent from public view during his campaign. While the main focus was certainly going to be on feeding the people of Europe and getting them back to work, the Chancellor knew that he had to do whatever was necessary to prevent Russia from threatening the rest of the EU. After a series of harsh crackdowns throughout the country, the Russian central government had consolidated power and was once again ruling with an iron fist. Russian nationalism was at an all-time high, and so too was their continued military modernization, which had continued virtually unabated since the early 2010s. Though Lowden did not tout his furor against Russia publicly, he was constantly planning what his next move
would be against them.
During this time period, the British people elected Stannis Blair as Prime Minister. PM Blair was a cousin to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and like his cousin, he too was a visionary. Blair knew Great Britain was facing a turning point in history; its demographics were heading in the wrong direction, and the great nanny state was no longer able to support the current system with its finances in the shape they were in.
Once President Stein, Chancellor Lowden and PM Blair had all been elected to office, they began to work closely with each other to right their economies. All three governments began aggressive infrastructure and work programs designed at both improving and repairing roads, bridges, rail and power networks; more importantly, they began to put people back to work.
Michael Montgomery, or “Monty” as most people called him, had been one of Henry Stein’s closest friends for over thirty years. The two of them had worked together a number of times, and more recently, Monty had taken over as CEO of two of Stein’s companies once he was elected Governor. Now that Henry was President, there was no one else he would rather have at his side than Monty, and so he was a natural pick for Chief of Staff and senior advisor. Sparked by a sense of personal loyalty, Monty did not hesitate to accept the position.
After the first full week of Stein’s administration, Monty strode into Henry’s office with a sense of urgency; the Economic and Congressional Leadership meeting later that day was going to hold great significance for this administration. As he stepped into the Oval Office, he could not help but feel a sense of awe and excitement. Today they were going to change America.
“Mr. President, the Congressional leadership and your economic advisors are ready,” he announced with a broad smile on his face. Monty always knew that Henry would one day become President, but he had no idea that he would one day become his Chief of Staff.
The President looked up and smiled at his friend. “Excellent, Monty. It’s time to start putting people back to work.”
Monty handed him a folder while they crossed the hall at a brisk speed, heading towards the Cabinet Room. The President glanced at the first two pages while they walked, and then nodded to his friend. No other words were spoken. The two men had formed an almost telepathic form of communication that was nearly indiscernible by strangers who had not observed them together during their long tenure together in the private sector.
Henry entered the meeting room, placing his folder in front of his chair. The idle chitchat that had been filling the room suddenly ceased and there was complete and total silence.
The president began to speak, first towards his economic advisors, and then he turned towards the Congressional leadership. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your hard work and determination in creating this economic plan. This is going to be difficult and challenging for us to accomplish, but with your help, I feel we can do it.”
Pivoting in his chair, the President said, “I’ve asked the Speaker of the House and the Senate Minority Leader to be here as well. What we have to discuss is important and it is now time to begin the congressional coordination aspect of this plan.” Several of the economic advisors glared at the “intruders” in the room, but the president didn’t seem to mind.
“Part of this plan is to put forth not just a new economic plan, but also a fundamental change in the way our country does business and how it runs. There will be no more compromises and no more arguing and debating for months while lobbying groups threaten to pull their support if politicians don’t support or kill a proposal. We were elected to fix the problems that both the Republican and Democrats were unwilling to fix, and fix them we will.”
“Gentlemen, the first of these economic measures being enacted is a complete change and rewrite of the tax code. Let’s face it; the country is broke and we need revenue. We need a fair system that promotes growth while still allowing the government to have the operating capital it needs to provide basic services and fund a military. Monty, will you please pass out the folders to everyone?”
The silence in the room was broken as each person received their packet and began to frantically rustle through the papers. This noise did not bother Henry in the least, and he continued on undistracted.
“I want you all to look over this information and to provide us with your thoughts on it; this folder contains the details of the economic plan, and is going to be used as a rough template for putting the country back to work. It is by no means the complete answer to all of our problems, but I believe it will be part of the solution.”
“Mr. President,” interjected the Senate Majority Leader Joyce Landrew (D), “I think you are trying to pursue too aggressive of a program. You haven’t even given your State of the Union address and frankly, I’m not sure there will be enough support in the Senate to take this forceful of an approach.” Joyce Landrew was your typical idealistic California liberal who believed the government was the answer to all of the people’s problems and that the ills of the poor could be solved if the rich would just pay their fair share.
“Senator Landrew, if you feel the proposals I am making are too radical, you are welcome to oppose them, but they will be pushed through in the Congress and you will either be with us and part of the solution, or be a part of the problem. Either way, these changes are going to happen with or without your support. The American people are tired of politicking; they are tired of leaders who will not lead and who only say what needs to be said to be elected. The Freedom Party is different, and you are about to see that difference now that the new Congress has been sworn in.”
Senator Landrew didn’t reply out loud, but in her head she was thinking, “Who does this guy think he is? If he thinks he can go around the Senate, then he is in for one nasty surprise.”
President Stein continued, “As I stated before, the first step of the plan is to reform the tax code. We need to start generating income and we need to start encouraging growth again; unemployment is hovering near 23% and that is intolerable. The first order the Congress will take up when they come into session on Monday is the tax code. We will effectively eliminate the existing code and restart it with a new one, a much simpler tax code that will bring in more taxes while evening the playing field.”
Tax reform had been discussed by previous Presidential administrations and Congressional leaders with little actual reform being done. The Federal deficit had continued to climb at an exponential rate until it had surpassed $40 trillion, at this point the money in the Social Security trust fund was now being used to buy government bonds to offset the record deficit spending.
“The plan calls for a 10% tax on all income earners and a 10% sales tax on all goods purchased, with the exception of food and medicine. Corporations will pay a flat 10% (with no deductions) and any corporation caught not paying their 10% share will be fined by having to pay a 20% tax for the following three years. The days of corporations not paying their fair share are over. There will also be no further personal deductions; a flat tax of 10% on all income earners is fair to both the people and the government. There will also be a 5% debt reduction tax which will be a part of the sin tax on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and high fructose corn syrup.”
“Excuse me, Mr. President, did you just say corn syrup tax?” asked Sen. Landrew. Even with her freshly Botoxed face, she could not hide her thoughts as her eyebrows raised incredulously.
“Yes I did. As I said during my campaign, one of many issues I stumped on was the health problems associated with high fructose corn syrup. Our people are becoming more and more obese, and this is caused in large part by the use of high fructose corn syrup in virtually everything we eat. I will never advocate banning it outright, but we will tax it in hopes that we can start to change people’s behavior and in time, get the food industry to move away from using it and move back to a more natural sugar,” said the President.
“Well at least he is keeping to one of his campaign promises; I know this will make a lot of people in my district h
appy as well,” thought Sen. Landrew.
“This new tax structure will allow the government to bring in more revenue and streamline things on businesses and people. The sin tax is going to be the big winner for people; the revenues used from this tax will be used solely for the purpose of paying off the national debt. We estimate that once we begin taxing high fructose corn syrup, we will save billions of dollars a year in healthcare costs associated with poor health from this product while earning an extra $143 Billion dollars a year in new tax revenues. This will go a long way towards paying down the debt.” Other than the sound of shuffling papers, the room was quiet with rapt attention. “The simpler tax code will also eliminate immense amounts of waste at the IRS and allow for job creation. In addition, we will be eliminating numerous tax breaks that corporations and high wealth individuals are currently able to use. The reduction in the capital gains tax from 30% to 15% will also generate increased investment here at home, which is greatly needed.”
Since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by President Bill Clinton, America had been losing jobs, manufacturing capability and other advantages America once held to subsequent “free trade” agreements. America always playing by the rules was being economically ripped off for decades by nations who did not value rules like America did. China and the rest of Asia had a particularly strong stranglehold on American manufacturing and the supply of rare earth minerals.
“The most controversial part of the tax plan is the tariffs. If a US corporation like Ford, Apple or GM choose to produce their final product abroad and bring it back into the US, they will pay a tariff equivalent to what it would have cost them to produce that same product in the US. Corporations are no longer going to be able to leverage free trade agreements to ship jobs overseas and then bring those products back into the US and pay no taxes on them. Corporations that also choose to establish their headquarters abroad are free to do so, but any money earned abroad has to be separated from money earned in the US and their US subsidiary if they want to avoid paying taxes. The cases of corporations like General Electric and others paying zero taxes will never happen again with this new tax code,” the President said with conviction.