And who better than me to get the job?  Don’t answer that.

Seriously, though, we have so many “third rail” political issues that need to be fixed but never will be because so many politicians are more interested in keeping their jobs than tackling issues that need attention.  So here is what I would do during my benevolent dictatorship.

Corporate taxes would be zero.  No corporate payroll taxes, no hiding money offshore, no benefit write-offs, no armies of international tax accountants finding ways to flaunt the laws by taking advantage of loopholes.  Money can flow smoothly where ever corporations want it and individuals will be free from the corporate binds that often tie them to a specific job.

To balance that, we would scrap the minimum wage and replace it with a living wage law.  The living wage law would be tied to the poverty level originally and would change yearly based on inflation.

Individuals would be taxed on total income from all sources and all income would be treated equally.  There will no longer be any deductions for anything.  People that get paid with stock or other non-cash offerings would pay taxes on the full value of the offerings at the time of the offering.  Any income below the poverty level will have a 0% tax level and the brackets above will be similar to what they are now only with a few extra brackets at the top.  Payroll taxes will be paid on all income.

Copyrights would expire after 50 years. Patent laws would be changed to make patenting thing like software impossible.  Also, patent holders must show that they are putting forth some effort to make the patent into a salable product or mechanism to make a salable product or else the patent will become void.

Voting for Representatives and Senators would cease to exist.  Instead, the entirety of a district or state is eligible and the winner will be chosen by random drawing.  Representatives would have their term extended to three years and one-third of Representatives will be “elected” every year.

Immigration would require just one prerequisite; a company willing to hire you at the average compensation in the U.S. for your position for a term of five years.  The company must pay the whole five years regardless.  At the end of the five year term, the immigrant and his/her immediate family are sworn in as citizens.

As my last effort as Benevolent Dictator of the United States, I would take over Canada.  Because they’re just asking for it…