Ten ideas on how to recover economically from the virus pandemic

As I sit at home with my wife navigating through the loan (code word for free money) emergency federal program to give small business relief in this crisis, I’ve got some broad-based ideas that might save the day yet. Leave the details to the smart bean-counters, lawyers, and technocrats to figure out.

We should stiff the Chinese on all the debt they hold of ours and create an offset, and probably another bill for criminal and civil negligence for tanking our economy.  We won’t generally default on our national debt just on the Chinese communist bastards who spread this mess. And not to be a tinfoil hat of guy.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they did it on purpose, covered it up and sat back and watched the world feed on itself while wildly underestimating the toughness of the American spirit once we get done whining about it.

Even though I’m jumping on the free money bandwagon, because no matter how principled I am on being self-reliant, they are going to give to somebody anyway, and I think I can spend more ethically than most.  We can’t print money as a way out of this. Currency has always been an alternative to the barter system as a less cumbersome way to conduct commerce, but the way we’re going, we may have to return to that.  Currency represents the value created by producing goods and services. When we start printing it and bs the American people that we are “borrowing” it, hello Weimar Republic, within a short time like the Germany of the late 1930s, we’ll need a wheelbarrow to haul our currency (or plastic) to the store for a loaf of bread. The answer, we solve it with the American people, and businesses take a haircut and make an equitable sacrifice with real money that was created by real commerce backed by created value.

The following is what I think is what we can do:

1. All insurance companies cut their premiums by half and rewrite in two years as the exposure can be realistically determined after all the fat is burned off the top. They can handle it without destroying the industry, and the government will be subsidizing them through tax refunds after moderate losses, and they will just manage better. The hell with the shareholders no dividends but grow the stock value over time until we get out of this. An example of why we should be paying pre-virus premiums when the exposure is low on auto and general liability because we’re not driving, and commerce is in the toilet. Health insurance needs to go down because of number 2 below.  Let the poor and virus-related loss of job types etc. get a special Medicaid subsidy or better yet pay cash for the doctor and hospital bills negotiated by the patient with a bonus rebate from uncle sam for reducing the costs. The cost reimbursed at warp speed, possibly using a government-backed credit card used explicitly for medical only.  The credit card companies will love that, except the interest rate will cap at 6%.
   
   
2. Stop all contingency litigation initiate a no-fault policy just like state no-fault auto insurance. Everybody carries their own health insurance. The lawyers go pound sand instead of trying to win the lottery for themselves and little slice for their clients, and suck it out of the insurance company, which in turn passes that cost on to the premium payor (that would be all of us); who work for a living.   Let’s stop enriching big law firms who spend a big chunk of that cash on TV adds convincing some poor average Joe or Josephine that they would be set for life from something as small as a fender bender. No more pain and suffering awards, just reasonable attorneys who really are “for the people,” and they get max 20% after an auditable total of their real out of pocket costs.  No more “hired gun” doctors or experts to play games with litigation.  Cap malpractice suits give doctors three strikes, and you’re out deal. If they are habitual screwups, take their license just like you take a driver’s license.  If the hospital screws up, cap the award for damage incurred to the patient and allow for liens to be placed on the hospital building and chattel.  The fat cats that own the real estate aren’t going have tenants screwing up their title, so they can’t build more hospitals and clinics.
   
   
3. Banks immediately forbear all loan payments for three months with no additional interest and forebear ½ the remaining payments until the loan matures. If they make their payments on time, the bank forgives the rest.  The banks will get money back through a tax refund on losses, and the feds can provide guilt edge liquidity backed by hard assets, not some packaged up derivatives or some such Ponzi nonsense.  The banks still operate and make money.
   
   
4. Rents are forgiven for three months, and the paper holders on the building follow suite on mortgage payments.  After that ½ for a year until we’re back on our feet.
   
5. Credit card companies immediately forgive all interest on the debt.  Reduce principal payments by half. Cut credit limits to half of what they were before the virus—no interest above 12%, no late fees ever.  If you can’t make your payments and can’t show hardship, no more credit, pay cash the old-fashioned way.  We all, myself included, have been seduced for too long with credit cards paying for things we want, not what we need, and can repay.
   
6. Allow businesses to give each employee a hardship stipend for two years of at least $500 per week with NO TAXES taken out, and the business can write off as hardship expense as a regular expense. No one-time pittance $1200 checks.
   
7. Restaurants report no tips and business deductions for food only with a max check per individual of $30 per visit but no limit on the overall amount. For example, if employees eat out, let the company pick up the tab and deduct it.  This will make the restaurants hum, and the bars will just have to figure it out the lure of good entertainment and ambiance will get the job done.
   
8. Give bona fide churches a 50% break on all utilities, retail value deductions for grocers and restaurants to give to church food banks and double deduction for monetary sponsorships to outreach missions, school academies, youth programs, and counseling services immediately. We already have youth and mental health problems; this pandemic just made it exponentially worse.
   
   These suggestions probably won’t solve every/if any of the problems before us, but it is undoubtedly a place to start. 
   
   Most importantly, get back to God, pray and ask for His wisdom and discernment. Dump the politics and power grabs and just be accountable and love one another.   Welcome to Rick’s answer to pandemic paranoia.  LOL