The first post in this thread will be relatively simple and short. If you wonder how I plan to pay for the welfare programs that I list, go to my thread on taxation. Here is what federal government expenditures should be in 2006:

$1.8 trillion on national health insurance
$700 billion on social security (With monthly payments increased to $800 per month and the retirement age raised to 6
$300 billion on the armed forces
$200 billion on other welfare (Unemployment insurance, housing, transportation, crisis centers, foreign aid and so forth)
$100 billion maximum on other spending (Police, education, administrative spending, etcetera)

Total: $3.1 trillion

I welcome all constructive criticism.

Well, so far, at least $1.8T + $0.7T+ $0.3T + $0.2T + $0.1T = $3.1T. How did you determine what each of your line items (national health insurance, social security, military, other welfare, miscellaneous) would cost (how many persons, how much per person, etc.)? Do you know where the tax money is coming from? What kinds of taxes would you impose? At what percentages? How much (dollar figure) does each tax raise? Does that all add up to $3.1T?

I added the spending numbers carefully. I have no means of proving that my taxation plan would pay for everything, but I think it highly probable. Why did the 8 in 68 turn into a smilie?

The 8 did indeed turn into a smile, but it read as an 8 in the "post reply."

Let's just take Social Security, for one. You are assuming $800/month in benefits. That's $9600/year in benefits per person. That means how many persons over age 68 needing benefits? How much in administrative expenses? How much in salaries for the workers at the Social Security Administration? Why $700,000,000,000? Why not more? Why not less?

The current social security system gives $605 per month to everyone 65 or older. My system would give $800 per month to everyone 68 or older. The current system costs c. 550-600 billion dollars. Given that our population is aging, I counted the change in age requirement as neutral in terms of spending. I divided 800 by 605 and multiplied the result by our current social security spending.

What underlying assumptions did you make about the other budget items?

The projected annual cost of national health insurance for Americans is between 1.8 and 1.9 trillion dollars. By working efficiently, I could provide quality universal health care at a cost of 1.8 trillion per year.