Lift the Public Plan
During hard economic times, more patents are registered than at any other time. People rely on their talents and gifts to start a cash flow. Everyone has a great deal of experience in their own area of expertise, and that enables people to start their own business. Problems associated with this are, people may not know what their resources are or what they can do, they may know about their own field but starting a business takes a different understanding, and there may be no start-up funding.
Existing business owners have the experience, but during hard times, customers tighten their spending habits. The merchant may be stuck with merchandise that no one can afford, and bills from vendors that he or she can't pay.
What do you do if there are no goods and services available? The fear is there that the economy will continue to dry up. How can one person do anything but watch everything decline?
Governments run on taxes, and when the population is in a financial crisis, what can they do? To pump money into the flow may work for downturns of relatively short duration, but until the root cause of the downturn is addressed, it is like pouring money into a hole. A government cannot continue to squeeze the people and put off the crisis onto future generations in an effort to strengthen the economy. At some point in time, social programs must be cut.
The government can turn responsibility for the cut programs to the private sector by creating a trickle up concept. Lift the Public enables new and existing businesses to become partially tax exempt, training budding entrepreneurs how to start and run a business, and to get start up funding, and the tax benefits can be passed on to suppliers and vendors.
Under the plan, merchants set two prices for goods and services. The lower price is taxed as usual, and the slightly higher "Lift the Public" price is tax exempt. The customer chooses which price. The monies from the Lift the Public revenue is turned over to a (non-profit) business advisor, who teaches the entrepreneurs how to create a successful business based on the Lift the Public principles. Some of the monies can also go to support a Lift the Public Shop.
Every merchant has stagnant merchandise, and instead of giving monies, he or she can turn an equal amount in goods over to a Lift the Public shop. Everything in the store must be given out freely. This assuages the fears of the people, and enables homeless and poverty stricken people to have access to nice products. They have been paid for by the customers who choose the Lift the Public price.
Merchants can pass on the tax-exemption benefits to vendors, which causes the cost of doing business to fall. Each time it is passed on, the cost of goods to the consumer falls.
On The Rainbow Peace Store is the first Lift the Public business. While this plan is still in the debate stages, On The Rainbow is already functioning based on these principles.
This plan requires a new category under the 501(c)3 section of the IRS code. Congress can stimulate the economy with a minimal funding to create a pilot program, which will make passage of the law through Congress much easier.
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