THE 50% SOLUTION

INCREASE READING AND MATH SCORES BY 50%

Triple federal education spending to an average of $2,800 per student.

Assess schools on one consistent federal standard.

After four years, make increased federal dollars dependent on achievement and fund schools that are subpar only if they enact prescribed requirements and programs.

Offer federal salary stipends directly to highly qualified math and science teachers.

REDUCE PROPERTY TAXES THAT FUND EDUCATION BY 50%

Encourage localities to cut property taxes that fund education by 50% over ten years by freezing them now.

If unforeseen circumstances arise, restore the highest-income tax bracket to mid-1990s levels before taking away the property tax reduction.

INCREASE THE NUMBER OF COLLEGE GRADUATES BY 50%

Make up to $15,000 of tuition per child per year tax deductible for families making less than $150,000 a year.

Give colleges and universities incentives to keep tuition hikes at or below the rate of inflation.

Restore Pell Grants and federal loans to late-1990s levels, and peg future increases to the average cost of college, so everyone has a chance.

REDUCE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BY AT LEAST 50% AND INCREASE LEGAL IMMIGRATION BY UP TO 50%

Establish real enforcement measures against employers that hire illegal immigrants.

Create a biometric employment card.

Offer a fair path to earned citizenship for those who are here.

Increase the number of green cards granted a year to make up for the reduction in illegal immigration.

Rationalize legal immigration to fill high-needs jobs, retain those who are educated here, increase geographic, economic and educational diversity and promote family reunification.

REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL BY 50%

Short-term: Increase conservation and fossil fuel-production.

Double CAFE standards.
Drill in most of the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Encourage exploration on certain leased federal lands.
Make existing power generation more efficient.
Expand Energy Star to include construction. Make it a requirement for all federal projects.

Long-term: End dependence on fossil fuels.

Give $10 billion a year and broad powers to a new agency to design a fossil fuel–free solution within three years and implement it over the following seven.

 

REDUCE CANCER MORTALITY BY 50%

Guarantee early-detection screenings for high-risk cancers for all Americans by requiring insurers to cover screenings and providing federal government coverage for the uninsured.

Fully fund all National Cancer Institute–approved research grants.

Increase research funding for new genetically based “personalized medicine.”

Build world-class cancer centers in the nation’s top fifty population centers.

Fight smoking by encouraging reduced insurance rates for nonsmokers and increasing insurance coverage of smoking cessation programs.

Create a new C-DOTS program to help cancer centers electronically share information nationwide.

REDUCE CHILDHOOD OBESITY BY 50%

Add a Surgeon General’s warning to junk-food marketing and packaging.

Tax fast-food advertising to fund a national ad campaign to combat childhood obesity.

Require chain restaurants to list caloric information on menus.

Teach good health in school.

Make school food and school vending machines lean and healthy.

Get junk food out of the food stamp program.

Help localities and schools encourage kids to exercise.

REDUCE ABORTIONS BY 50%

Ensure real and age-appropriate sex education in public schools, including education on abstinence and contraception.

Make contraceptives more available.

Increase funding for federal family planning programs (Title X).

Create a national media campaign to reduce unwanted pregnancies.

CUT CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY BY AT LEAST 50%

Hold credit card and other payment processing companies accountable for secure age verification for adult Web sites.

Impose a 25% tax on pornographic sites to fund real enforcement of age verification and CAN-SPAM.

Create a Schumer Box for all cell phone and electronic media player contracts.

REDUCE TAX EVASION AND AVOIDANCE BY 50%

Restore enforcement levels for high earners and corporations.

Withhold 10% of dividend and capital gains income.

Increase compliance among sole proprietors and the self-employed.

Crack down on illegal corporate tax shelters.

Require corporations to report profits consistently.

INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO FIGHT TERRORISM BY 50%

Strengthen international alliances.

Expand Special Forces.

Increase “humint” capacity.

Create an effective international force to stabilize hot spots.

Secure ports, borders and skies and prevent, bio-, nuclear and chemical terrorism.