Agreed on all of that. It's incredibly hard to defend a nation with porous borders, as Pope Francis just found out trying to protect the Vatican from child pornography. And yes, we need an overhaul of the welfare state AND modernization of the immigration system. In this day of Total Information Awareness, 10 years to get a background check for a green card is a scandal beyond comprehension.
Common core does not work for uncommon children. That alone should regulate it to the dust bin of history.
I want to see a return of the nun's loophole, but with three changes:
1. It should only be available on personal 1040s, not on corporate, and should not be available on the 1040EZ
2. The percentage should be lowered to equal to that individual's tax bracket, that is, if you voluntarily gave away equal to your withholding or greater on your W2, you should owe zero federal taxes. Likewise, if you have capital gains and you gave away more than 28% of the proceeds, you should owe zero federal taxes.
3. Charitable giving should reduce your tax burden dollar for dollar. You *should* be able to wipe out your federal taxes by writing a check to the Church. You should not have to spend 80% of your earnings to do it.