I started to write a reply, and found I had more to say (even in brief) than is appropriate for wall comments…
on someone’s Wall:
wonders how many participants (physical or emotional) of the “tea parties” actually got pretty hefty income tax refunds? I won’t complain about paying taxes…I like paved roads, clean water that comes to my faucet, no more cholera/typhoid/malaria/polio, etc. etc. etc. Without taxes, we would still be living like 1800.
It’s the “without representation” part… They’re gathering taxes for much more than transportation, security, and health. And those ‘hefty refunds’ are the return of money we’ve been sending to Washington all year instead of using it to invest, create, and pay mortgages.
I’d like to see two things, highly possible with current technology: a published/updated pie chart of where each tax dollar goes (drillable, so the little pork projects can’t hide), and a way for people to voluntarily sign up and contribute more ‘tax’ dollars (above the minimal base) for causes they care about. Everybody would pay a base which covers roads, health, security, then those who care about Early Education pay extra into that fund – and a National Arts fund – and a US Poverty assistance fund – and an International Poverty Assistance fund – it would become a self-correcting system with much less complaining from the taxpayers.
An immediate argument comes to mind – ‘what about the cheapskates who don’t volunteer to pay extra into anything?’… easily fixable – a small (underline ‘small’) minimum above the base, which must be allocated to one or more of the listed funds.
Another – ‘what if not enough is contributed to my favorite fund?’… then, inform people about why the cause you are investing in is worthy of their investment, or find out why people resist contributing to that fund & see what can be changed in the policies for that venture (without denying it’s core mission, of course). For example, I have made the decision not to contribute to one of the many Cancer funds out there because some of that money is distributed to one of the many Abortion funds. They have the following choices: don’t reroute any cancer receipts to abortion / set up a non-abortion cancer fund and a generic cancer fund / do without my contributions. The list of funds would grow or shrink only by public vote – if enough people believe that government should be in the business of eradicating dandelions, then get the signatures, get it on the ballot, and if it passes, add the “Dandelion Eradication fund” to the list. After a period of time with few or no citizens contributing to it, put a ‘Drop’ vote on the ballot and see if the citizens of America declare that it’s no longer a worthy issue. Empty the account into businesses that destroy dandelions and close it.
Another – ‘sounds like a beaurocratic nightmare’… not with current technology, and not if we discard all the loopholes and entanglements in the current system and move to a flat percentage tax. Because people have asserted their perspectives, Mutual Fund companies have a way to identify what businesses they’re investing in so that investors can choose whether their money will be invested in ‘green-conscious companies’ or denied to companies that contribute to pro-abortion causes. The same data paradigm can be used for taxes at all levels of government – it’s just data and math… We would, however, have to have something in place so that the decision makers couldn’t play shell games with the funds, nor borrow against them for other purposes.
Final comment – after spending significant time with the Highlander and Hawthorne, the 1800’s really don’t seem like such a bad time to live…