This post actually postulates an argument that many libertarians have put forth, at least, in the circles that I run.
The author makes a good point about our tax dollars being used to pay for the government to spy on us. Honestly, if it's important enough for you to ask me, I'll give it to you for free and save the other taxpayers some dough--dang--
But if you think of this in the broader sense--
Why pay for the public schools if you have no children in them or you don't support the idea--choose to send your earmarked tax dough to a voucher program, if that is on the checklist...
Why pay for prisons if you can earmark that cash for your state college?
If you don't want your tax dollars to pay for birth control dispension at the state hospital, how about earmarking it for local parks and rec?
Most libertarians would like to see NO taxes, but if we can't get rid of the taxes, why not let the people choose exactly where their money is to go...you can check a little box to let the IRS know if you want to contribute to presidential campaigns, why not this?
Of course, it would be an administrative nightmare, but it is one of those compromises that some libertarians wouldn't mind seeing--if we HAVE to feed the beast, at least let us decide the menu. Then, if you dont support X government program but you do support Y, then you can rest assured that your tax dollars aren't going to support faith-based initiatives and so on.
Of course, there are those who will cry that their favorite programs will be underfunded...but that is sort of the point. Instead of the government deciding what is good for us, we get to decide for ourselves what we will support.
Unfortunately, this leaves big biz out of the loop.
Theoretically, though, it would force "underfunded" programs to shape up or go away and if that saves tax dollars, personally, I won't complain. It would also force these same programs to be more accountable and maybe a tad more efficient, in order to gain continued support.
It's just a theory, of course, but we have tried it the current way for far too long and now our government is using our own hard-earned taxes to screw us...at least, this way if we get screwed, we get to choose who and how, if you know what I mean.
1 comment:
Thanks for linking this.
This post actually postulates an argument that many libertarians have put forth, at least, in the circles that I run.
The author makes a good point about our tax dollars being used to pay for the government to spy on us. Honestly, if it's important enough for you to ask me, I'll give it to you for free and save the other taxpayers some dough--dang--
But if you think of this in the broader sense--
Why pay for the public schools if you have no children in them or you don't support the idea--choose to send your earmarked tax dough to a voucher program, if that is on the checklist...
Why pay for prisons if you can earmark that cash for your state college?
If you don't want your tax dollars to pay for birth control dispension at the state hospital, how about earmarking it for local parks and rec?
Most libertarians would like to see NO taxes, but if we can't get rid of the taxes, why not let the people choose exactly where their money is to go...you can check a little box to let the IRS know if you want to contribute to presidential campaigns, why not this?
Of course, it would be an administrative nightmare, but it is one of those compromises that some libertarians wouldn't mind seeing--if we HAVE to feed the beast, at least let us decide the menu. Then, if you dont support X government program but you do support Y, then you can rest assured that your tax dollars aren't going to support faith-based initiatives and so on.
Of course, there are those who will cry that their favorite programs will be underfunded...but that is sort of the point. Instead of the government deciding what is good for us, we get to decide for ourselves what we will support.
Unfortunately, this leaves big biz out of the loop.
Theoretically, though, it would force "underfunded" programs to shape up or go away and if that saves tax dollars, personally, I won't complain. It would also force these same programs to be more accountable and maybe a tad more efficient, in order to gain continued support.
It's just a theory, of course, but we have tried it the current way for far too long and now our government is using our own hard-earned taxes to screw us...at least, this way if we get screwed, we get to choose who and how, if you know what I mean.
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