Tax system: Break It

One of the chief complaints people voice about our government is it keeps trying to fix problems by throwing more money at them. This inevitably results in huge government run programs with spiraling costs, poor management, and a continual need for more money to fix things. It results in a cycle that demonstrates the continual dysfunction of big government and shows citizens what little faith politicians have in the democratic process. It’s time to break this cycle and here is how to do it.

It’s a given that taxes need to be raised in order to provide citizens with government services. However, there is much debate as to how to collect or charge taxes. What constitutes a fair tax rate? Do you make the wealthy pay higher taxes or do you charge a flat rate for everyone? Which government services are actually necessary, which deserve more funding, and which are not wanted by the majority of taxpayers? These are just some of the questions our politicians have to consider when they take on tax legislation.

However, there is a simpler and more democratic tax system that can be implemented that answers many of these questions. If the IRS attached a form for tax payers to fill out in which each tax payer indicates where they want their tax dollars spent, we would know exactly what the American public wants in the form of government services.

Since I am one of the millions who pay taxes each year, under my plan, I would be allowed to decide exactly what programs my tax dollars go to. If at the end of the year, I owe two thousand dollars in taxes, I would place dollar amounts next to the list of government programs that I want to help fund. This way, I get to decide how much of my tax dollars go to the military rather than having a bunch of politicians from other states make the decision for me. I could decide if I want to fund welfare, education, law enforcement, or any other of a number of government programs. Simply put, if I earned the money and have to pay taxes on it, it should be my decision as to where my taxes are spent.

Implementing this simple process will allow the entire country to know what Americans value the most from their government. It removes politicians from much of the tax equation and will go a long way to eliminating back room deals and unnecessary pork that ends up in our government funding bills.

Now, I know bleeding heart liberals will say this system punishes the poor because they do not pay taxes. In the short term, it may seem that way. However, in the long term, it sends a message to all citizens that democracy reflects the wishes of the majority and may make all of us rethink some of the choices we make.

Under my plan, our country would never have become so entrenched in Vietnam. This unpopular war would have come to a halt as soon as the American public decided to stop funding it with their tax dollars rather than allowing a bunch of paranoid politicians prolong it.

We might not even have the immigration problem we currently have if we employed my tax plan because under it, welfare may just dry up. As a result, those receiving government assistance but who are more than capable of working might find themselves harvesting crops, changing hotel bed linens, and cleaning office buildings rather than choosing to starve.

They may also realize bringing a new child into the world does not come with a increase in government assistance and may actually stop procreating at their current rate. The more people we have who are currently “working the system” will now have to decide between honest labor or life on the street. For everyone who selects labor, there is one less illegal immigrant needed to do work.

At the same time, this plan will result in more efficiently run government programs with less red tape and better services, which is what we all want in the first place. Those programs that cannot do this will eventually be abolished.

As for our politicians, they will still have say in how our taxes are spent. Anyone who fails to return their check off form to the IRS will be giving up their say as to where their taxes are spent. How this giant pool of money is spent will be decided by our elected leaders.

The same is true with those who manage to get money back from the government because they had too many tax dollars taken out of their paychecks. It’s simple. If you want to have complete say in where your tax dollars go, you will choose to owe the government taxes come April 15^th. If you do not care where the money goes, you will at the very least try to break even with Uncle Sam each year.

Politicians will also have the final say as to how much money programs within specific departments we choose to fund receive. I can decide to have all my tax money go toward funding education, however, our elected leaders will still decide if that money goes to early childhood education, curriculum development, adult education, or any other program run by the education department.

One thing is certain, the system in use now is clearly broken. To continue to rely on it and the people who have broken it is only enabling an already dysfunctional government. Under my plan, citizens get to take more ownership of their tax dollars which can not be any worse than leaving all of it for our elected leaders to spend.