Taxation & Spending (Policy Proposal #3)

Proposed Policy

A) Have a tax rebate every year on any budget surplus. The size of the tax rebate would gauge our elected official’s performance year over year. This rebate should be tax free. Keep the tax code the same to benchmark year to year increase or decrease in the tax rebate. The tax rebate amount would be distributed as follows: 50% directly to the tax payer, 25% to Social Security, 25% towards a medical program. The rebate checks should be mailed every February. If the budget cannot be balanced, a letter should be sent stating that you will not be receiving a rebate because our elected officials could not balance the budget.

B) Cutter Bill: We would ask our elected politicians to introduce “cutter bills”. This would be the exact opposite of spending bills. This would pressure them to work on our “tax rebate”.

C) Singular Bills: Make all spending bills singular. Meaning, it must be one subject only without allowing anything to be added to the bill. Example: If the bill is about a dam project in a specific location, nothing else can be added to the bill. No dams in other locations, no libraries, no parks, non-zip! NO EARMARKS!

What would this accomplish?

A) The public would heavily pressure politicians for cuts if they knew it directly effected their rebate. Hopefully the tax free rebate would grow year over year as we take a knife to each program looking for waste. New spending will now be under a microscope. This creates a system to lower taxes & spending in one swoop. .

B) We could have our elected officials working to get their name on a “cutter” bill rather than a “spending” bill. Wouldn’t it be great to see bills initiated that cut costs rather than adding cost! If the corporate business world can reduce costs, why can’t government?

C) Pork & earmarks would not slip through the cracks. Each bill would be analyzed on it’s own merits on how it would benefit the country.

Commentary

These proposals would change the whole game from elected officials trying to push through pet pork projects to justifying what is best for the country. The tax rebate each year would bring spending into focus at the voter level. It’s a self-regulating policy with built in checks & balances.