My Half-Baked Idea That Has Little Merit

[Az]

Man, DanS is taking a pounding here!


drake:

100% of Defence contractor CEOs vote to increase defence spending.

100% of construction contractors vote to increase Highway spending.



a better idea would be to have people vote to choose from several budget drafts, with each draft needing a minimum of X members of the legislature to support.

[DanS]

Dan mentioning his great contribution to the war effort

It's not a great contribution. It's a lot of money to me, but much, much less than millions of other Americans are paying.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by drake
Dan mentioning his great contribution to the war effort got me thinking about another half-baked idea that has little merit...wouldn't it be nice to be able to determine where and how your tax dollars get spent (at least to some degree), instead of relying on stupid politicians to decide for you? It's bad enough that we have to pay such heavy taxes, but it's insult to injury when our tax dollars are spent on wars or programs or initiatives that we don't believe in.

Now I'm not suggesting being able to divert all of our taxes to a single cause, as the government still needs to be able to cover all the minimum bases (even the ones we never think about), but it would be nice to have some say as to where your tax money goes, even if it is only 5-10%.

Setting up a section on the tax form such as:

Which account would you like to place your elective tax dollars in:
- Defense
- Education
- Infastructure
- Emergency
- Govt. Discretion
etc.

Would ensure that your contribution is diverted into an account that is used exclusively what it is designated for. The amount in these designated accounts would help determine each annual budget and reflect the values of the people, rather than a selected few. No swapping, no borrowing, that's what you meatheads got to work with. Make it happen.

Obviously I'm not considering any logistics here and I'm sure anyone here could poke a million holes in it, though I still think it sounds pretty good in theory. It could make people feel more empowered and perhaps even spark more political interest within the disinfranchised. Perhaps not.

Pipe dream, no doubt.

Good day.

Any amounts of tax you (the collective you)) don't/can't elect where to go will just go as funding on the accounts that you underfunded by your election. i.e funding levels of sectors will remain the same pretty much.

Even if you and everyone elected 100% where the tax goes, there will be a complete mismatch in terms of need and funding.

Sounds good, but its not even in the oven, let alone half-baked.

[Provost Harrison]

It's an interesting idea though...more in terms of being able to veto military spending with your money.

And with the original idea, the whole idea of conscription seems completely wrong to me. I am amazed at just how gung-ho people can be about the prospect of sending thousands of young men off to their deaths...

[Odin]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
I am amazed at just how gung-ho people can be about the prospect of sending thousands of young men off to their deaths...

The US didn't suffer as much of Europe did because of WW2 (in fact, it was good for the US because it got us out of the Great depression) hence the US doesn't have the same aversion to war Europe does.

[Provost Harrison]

Very likely true, we know where these huge military buildups end...but I think it should be universal that it is something that should never be taken likely. You have Vietnam and now Iraq to remind us of the horrors of war...

[Odin]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Very likely true, we know where these huge military buildups end...but I think it should be universal that it is something that should never be taken likely. You have Vietnam and now Iraq to remind us of the horrors of war...

Unfortunately, when the conservatives thinkof Vietnam they think about the "evil librul hippie-commies" than the death and distruction.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
And with the original idea, the whole idea of conscription seems completely wrong to me. I am amazed at just how gung-ho people can be about the prospect of sending thousands of young men off to their deaths...

Since I Would be one of those thousands, I think I'm entitled to make the outragous proposal.

[Provost Harrison]

Then you're a bloody fool...

[Verto]

Maybe, but not because of that; it was just something I thought of as I was about to submit the post.

[Sava]

Re: My Half-Baked Idea That Has Little Merit

Originally posted by Verto
How many of us against the war have devoted our resources or time to join those protests carried out in D.C, etc?

eh...

as you may know, I am against the war in Iraq...

but you will never see me protesting...

I don't believe protesting is effective

what does it accomplish?

unless those people are going to march into the white house and hang gwbush or something, it is a waste of time to stand out there holding a sign and yelling some stupid slogan for hours on end...

I voted against Bush, contributed money to the DNC pre-election...

but beyond that, going out and protesting like a damn hippy isn't going to accomplish anything...

just my 2 cents...

[Provost Harrison]

The thing is Sava, there is only so much that doing nothing can achieve...do you think that the great changes of our time, especially in Eastern Europe, were done by just sitting back and letting it all happen? Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty as anyone, I wish I would do more...

[Lorizael]

Yes, because MLK's march in DC was totally ineffective. Yes. Protesting sucks.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Yes, because MLK's march in DC was totally ineffective. Yes. Protesting sucks.

You stole my line.

[MrFun]

Re: My Half-Baked Idea That Has Little Merit

Originally posted by Verto


We have the people who protested the war gung-ho, the overwhelming majority of whom have not done anything other than whine about it on their blog, this forum or into their pillow. How many of us against the war have devoted our resources or time to join those protests carried out in D.C, etc?

You just have no inkling as to the interesting conversations I have had with my pillow.