Tying Votes to Taxes

If we had a true democracy (which I hope will not happen) we could study each issue, see how much it would cost us, and decide about its usefulness. That would be totally impractical, of course. Have you even seen what a bill going to the legislature looks like? Thousands of pages and study results. The Health Care bill is hugely complex; can the average citizen read and comprehend the implications of all that material? Probably not. Most of us (at least those who actually can read) would never take the time or put out the effort to understand such a bill, let alone the hundreds that have to be considered each year.

So we have representatives do that for us. Actually, they hire assistants who read the bills, make summaries, look at implications and alternative, and make recommendations, and even that is overwhelming. Without all that information, we really have no right to an opinion except in the broadest of terms. I doubt if ANY of the most vocal critics/advocates of the Health Bill have read it, but they talk about its contents as if they knew what they were.

All right, we have to trust our representatives to do our studying for us, see the problems and spend our money wisely. Our only alternative is to refuse to re-elect them, but that is always a long time after the fact. With the internet, is it possible to find at least somewhat of a middle ground? Could we get the summaries provided by the assistants to our representative, and not be allowed to vote on an issue on which we have not done our homework?

And what if we had attached to each issue its cost, so that we could literally put our money where our mouth is? Example: "Are heart transplant costs to be included in universal health care? (Estimated cost for each voter: $5.00) (Total money you have indicated willingness to spend this far: $752.03)"

This would obviously work better if we had a flat tax or national sales tax; graduated income taxes are hard to figure.

I get tired of hearing self-proclaimed liberals voting for items that they are unwilling to pay for. At a recent meeting, largely populated by such liberals, I asked how many were in favor of the Health Care Bill. Every hand went up. I asked them if they were willing to vote for an additional compulsory graduated tax for every citizen which would cover the costs of such a bill. Suddenly there was a silence, and only one or two hands went up.

Amazing how easy it is to be humanitarian and liberal when you don't have to think of the cost as coming from your own pocket. It's for that reason that I think that people who don't pay taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote. No representation without taxation!