Buy Now, Pay Later
A fair taxation system
by Tom Williams

WASHINGTON -- With no fanfare, President Bush signed a bill Monday pushing the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $9 trillion.

LONDON - Chancellor Gordon Brown is all set to raise the tax burden on Britons to an all-time high when he presents his budget on Wednesday, according to a new analysis by accountants Ernst & Young.

LONDON  - A disabled council tax rebel has sent her collection of garden gnomes into hiding to avoid them being seized by local officials.

Tax time can be rough. I remember the time when I had to take my mum out to the only post office in Tacoma that was open til midnight on April 15th. We nearly missed the deadline because the line was so long to get a valid postmark.

Then there was the time when I just didn't care enough and, sin of sins, just casual-ed it out and posted my return on April 16. Because I am a tax rebel.

But at the end of it all you love the tax.

Or maybe actually you just love the services that you get in return, and would just as soon not pay the bills. Several politicians have figured this out and have instituted public services on layaway, where you get your services today, then you die and your kids pay for your good times.

This is a grand idea, except that I was the kid, and it was the generation up from me who had the good times in the 80's. And now, still flush with the whole three hundred dollars El Presidente sent me in 2001, I’m sticking it to the next generation by enjoying low taxes and quality military services on credit.

It doesn't seem fair.

Let's put aside for a minute the fact that permanent resident aliens such as myself are actually not allowed to vote. Despite Patrick Henry's protestations about taxation without representation being tyranny. Even though we had to sign up for Selective Services.

Instead let's think about responsibility of the voters and how to pay for all this stuff we want. It's simple really.

You pay for what you get

In the current system, you can vote for services and at the same time vote against a commiserate tax that would cover the cost, knowing that someone has to pay it off sometime in the future.

Well I say it should be you.

When you go overboard with credit cards, the bank doesn't call the neighbor’s kids for your debt in thirty years, they come looking for you, because you're the one who enjoyed the free money.  In this new tax system, each person is responsible for the debt that is incurred during every year they can vote.

You had good tax free times, you pay for it. And if you weren't around to enjoy it, or you had no say because you were under-age (or a permanent resident alien or other person who immigrated after the fact), you're not responsible.

"What about wars?" you say.  Wars and natural disasters could come up on anyone's watch, so their cost is limited to the voting-age population of those who were around at the time to approve the spending. We don't expect the next generation to cut off a leg because they weren't subject to the draft, so why do we expect them to give an arm and a leg in deficit interest payments?

There is a chance that this will lead to inter-generational revolt. But I can't see any other way to instill spending responsibility into the voting public.

There is another option, but you'll probably dismiss it as too crazy, but we'll explore it anyways.

Spend way less that you earn.

You can do this in two ways: Buy fewer things, or earn loads of money. Buying fewer things is obviously out because we've decided we need them. So we the people have to earn loads of money. Again, putting aside irrelevant facts, this time that the US is the richest country ever, let’s look at the options.

The government should start the Uncle Sam Corporation. This company, financed by tax dollars but not beholden to the whims of the stock market will compete in every sector of industry. It will make a car that competes with Toyota in design and quality, but is 20% less expensive because it doesn’t need to make the profit margin required by shareholders.

With a lower cost to market, it will dominate each industry it operates in, with sales across the world bringing in revenue to the United States treasury. This is not Soviet-style command economy, other companies will be free to offer alternative products, and the public can only benefit from having such stiff competition. Plus government expenditures will decrease as Uncle Sam wins every contract put out to tender.

And in the end, all the means of production will be owned by the people, entirely through the invisible hand of market forces. Wealth will be distributed fairly because people will be able to work according to their abilities at Uncle Sam in nearly any sector and any discipline and the people (as Uncle Sam shareholders) will enjoy the savings, not the rich man.

Or you could just stick on the blinders and have your kids pay for the good times.