Taxpayers have no idea where their money goes. The typical guy sitting in a bar is convinced that the majority of his hard earned tax dollars go the single crack-cocaine addicted mother of 4.It's not his fault. For those who wish to know, the budget process and documents put out by government agencies are not user-friendly. At best, a motivated taxpayer can find a pie chart or two on the Internet about how their tax dollars have been distributed.
The public is very misinformed about where their money goes. And they have a right to know. In addition, an informed consumer who knows where his money is going is more likely to support investment in children, transportation, the environment, energy, housing, research, humanitarian assistance, etc. Consumers and taxpayers need to know the choices in the deficit debate. They need more "ownership" in the process.
The answer may lie in a detailed tax receipt. Above is what a typical receipt might look like for a typical earner in 2009 making $34,140. who paid $5.400 in federal tax and FICA. It would be easy to generate and very informative. It would straighten our the guy in the bar ranting and raving about the crack-cocaine Mom with hungry kids. Email your Congressman. Make him earn his $0.19 of the typical tax allocation (actually not an excessive amount).
(Source: http://www.thirdway.org/ - "A Tax Payer Receipt")
Since reading David Stockman's book "The Triumph of Politics" twenty-plus years ago, I still marvel at the level of misunderstanding among Americans on federal spending. A potent mix of wanna-believe by program payees and pandering by those elected to serve them in Congress makes things difficult, but the receipt idea is the best one counteract this force. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteJeff Harper
Author - Uncle Sam's Checkbook