When the numbers add up...

Having endured April 15th, American taxpayers find themselves looking into the future asking "what's next"? and "how much worse can it get"? Both questions point toward rather negative answers. The burdens of entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the new health care), property taxes, and ballooning national and state debt are growing at a rate that will soon overwhelm the private sectors' ability to service the interest due plus current liabilities, much less pay down any principal. Our Congressional leaders can manipulate their "budgets" only so much, and then the sheer magnitude of their spending is going to be nakedly exposed (given those members of Congress, a truly terrifying visage) for all to see, with the signature of their votes permanently engraved in the mass of indebtedness.
One of the little "ways" that the politicians have minimized the capability of the American taxpayer to fully comprehend their tax burden is to spread out the payments, making the amount seem much less than it really is.  Our income, FICA, and state income are examples.

Consumption taxes are much the same.  Sales taxes, gasoline tax, hospitality, travel, parking, amusement, liquor and others are all paid on transactions.  People almost never really know their total tax burden.

Perhaps it's time for the American taxpayer to become fully informed as to the taxes they are paying.  To do this, all we need is a little computing power, the internet, and a few small modifications in existing software code.

Every taxpayer would have a small software application that would be able to record every expenditure that involves payment of a tax of any kind.  Bar codes would make this very easy to do (by scanning) or by receipt over the internet.  Every type of tax, be it federal, state or local, would be coded and recognized by personal finance programs.  These programs would keep a running total of the taxes paid.

A taxpayer would be able to see, at any time, how much they have paid to federal, state and local governments in each category of tax.  These numbers could be shown as raw totals, a percentage of taxable income or percentage of total income.

There's a classic management maxim that says that what gets watched gets managed.  What do you think will happen when the American taxpayer knows, in real time, how much money is going to the government?  Might the issues of accountability and prudence become decidedly prominent priority?

Our democratic leaders have decided that it's within their 'right' to mandate citizens pay several thousand dollars a year for health care.  Here's a better idea:

For about $100 a year every taxpayer gets a recording device and the software to privately track the taxes they pay.  We'll know how much in taxes we've paid, gain greater control as to how and what our taxes are spent on, and hopefully whether we should be paying certain taxes at all.

Till next time


The Instigator