Tenuous Positivism of The Federal Budget and a Modest Proposal

I recently had the opportunity to interact with one of our representatives from the House of Representatives in a pretty close group. As I listened to him I realized, “he just doesn’t get it”. The whole basis of his paradigm is flawed. He is so busy debating and defending with and against those that have accepted this groundwork that he doesn’t even understand it is up for debate. Our Congress is taking the dangerous and tragic role of the parent who spoils their child. If we do not fundamentally change our expectations of government I fear our brief flare as a country based on liberty and democracy will be just that, a brief flare.

 I am of the generation that has just graduated from college and is settling into their career (or first stop on the job road in many cases) and is becoming the taxpaying, voting, and heavy hitting prime. I do not want social security. I do not want Medicare. I don not want a “safety net”. Now, take a moment to look at this chart to see the chunk of the budget that, to me, is more of a burden than a benefit:

We could then pay off our debt and eliminate the interest portion. The Defense budget is out of control but for purposes of this critique lets assume it, and the “other” category goes unchanged. The 2009 budget totaled $3.938 Trillion. The US population is 304 million.  40% (the defense and “other” portions) of the 2009 budget is $1.575 trillion. I will pay my 1/304 millionth of the total cost, $5250 and I feel damned generous at that. I make about $37,000 a year so that would be about 14% of my income. I will concede that a flat tax is not the ideal solution so I will split the difference. A flat $2500 for every man, women, and child (yes a child cost money) and a percentage based on income. The US Census Bureau’s 2004 Economic Survey shows a total household average income of $60,528. In 2006, there were approximately 116,011,000 households in the United States. So we need at least $836 million (($5250-$2500)*304 million), which is $7210 per household (I rounded up a hair) which is just under 12%. I am very happy with the transparency, simplicity, and responsibility of this model: $2500 from every person in the country and 12% of income from every household. Yes I got rid of corporate tax, inheritance tax, and other crazy federal hidden fees, this will do wonders for frees trade, competition, and estate planning; the ultimate savings will make there way around. I’m sure that the engaged reader has thought, “$2500+($37,00*12%)=$6940”. Yes that is a lot but that is how much it cost and we need to pay for what we buy. The transparency of the formula should drive activism, that huge defense budget could easily be cut in half I’m quit sure.

There must be legions like me who do not want to be suckled, do not want our hands held, do not want to be force fed. I am responsible for my own retirement, my own healthcare and my own mortgage payment- thank you- those who are not need to crash and burn for everyone’s sake, most of all their own. I am not cold hearted or insensitive, I am rational. It may well be that there are those who are unable to handle their own lives…for them there is legal guardianship, conservatorship and asylum paid for by loving family members or communities who choose to subsidize such an existence. There may be those who are able but unwilling to handle the finer points of…personal responsibility- for them there are trusts, attorneys, and maybe even a “public option” (ran at a profit by an able businessman). But how dare society force my hand in my own affairs, how dare government mandate my decisions? Government should not be terribly complicated. We need security that the values we adopt as a society are respected, we need defense, and we need infrastructure. We are so concerned about the education system in this country but don’t realize it is just another symptom of the same problem. How can anyone take anything seriously when the “moral hazard” is so pervasive? I don’t have to learn anything in school because I can go on welfare (a subject I won’t breach to prevent personal injury), or I can join the army, or I can just plain fail and people will accept that it is not my fault and accommodate me.  These thoughts are not acceptable but they cannot help but be the result of the safety net we have build. Failure is an option, no matter how much money you spend (that you don’t have), people will fail on their own or we will all fail in delusion. I simply ask that when you fail you leave me the freedom to make my own mistakes.