A few other miscellaneous platform points

• Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - replace with vow of chastity for all unmarried Armed Services personnel
• Allow consenting adults to from whatever kinds of families they want, with full spousal rights
• Legalize marijuana - regulate & tax similarly to alcohol & tobacco (e.g., set minimum age for use); increase penalties for offenses incurred while intoxicated (no driving while stoned, e.g.)

Regarding earmarks

"Earmarks" is the political buzzword du jour. Seems to me that the problem has to do with the way taxes are collected & then redistributed by the Federal government. Representatives and Senators are rewarded for maneuvering to channel tax money from other areas of the country into their own - "bringing home the bacon," as it's called. (All together now: "Mmm - bacon...")

But what if the bacon doesn't leave home in the first place?

I would suggest a radical restructuring of how revenues are collected. I think all taxes should be paid at the municipal level. Municipalities would then pay their counties for services rendered. Counties would similarly pay the states, and the states the Federal government. Governmental entities that wanted extra money for special projects, or that needed funds in an emergency, could then negotiate with their peers to obtain grants or loans.

I am sure that this system would present challenges of its own, but I think it would keep more money in local economies, lessen the control of central governments, and empower local communities to do more for themselves.

(Please dissect away in the comments!)

VOTE OTHER!

Hey, check this out:

VOTE OTHER!

Legislation

Y'know, if I were in a legislature, state or Federal, I would do everything I could to stop the practice of padding bills with irrelevant amendments. I understand that it might be part of the political give-and-take, but it just muddies the waters. Vote for one thing at a time.

Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale

I oppose it.

But if it's going to happen, for the love of Pete it's completely illogical to not be charging severance taxes.

Rethinking taxation

(The following is based on some comments that were published in the Wayne Independent a few weeks ago...)

During the 2004 campaign, I penned a bit of Seussian doggerel that included this verse:

The question should be, "Are our taxes assessed
In a way that is fair, and that spreads the load best?
So that no one is overly fiscally stressed
And no one rides high on the backs of the rest?”

The definition of “fair,” of course, depends on who’s being asked. Some rich folks, most notably Warren Buffett, support progressive taxation – making richer folks take on larger shares of the tax burden. “I see nothing wrong with those who have been blessed by this society giving a larger portion of their income back to the society than somebody that's working very hard to make ends meet,” Buffett has said. Other rich folks – well, you know.

Some folks (Mike Huckabee for example) push a simplified national sales tax – the so-called “Fair Tax” – to replace the national income tax. “Georgists” want to only tax land value. Some like taxation being targeted to shape social behavior (as in, for example, the so-called “sin taxes” or the hotly-debated “carbon tax”), while others find that reprehensible.

As opposed to the "fair taxers," who would put all their eggs into the VAT basket, I think it makes sense to have multiple revenue streams.

But let me also suggest a completely different way to think about the question. In keeping with Green principles of decentralization, community-based economics, and grassroots democracy, let’s have all taxes be local.

Let municipalities collect all taxes within their borders – and then let the municipalities pay counties, counties pay states, and states the Federal government, for services as respectively rendered. If a governmental entity at whatever level has needs that outstrip its resources, let them consult with their wealthier peers to arrange loans or grants as needed (rather than having such redistributions be the result of the unsavory "sausage-making" in the next higher level of legislation).

Then the answer to the question “What is the fairest way to tax?” becomes simple: whatever way the members of a given community democratically agree works best for them.

A few modest proposals

• If a company wants a bulk mail permit to send out "junk mail," it should have to certify that it's using 100% post-consumer recycled paper. This should increase the amount of recycled paper being used, and/or reduce the amount of junk mail.
  
  
• If you loan the government money during the year via Payroll Withholding, and then get a refund when you file your taxes, the government should then pay you some interest on that loan.