Modest Proposal: Poll Tax
My big high school graduation gift was a stock portfolio of one share each in five different local companies (I think Microsoft, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Boeing and...something else.) Anyway, for years and years, I would get the annual report four-color glossy thing, along with a proxy vote to mail back. Since I had one share in each company, I was allowed a single vote at the yearly to-do.
Today, Washington state has their primary election, and every county but Pierce (Tacoma, et al) allows voters to fill out their ballot and drop it off in the mail or at a drop box. There's a little to-do about having to put a stamp on the ballot and if that constitutes a poll tax. I figure: if you're worried about forty-four cents to participate in democracy, maybe you should stay on the sidelines.
One of the intriguing bits that is revealed in Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers is that in the book's universe, rights must be earned through some sort of Federal service. If you don't volunteer in this way, you're still granted things like freedom of speech and assembly, but you cannot vote or hold public office. This is intriguing, since those who actually have an interest in what happens in government are the ones who are voting.
And here comes the Modest Proposal: the return of the Poll Tax.
When you go in to vote (and yes, that would wipe out absentee and mail-in ballots) you tender your W-9. If you paid no income tax, you're turned away. This would be adjusted for local and statewide elections. The gal behind the desk looks up the amount that you paid in tax, and gives you a corresponding number of ballots. I haven't worked out whether the tables would be logarithmic (however many digits are in the 'paid' amount, that's how many votes you get) or if for every $tax you contribute to the coffers, you get another ballot, but I don't think that's terribly important to the overall point. There would however, be a cap, so that the city of Medina can't unilaterally pick Washington's governor.
We're now at a point where half of the country isn't paying any federal income tax at all, but they're allowed to vote for the person who has said "if you pick me, I'll continue to give you free stuff." This does not make a lick of sense. Those decisions should be made by the people who have put some skin in the game.
Let's go back to my portfolio. Would a business allow anyone off the street to vote for their Board of Directors? Of course not. That's why people or groups get 51% of the outstanding stock, so that they have a voting block big enough to do what they want. In your nuclear family, who makes the decisions? Do the kids get an equal vote on whether to save money, buy a flatscreen or have a summer road trip? Not a chance. The parents, who earn the money, make that choice.
I didn't get a car or anything like that for my birthday. I bet the kids who did treated their car worse than the kid who bought his car with a matching fund, or those who had to scrimp and save every dollar. I know that I take really good care of the Zonkmobile because I had to put up every single one of the $5,000 that it cost. I think that governance can work the same way
Today, Washington state has their primary election, and every county but Pierce (Tacoma, et al) allows voters to fill out their ballot and drop it off in the mail or at a drop box. There's a little to-do about having to put a stamp on the ballot and if that constitutes a poll tax. I figure: if you're worried about forty-four cents to participate in democracy, maybe you should stay on the sidelines.
One of the intriguing bits that is revealed in Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers is that in the book's universe, rights must be earned through some sort of Federal service. If you don't volunteer in this way, you're still granted things like freedom of speech and assembly, but you cannot vote or hold public office. This is intriguing, since those who actually have an interest in what happens in government are the ones who are voting.
And here comes the Modest Proposal: the return of the Poll Tax.
When you go in to vote (and yes, that would wipe out absentee and mail-in ballots) you tender your W-9. If you paid no income tax, you're turned away. This would be adjusted for local and statewide elections. The gal behind the desk looks up the amount that you paid in tax, and gives you a corresponding number of ballots. I haven't worked out whether the tables would be logarithmic (however many digits are in the 'paid' amount, that's how many votes you get) or if for every $tax you contribute to the coffers, you get another ballot, but I don't think that's terribly important to the overall point. There would however, be a cap, so that the city of Medina can't unilaterally pick Washington's governor.
We're now at a point where half of the country isn't paying any federal income tax at all, but they're allowed to vote for the person who has said "if you pick me, I'll continue to give you free stuff." This does not make a lick of sense. Those decisions should be made by the people who have put some skin in the game.
Let's go back to my portfolio. Would a business allow anyone off the street to vote for their Board of Directors? Of course not. That's why people or groups get 51% of the outstanding stock, so that they have a voting block big enough to do what they want. In your nuclear family, who makes the decisions? Do the kids get an equal vote on whether to save money, buy a flatscreen or have a summer road trip? Not a chance. The parents, who earn the money, make that choice.
I didn't get a car or anything like that for my birthday. I bet the kids who did treated their car worse than the kid who bought his car with a matching fund, or those who had to scrimp and save every dollar. I know that I take really good care of the Zonkmobile because I had to put up every single one of the $5,000 that it cost. I think that governance can work the same way