Column: Direct democracy
By Scott Walker, M.D.
Dear Neighbors,
Some time ago, I wrote to you about Representative Democracy. “You and I don’t vote on the Defense Appropriations Bill, our representative to Congress does,” I wrote. But why? If we truly believe in democracy and that we are all entitled to one vote, why not have everyone, or at least everyone who wants to, vote on the Defense Appropriations Bill? Of course before now, that just wasn’t possible. No meeting room large enough, too much travel time and lost productivity. But COVID showed us another way. If congressional committees can meet with virtual attendees, our State Legislature can do it. If lawmakers can dial in, citizens can do it.
But we don’t have to stay glued to our monitors to participate in governance. How might we choose to use this reclaimed authority? By voting on the budget. As I see it, everyone who pays taxes would get to vote on expenditures; here’s how we might implement that.
“Good morning,” your house computer tells a future you. “It’s tax day. I’ve computed your minimum tax due. Should I file it? You’re getting a refund again.”
“Yes,” you say. “And I want to itemize.” But you’re not talking about itemizing deductions to minimize your taxes; you’re talking about itemizing the expenditure of your tax dollars. “I want 50% to go to the Peace Corps. Do we still have a Peace Corps?”
And so on. Congress might allocate 50 percent, or 60 percent, or 70 percent of tax revenues; but let us use the rest to vote with our dollars! Different voters might choose to fund cancer research, or the military, or the Federal Courts. Maybe Congress still gets to control 50 percent of the budget, to make sure the U.S. pays all its bills. But imagine if our 11-carrier Navy was budgeted by Congress to pay for only 6 carrier battle groups. Would we see celebrities and sailors hosting telethons for the remainder? “Cast your vote now for the next big thing in military hardware!” Would Washington lobbyists come to Crawford County, going door to door to ask for taxpayer allocations?
Are there aspects of our government that you don’t want to pay for? Sure. Just as there are things that I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for. Maybe we would offset each other, and your funding fills in where I don’t spend; or maybe there are programs or expenditures, passed into law by Congress but not supported by the people, that would see their budgets shrink when no one chooses to fund them. Maybe the people could lead, by fully funding or over-funding issues like investing in peace, diplomacy and shared prosperity.
Where would you put your dollars? If your answer is, “Back in my pocket,” then I’d ask how you plan to be happy with your extra thousand dollars, when a quarter of the people around you are sick, hungry, or unhoused? Can you smile as you step around the people living on the sidewalk?
We pay taxes for a reason. Give me the benefits of a liberal society every day. But maybe that’s exactly your point: you don’t want to pay for other people’s misfortune. Fine. But be aware that I, and others of good will, call that “selfishness.”
