What our other readers have said:
Opt out for military spending
If a person does not want to fund other human beings being killed, it is his or her right. I think that there should be a process to opt out of paying for the military if one so chooses. There is a possiblity that it would influence our leaders' decisions for going to war in the first place.
Ryan Saunders, Santa Fe, N.M., USA
Rethink spending, not taxes
I pay my taxes without complaint. We should drastically rethink the allocation of tax revenues. Independence and self-reliance should be a priority with "captive" welfare programs de-emphasized and used only as a short term solution. Corporate and farm spending needs to be completely revamped as we have created a captive system there as well. Military spending is poorly managed, filled with waste and does not seem to address the true needs of the military. I woud shift more money into education and to find ways to make american workers more competitive on global markets.
Matt Raymond, Chicago, Ill., USA
Allow taxpayers to have control over spending
Adopt new IRS tax forms that require taxpayers to say how they want their taxes to be allocated for the year, according to categories like war, peace, transportation (air, road, train, etc), safe water, clean air, education, wildlife, parks, administrative expenses, government salaries and perks (judiciary, congressional, executive), public health, agriculture (large scale; small scale), medicine (health care providers), non-military foreign aid, sciences, climate change, small business development, law, jails, war on drugs, etc. Publish and publicize the summary stats each year along with the percent allocations actually passed by Congress and the Executive branch.
Wynne Lee, Lummi Island, Wash., USA
A consumption-based sales tax
I'd like to see the whole income tax system abolished and replaced with a simple consumption-based sales tax. This way everyone would pay incrementally based on their consumption, and billions of dollars could be saved in not needing a complicated, bloated tax code, legions of lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats, and enforcers. Such a system would jumpstart the economy by eliminating mounds of regressive paperwork and time making sure one is fully in compliance.
Patrick Garrison, Ithaca, N.Y., USA
Need a serious reduction in size of government
I think more should go to pay down the debt. Social Security and Medicare promises need to be kept, but if I had my druthers, neither of these systems would have been put in place to start with. I oppose the war, so all we need for that is to bring the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the other 100-odd places they are. We must end the DEA and BATFE as I oppose the insane war on drugs and I support the Second Amendment which renders all gun laws unconstitutional. A serious reduction in the scope and size of government is essential so a real tax reduction can occur. As long as Bush is president none of this will happen, as he is a tax-and-spend man par excellence. I guess you can tell I am a Libertarian. Yes, and proudly so.
Alice Lillie, Las Vegas, Nev., USA
Let the market decide
I would like to see taxes go away completely and let the market decide where society's money should go on a volunteer basis. Seemed to work just fine for America before an income tax was ever implemented.
Mark Flatt, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Spend more on education
I don't mind paying taxes; "taxes buy us civilization" someone said, and I think they're right. But I would prefer to see less spent on the debacle in Iraq, and more on schools and support for the fine arts. Every student should be taking music and art – it has been shown to be a key element in healthy child development. Every student who wants to should be able to play a musical instrument. We are a very rich country but we spend, per capita, far less on education than we can afford. How much does the average family spend on renting videos and buying lottery tickets? More than their taxes go to education, I'd be willing to bet. We need to give serious consideration to how we are supporting our core values, and at the center of that core are our children.
Fran Barrineau, Ashburn, Va., USA
Before looking abroad, take care of home
I think the problem with our tax system is that our leaders seem to feel that having the US be a global empire is more important than taking care of our own people. Why do we question Medicare for our elderly in favor of giving billions to other countries? There would be plenty of money for social programs if we stopped trying to be the world's policeman. The Chinese seem to have no problem growing their economy without trying to run the whole world.
Also, we need to look at our trade policies. I am not against foreign companies making products here and paying our taxes, but imports should be taxed, and US companies that export jobs should pay tax penalties on their products. If they want to sell here, they can make it here. That would also boast revenues by keeping our people working in decent jobs.
Rob Englert, Conway, S.C., USA
Back to the Constitution's basics
Here's my two cents: Limit the role of government to those powers that are actually enumerated by the Constitution (of which national defense is one), and eliminate all the rest. Student loans? The very basis for astronomical tuition rates due to the elimination of competition among schools. Socialized medicine? Come on... take a look at Canada and Europe. Very high tax rates, very little economic growth, and marginal (at best) health care (when you can get it). Its gotten so bad in the UK that some of the rich are banding together and building their own hospitals so as to ensure no months-long waits and better physicians. Is that what you want to happen here? This notion of cradle-to-grave benevolence is antithetical to all that the Founding Fathers had accomplished.
Earl Witherspoon, Dallas, Texas, USA
Limit government overspending
I work for Uncle Sam, and if someone in our department busts their spending limits, they are fined the amount that they went over, plus interest or a penalty, their boss gets a reprimand, and more often than not, the over-spender gets fired. I would like to see this same standard applied to our elected officials. No government body should spend more than what is available, cut pork if needed, but we need a balanced budget.
Doug Houston, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA
'Democracy day,' anyone?
I would like to see "true democracy," whereby taxpayers are allowed to choose where each and every one of their tax dollars go. We could have a form that we send in with our taxes on April 15th, or do it online. We could then rename tax day "democracy day." To reduce uncertainty in budgeting, we can use a running average of the past 3 years, so that a program will not face such drastic ups and downs in any one year.
David Wolcott, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Time for universal health care and less military spending
This country spends about $500 billion yearly on the military – not counting the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. The vast majority of this money does not go to soldiers, armor, equipment, training, or veteran health care. It goes to high tech weapons systems that will never be used in combat, that are there for the single purpose of increasing the profits of large donor defense contractor firms. This spending should be cut in half, using half of the savings for soldier and veterans support and using the other half to fund alternative fuel research (currently $2 billion yearly) and universal health care. The US is the only industrialized nation without some form of universal health care. We could completely socialize medicine, and get rid of the insurance providers simply by eliminating the $80 billion in tax cuts for the ultra-rich.
For those who say that they don't believe in a "nanny state," let them try living in a country with no FEC, FSLIC, FNMA, SEC, transportation, defense, police or fire departments, etc. Somalia would be a good place for them to start. No taxes there.
Claude Crider, Alpharetta, Ga., USA
Bring Congress back in touch
I agree with eliminating farm subsidies for the corporate farms. I also would like to see Congress brought into the Social Security System and off the "dole." A lot could be saved by eliminating all of their perks, retirement funds for them and their spouses, special insurance coverage, etc. Why should they have the very best of everything, while the rest of us struggle.
Carol Gorham, Lebanon, Ind., USA
Government programs with vision
Certainly the federal government has an opportunity to provide us with important services and programs that make America a better place, but we must have a consistent and coherent vision for the future that includes reining in runaway military spending, adequate funding for endangered education programs such as Head Start, and providing for the health care of ALL Americans.
James Smith, Nashville, Tenn., USA
It's my money
"Tax dollars" are stolen money. If they are my dollars, then why does the government have them? I would rather keep every penny I earn and spend it as I see fit than have the government take care of me through Social Security, Medicare and unjust wars abroad. All government programs should be abolished.
Schmendrick Mago, New York, N.Y., USA
Less military funding, more clean energy
I would reallocate funding away from the military to more domestic programs, because 1) there is no credible civilian oversight for military expenditures, e.g., the Halliburton/Iraq scandals 2) I dispute the need for a large standing military except for peacekeeping purposes 3) I would fund more social/domestic programs through the creation of "conscientious objector" status for people - like me - who find almost every use of US military power since 1960 unjustified, and who believe that most modern weapons are wasteful indulgences if unused, and instruments of murderous terror if they are.
Creating systems of clean energy, promoting sound international economic development, and providing national universal health care through a single payer system are all better priorities in my mind.
John Baumann, Spokane, Wash., USA
Slash the federal budget
I would rather just spend the money myself. I do not believe in the 'nanny state.' The Federal government should get out of the business of retirement pensions, health care insurance and other coercive entitlement programs. As far as payments to low income people: It is immoral for the government to forcibly take my property and give it to someone that is deemed to be worse off than me. Additionally, we should not have such a large standing military, as we can defend our nation with the National Guard (select militia) and citizen militias in a much more cost effective way. The Federal budget should be cut by 80% and funded with a national sales tax rather than a coercive income tax. I think the Founding Fathers of America would agree with me.
Mike Wickerham, Macomb, Mich., USA
Cut farm subsidies
Lower defense spending to the same proportion of GDP as China; increase spending for higher education, job training, and unemployment payments to ease the transition into a global free trade market; cut farm subsidies completely, corporate farms don't need them and family farms probably are not efficient at producing mainstream crops and should instead be focused on niche crops and organics; increase funding for preschool education and nutrition programs like Head Start and WIC [Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children]; increase federal tax on gasoline (not on diesel though); maintain the AMT as is, it is the perfect means of simplifying the tax code.
Jeff Gedeon, Grand Rapids, Mich., USA
Taxpayers chose allotments
[President George Bush] has made morality such an emphasis of his term in office, yet he has never pushed for changes in the tax laws that would allow taxpayers to indicate where they would like their money to be spent. So those of us who have opposed the wars waged in our name cannot "put our money where our mouths are." and refuse to pay for the ever-enlarging military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about almost a half century ago.
Walter Schiff, Miller Place, N.Y., USA
Less military spending
Not one-fifth to military spending. Change it to one-sixteenth. Eliminate outer space military support and devote far lower funding to NASA programs.
Abolish the Federal Reserve Bank and then revise the income tax. Actually the Constitution does not endorse a tax on your labor.
Have two-fifths go to Medicare and Social Security and one-fifth go to universal health care support.
Have a large chunk go to state and federal funds solely for teacher salary increases at all levels!
Betsy Munson, Loveland, Colo., USA
