Let taxpayers pick their poison

The government already asks you to check a box if you’d like money to go to a presidential campaign fund. Why not extend that to include specific things that taxes also pay for?

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as having said, nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes. Personally, I disagree. I’m a Christian and a libertarian, so I don’t believe in the inevitability of either. Since I haven’t died yet, that part of my philosophy can’t be disproven.

I have, however, paid taxes every year of my working life, so the libertarian in me finds his faith eroded a bit more each April.

The good news is April 15 falls on a weekend this year and a holiday is observed on Monday — not just in Massachusetts, but also in the District of Columbia — so nobody’s return is due until April 18. The bad news, of course, is that you still need to file by next Tuesday, so if you haven’t started on your returns yet, you probably should.

One reason I’m sorry U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz didn’t win the Republican nomination for president is that he said he wanted to simplify tax forms so much that we could do them by filling out a postcard. It was probably as worthless as most campaign promises and, even if it came to pass, may have ended up like the old joke about simplifying the tax form to two items:

• How much did you make this year?

• Send it to us.

But I do think the main problem most folks have with tax returns is that they’re such a royal pain to complete. Therefore, I have a suggestion to make it a bit more fun.

If we can’t reduce the form to a postcard, I say we make it even longer. What I propose adding is the ability to pick and choose which government functions your income taxes fund.

Now, please take note: I’m not saying every bozo in the country should be granted the right to file a polemic with his or her return, stating no money be used for purchasing anything pink, or to pay the salaries of meter maids, fund the state of Wyoming, or whatever other personal axes they may have to grind. I’m just talking about a general checklist.

The government already asks you to check a box if you’d like money to go to a presidential campaign fund. Why not extend that to include specific things to which some people may have serious religious or moral objections, such as government funding of abortion, bailouts of private corporations, military funding other than for defensive purposes, or pay raises for legislators?

To keep it from tilting toward either a liberal or conservative bias, we could make it multiple choice — none of my taxes toward it, the usual amount, or please spend more of my tax money on it. The result would likely be much the same as it is now, since divisive issues would probably draw some what equal support on both sides, but it will at least make folks feel better about the process. And if something did end up getting a massive amount of “Hell, no” votes, it would effectively defund such a program without need of a long and drawn out legislative process.

Just a thought, of course, and entirely unlikely to happen. Still fun to think about, though, especially when it comes to pay raises for legislators.