Here's One Page I'd Like To See Added to Form 1040

Talking with Mary-Jo about how screwed up our system for funding programs like education is, I remember a concept I saw presented in a jocular way many years ago. You know how, when you fill out your income tax form, you get to decide whether or not to earmark a dollar for the next presidential campaign or a wildlife preservation fund? Why not extend this system to cover the entire federal budget? Each taxpayer would decide exactly how his or her tax payments would be allocated. Feel like devoting 100% of your taxes to building a missile defense system or buying Bush a yacht? That’s your prerogative. Prefer to contribute to education, or environmental regulation, or veterans’ health? Go for it.

The more I think about this goofy idea, the better I like it. The obvious drawback is that, in any given year, the cumulative choices made by the taxpayers might be ridiculous. It could be like asking each member of a family to jot down on a slip of paper one dish they want for dinner; when all the slips are opened, you may end up with five requests for coffee ice cream, which would make an unbalanced dinner (although I wouldn’t be the first to complain).

On the other hand, the combined wisdom of the taxpayers might prove to be surprisingly sound. Most people would tend to support their personal interests. Soldiers (and perhaps their families and friends) would allocate money for military programs. Doctors and nurses would support health care. Sculptors and oboists would send funds to the National Endowment for the Arts. In the end, a reasonable spending balance might emerge.

The system could also include features that would encourage informed choices. For example, each taxpayer could be sent a one-page summary, with graphs, of how the past year’s budget was allocated. You could then make choices for next year based on how you think the national priorities need to shift: “We only spent 1.6% on Homeland Security last year? Let’s make it three percent.”

If the power of the Internet were harnessed, it might even be possible to watch in real time as the financial choices of taxpayers get registered. Thus, people who file close to the tax deadline could be guided by the interim results; if it looks as though OSHA is being short-changed, mine and factory workers could mount a last-minute push to get the funding needed to improve safety programs next year.

If they wanted, concerned groups-—policy organizations, lobbyists, maybe even government agencies themselves—-could advertise to try to win taxpayer support. It might be fun to see commercials from NASA (soaring vistas of outer space, of course), the Coast Guard (buff young sailors patrolling the harbors), and the Justice Department (gripping courtroom scenes out of Law and Order), each concluding with the same desperate plea: “Remember us when you invest your tax dollars on April 15th.”

Think election night is tense? The mood in Washington as the tax allocation results came in would be electric. Bureaucrats, generals, even cabinet officers would be tracking the numbers knowing that their pet programs--and their jobs--might be on the line.

The results would be absolutely fascinating. There’s no way to know for sure, but I suspect the priorities chosen by the country as a whole would be more healthy than those now being set by the administration, Congress, and the lobbyists. Remember hearing about surveys showing that most Americans assume we spend fifteen or twenty percent of the budget on foreign aid (as opposed to the actual figure, which is less than one percent)? I’m convinced that we could get Americans to allocate three percent of their tax dollars for hunger relief in Africa--all it would take is a halfway decent advertising campaign (Bono would fund it). Same goes for AIDS research, mental health services, music education in schools . . . list your favorite cause.

Might be tough to get this system enacted into law. Constitutional amendments are hard to pass. But it makes a neat fantasy, doesn’t it?