Posted by
D W W Robertson on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 1:29:46 PM
I have three new initiative ideas for California. I need review because I am wary of the law of unintended consequences, which could be stated, when you make a law sometimes there are unintended consequences (i.e. bicycle riders wearing helmets are more likely to get in an accident because, apparently, drivers mistakenly assume that they have more experience, according to a report on the Paul Harvey show). Here is the inspiration for my initiatives: the private sector runs more efficiently than the public sector because they have incentives.
#1 A huge pay bonus to every legislator in the state congress when the state deficit is reduced significantly without raising current tax percentages or creating new taxes.
*Specific amounts yet to be determined.
*Of course, the congress is permitted to use increased tax revenue. e.g. from increased consumer spending at the same sales tax rate.
#2 Legislators are penalized when the state deficit increases. Any year that the deficit increases from the year before, the state legislature cannot pass a wage increase for the legislators.
#3 A very huge pay bonus for legislators in a year that the state budget goes from a deficit to a surplus. This initiative is to be cancelled after the first year it occurs.
Just some ideas. Try not to burst my bubble, but let's see if we can avoid negative consequences while preserving good ones.
One downside to this idea so far is that we'd be paying congressmen and women more to do the job that they're already supposed to be doing. My response is, so what? As long as congress saves us more money than we pay them. Everyone wins.
Another downside to my first idea is that sometimes a new tax is a good thing. Whoa there. I can't believe I just said that. Democrat Calderon in California has proposed a redefinition of electronic downloads so that they will fall under the California sales tax. I support this idea to tax previously untaxed goods. Apparently, this approach, by redefining electronic goods uses a loophole. It does not create a new tax per se. Rather the goods previously defined as intangible fall under the current sales tax laws. I wouldn't want to prevent our congress from finding creative ways to increase tax revenue.
So...just keep in mind, there are a lot of ways to create incentives for congress. Why not have some in place?