[wintertime]

The Fair tax would still involve a federal bureaucracy.

Here's a better idea:

The FIFTY BILL;

The federal government sends out 50 tax bills to the governors of the fifty states. The size of the bill is determined by the census population of those over the age of 18 at the last census. The states figure out how to pay it.

With 50 states experimenting the most efficient, least costly to collect, least onerous, and MOST COMPASSIONATE measures of collect and paying the federal tax bill will emerge.

[Cyber Liberty]

Heh. That would boil the blood of the state-level leftards who demanded and sued if necessary to get the population of illegal immigrants into the census count.

[null and void]

Did you mean the FIFTY-SEVEN Bill?

[reg45]

And if a state fails to pay its fair share, its voting rights in the House and the Senate are cancelled until the state has paid up.

[UnwashedPeasant]

Your solution is similar to the Cato Institute's solution, Reverse Revenue Sharing, except under the Cato plan, the States determine how much tax money they send to the Feds. (It is a standard percentage of what the State collects.)

States that like high taxes will send more than States that prefer Freedom. This way the States determine the Federal budget, instead of the Feds sending the States an arbitrary bill each year.

[Let_It_Be_So]

Your post: “Here’s a better idea: The FIFTY BILL”

So, a future Obama type would send the states a bill that was $1 Trillion more than the year before and the states would dutifully figure out a way to pay their “fair share” of what Washington says they “need”? Don’t see how that would be workable.

There would have to be some serious restrictions on what the federal government could spend money on (requiring a constitutional amendment to reinforce the original intent behind the enumerated powers and 10th Amendment) and something like a balanced budget amendment to prohibit deficit spending to boot.

Actually, it seems to me that it might be a bit more doable to do it in reverse..the states would send the President/Congress a statement of income (the amount of money they are willing to send in for operation of government) and the government would be forced to figure out a way to live on that for the year.

[Cannoneer]

NO NO NO; then more yankees will be fleeing to Texas and Florida where the base taxes are low. States that get more in return than they pay now i.e. MD, VA and NY etc. will be forced to pay their fair share.

Here''s a thought. Why cycle any of the money thru the Feds. Just keep all but the Defense budget in the States and and let the states manage and legislate (or not) the over regulated parts of life. I'm just saying. (too much wrong with the Fifty plan to be good)

Time to put on the tin foil. I am sure the NSA is bearing down on me now.