I am not necessarily against term limits, however I think the problem is upstream of the elected officials. If the electorate had skin in the game, they would hold the reps accountable.
Too much of our electorate has no skin in the game. They either don’t pay taxes or they welch off the system, voting for the slime that provide the goodies at the real tax payers expense.
I think the better solution is a simplified tax code where a flat rate is applied to all income (and the number is less than 10%). Welfare only to those truly in need and unable to work for physical reasons, and welfare handled by the states, not the fed.
If a constitutional amendment is needed, its that ALL expenditures from the fed must be justified by specific articles of the constitution. If it is not national defense related, it probably doesn’t belong there and “bring home the bacon” representative should not be allowed to spend federal tax dollars for constituent perks.
> “simplified tax code where a flat rate is applied to all income”
Sorry, but the USA has had FIVE flat taxes, and I mean flat income taxes, in its history beginning with the Lincoln income tax of 1861. Each of these flat income taxes ‘morphed’, ‘evolved’, ‘mutated’ into a graduated income tax. The SCOTUS struck down some of these income taxes because they were unconstitutional and others ‘sunsetted’ and were not renewed because they were unpopular. It took the 16th Amendment to get the Flat Income Tax of 1913 (with a tax code of only 14 pages) to be constitutional.
Here’s what you should take away regarding a ‘Flat Tax’:
A FLAT TAX NEVER STAYS FLAT!
Why you may ask? The answer is the 16th Amendment. In order for a flat tax to be legal it needs the 16th. But the 16th enables Congress to do whatever they want with taxes.
So as in every ‘good intention’, the Flat Tax leads to Hell after cycling through a few Congresses.
A Flat Tax needs the 16th and the 16th allows politicians to ‘unflatten it’.
What is much much better is to repeal the 16th and pass a consumption retail tax with a floor on application meaning no tax on the spending for consumption of essentials. This ensures a regressive excise tax doesn’t kill elderly and disabled folks on fixed incomes. CBO and JCT do a great job in determining the level of spending for essentials. Actuaries are friends here.
Look up HR 25. It’s introduced in every new Congress and has 5X more support than any flat tax.
Remember, the flat tax is still an income tax. In fact, it is a cancer cell waiting to metastacize. It always does without fail.
Too much of our electorate has the wrong kind of skin in the game ... People who get goodies from the government won't vote to end the practice of giving people goodies from the government.
YES!!!!
Bingo
You don't pay taxes, you don't get to vote.
You're on a public payroll, you don't get to vote.