I have a better idea. Anyone who has received a payment of any kind other than a court judgement from the government since the last election should be ineligible to vote in the next election. This should include welfare recipients of course, but also government employees, elected officials, as well as employees and stock holders of government contractors.
I would agree to that!!!
The new law should include 3 additional elements:
1) a system for private citizens to report benefit fraud, with financial awards for cases where fraud is successfully stopped.
2) Huge penalties and prison terms for government employees who creating fraud so that accomplices could unmask it for a split of the reward.
3) Lifetime cut off from benefits for those caught cheating.
In Maine alone, there are probably thousands of cases of things like claiming dependent children borrowed to take to the benefits interview, fake disabilities, multiple identities, non-residents, benefits mailed to other states and countries, people who work off the books, etc. Individuals and law firms would be all over this to get a few hundred bucks per successful case, resulting in millions in savings.
Will it include the names an addresses of everyone who works for the government? Of all retired elected “officials”?
Will they name the top management of organizations heavily supported by taxpayer dollars? All the university “professors” who never teach a class? Corporate CEO’s whose company’s depend on government subsidies? Farmer’s paid not to grow crops?
I have a better idea. For ALL elections, at every level, prohibit donations or funding of any kind - including “in kind” (are you listening PAC’s?) from anyone except individuals. In any amount .. no limit. But your name and city of residence must be reported in candidate’s website before funds are available.
Invasion of privacy? I thought the right to give money to political campaigns was protected as “free speech”. And it can’t be speech if you don’t want to be heard.