The way to rein in spending is to disallow progressive income tax rates.
Those taxed the lowest rate (0%) have absolutely no qualms when a power hungry politician proposes a new program. No skin off the teeth of the one not paying for it.
If everyone had skin in the game, those congressional phones would be ringing a lot more often.
Here’s an idea:
How about a “balanced budget amendment” the that includes a reminder of what the Constitutional bounds of the Federal Government are - and forces the Feds to shrink to Constitutional levels...
Seriously - if the US had a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution - the response would be massively higher taxes. Consider how much the Feds spend per actual dollar in revenue - it is insane.
Imagine what a Constitutionally-bound Federal Government would look like. DC would practically be a ghost town.
The sad reality is - the debt burden to each and every US citizen today is such an asinine amount as to be laughable. Who’s going to pay for that? At the current rate - the burden per person will be, literally, a lifetime of income.
Already too many taxpayers work 6 months of the year+ simply to pay the tax man (at the Federal and State level).
As to your proposal that everyone should have to pay SOMETHING is a valid point. I would further suggest that NOBODY should get a refund of more than they paid in in taxes. Period. It isn’t a “refund” it is a pure redistribution of wealth - it is a form of welfare that is both unfair to those paying taxes, and to those receiving it because it makes them slaves to the government (and eternally and generationally Democrat voters).