FUNDING GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE VOLUNTARY

When you pay taxes, do you do so voluntarily? Or do you do so because you are forced to do so?

If you don’t pay your taxes, what will happen? Will you be fined further? Harassed by the IRS or other government entities? Jailed?

The Libertarian Party is fundamentally opposed to the use of force to coerce people into doing anything. We think it is inherently wrong and should have no role in a civilized society.

Thus we think that government forcing people to pay taxes is inherently wrong.

Libertarians advocate for voluntary exchange, where people are free to make their own choices about what to do with their lives, their time, their bodies, their livelihood, and their dollars.

If Americans want to give money to the government for one reason or another, they should be free to do so. If Americans prefer to spend their money on other things, then they should be free to do that also.

There are many areas of federal, state and local government that are in dire need of downsizing.

Below is a sampling of ways that Libertarian candidates, spokespersons and activists can propose to end or reduce pieces of Big Government.

The below are suggestions only, about which Libertarians may disagree. They are not official positions of the Libertarian Party, which are stated in the Libertarian Party Platform.

This list will be updated occasionally, so check back for more.

Sample Federal Libertarian Solutions

• End the federal income tax and with it the IRS; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Balance the federal budget now – then keep cutting more!
• Cut federal spending to the level of 1998 – which enables us to both end the federal income (replacing it with nothing) and immediately balance the budget.
• End the federal corporate income tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Fully privatize Social Security and repeal the FICA tax; sell federal assets to create private retirement accounts (i.e., no government control or involvement) for seniors who paid into Social Security and who are dependent upon it.
• End the failed Drug Prohibition.
• End programs that supply military-grade equipment to local law enforcement.
• Abolish the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
• Abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
• Repeal the Patriot Act, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and any other law that violates Americans’ privacy or constitutional rights.
• Close overseas U.S. military bases and bring troops home.
• Close half of all domestic U.S. military bases and cut spending.
• Cancel contracts for fighter planes, ships, and other unneeded military equipment.
• Enact any of the measures in Ron Paul’s Plan to Restore America.
• Remove all prohibitions on competing currencies.
• End the Federal Reserve.
• Defund and repeal Obamacare – and replace it with nothing. Extract government from the health care industry, ending the damage it does. Expand health freedom, which will allow costs to plummet and quality care to flourish.
• As states remove restrictions on low-cost and free medical care, dismantle and repeal Medicare and Medicaid; repeal the Medicare tax.
• Sell the US postal service and end its monopoly privileges.
• Eliminate the Department of Labor.
• Eliminate the Department of Energy.
• Eliminate the Department of the Interior.
• Eliminate Health and Human Services (HHS).
• Eliminate various bureaucracies within HHS (there are dozens of entire bureaucracies within this one federal bureaucracy).
• Eliminate Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• Eliminate the Department of Agriculture.
• Eliminate the Department of Education (DOE).
• Eliminate the Department of Commerce.
• Eliminate the Department of Transportation.
• Eliminate the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Eliminate the Federal Elections Commission (FEC); instead, require anyone who profits from government –contractors, government employees — to refrain from donating to political campaigns.
• Repeal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).
• End the federal death (inheritance) tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Dismantle and prohibit all government unions; only private sector unions that receive no funding from government should be legal.
• Replace government employee retirement packages with Social Security. Government employees should be subject to the same taxes and tax rules, retirement age, and terms as what private sector employees get.
• Remove every government department and function that is unconstitutional, unneeded or that is better served by the private sector.
• Eliminate all “off-budget” spending: if politicians are so ashamed of how they’re spending taxpayer money that they need to hide it, it needs to be cut — immediately.
• Eliminate the phony distinction “discretionary spending.” 100% of government spending is discretionary. End automatic funding of certain budget line items, and require lawmakers to vote on 100% of appropriations every year.

Sample State Libertarian Solutions

• Cut state government spending in half – to the level of 1998.
• End the state income tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• End the state sales tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• End the state death (inheritance) tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• End the state corporate tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• End the Medical Marijuana Prohibition.
• Reduce or remove regulations on businesses.
• Remove all prohibitions on advertising or disclosing the price of medical care service. For example, in Massachusetts it’s illegal to publicize the price of laboratory tests — one of many reasons Boston is the Overpriced Medical Care Capital of the World.
• Remove prohibitions on free clinics and other forms of charitable health care.
• End all medical insurance mandates requiring coverage of particular medical services or of preexisting conditions (the latter of which makes a mockery of “insurance”).
• Eliminate “risk pools” and other forms of bailing out the medical insurance industry.
• Remove or reduce restrictions on who may perform health services.
• Repeal all restrictions on home schooling.
• Repeal truancy laws.
• Decriminalize Marijuana.
• End the Marijuana Prohibition.
• End the Drug Prohibition.
• Repeal laws that prohibit marriage between consenting adults, irrespective of sexual orientation.
• Repeal licensing laws that restrict trade and deny qualified professionals the right to offer services and earn a living.
• Sell and fully privatize all hospitals, clinics and other medical care facilities.
• Repeal Certificate of Need requirements, removing the state’s authority to restrict the purchase of hospital equipment such as MRI machines.
• Repeal restrictions on walk-in clinics; repeal government mandated pricing-fixing of health care services.
• Dismantle insurance regulatory agencies and repeal their authority to choose which insurance companies may operate in the state and which insurance policies they may sell at what price.
• Say “no thanks” to federal hand-outs in exchange for federal mandates, rules and regulations (e.g. Common Core).
• End Central Government Planning of education. Return control of schools to local teachers, parents and communities.
• Dismantle and prohibit all government unions; only private sector unions that receive no funding from government should be legal.
• Require all government contractors and government employees to refrain from donating to political campaigns.
• Replace government employee retirement packages with Social Security. Government employees should be subject to the same taxes and tax rules, retirement age, and terms as what private sector employees get.
• Nullify NDAA and other unconstitutional federal laws.
• End and outlaw unjustifiable asset forfeiture (“policing for profit”).
• End the death penalty

Sample Local Libertarian Solutions

• Reduce or remove regulations on businesses.
• Cut the property tax by 25%; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Cut the property tax by 50%; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Cancel planning, design and construction of unneeded municipal buildings.
• Sell off unneeded municipal buildings; use proceeds to retire bonds and/or cut taxes.
• Get the government out of the business of providing recreational activities (courses and events in basket weaving, dancing, programs for seniors and children, golf courses, etc.); leave this to the far more cost-effective private sector.
• No playing favorites: Immediately award any tax breaks given to one business to all businesses.
• No playing favorites: Immediately award any reduction in regulations given to one business to all businesses.
• Lower government wages and benefits to level of private sector workers.
• Dramatically reduce government employee pensions.
• Remove regulations that delay, discourage or add unnecessary burdens to the formation or expansion of businesses. Dismantle and downsize administrative functions accordingly and cut taxes.
• Repeal or reduce local sales tax; cut wasteful and unneeded government spending.
• Repeal restrictions on operation or ownership of taxi cabs.
• Cancel planning, design and construction of unneeded school buildings.
• Reduce taxes of any household with no children in public school.
• Say “no thanks” to federal and state hand-outs in exchange for federal mandates, rules and regulations.
• Dismantle and prohibit all government unions; only private sector unions should be legal
  Require all government contractors and government employees to refrain from donating to political campaigns.
• End all government employee retirement packages and put retired workers on Social Security with the same taxes and tax rules, retirement age, and terms as what private sector employees get.
• Remove every government department and function that is unconstitutional, unneeded or that is better served by the private sector.
• Eliminate all “off-budget” spending: if politicians are so ashamed of how they’re spending taxpayer money that they need to hide it, it needs to be cut — immediately.
• End “policing for profit”