Now is the Time for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights

From the Federalist, Patriot Post:

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has long been a staunch advocate of responsible government spending. As Chairman of the Republican Study Committee(http://www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc/), he has renewed the call for a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, challenging the denizens of Capitol
Hill to embrace it before the federal government drives us into a fiscal disaster. Some of its basic points are:

  • 1) Taxpayers have a right to have a federal government that does not grow beyond their ability to pay for it
  • 2) taxpayers have a right to receive back each dollar that they entrust to the government for their retirement
  • 3) taxpayers have a right to expect the government to balance the budget without having their taxes raised
  • 4) taxpayers have a right to a simple, fair tax code they can understand.

Embracing the ideas that a balanced federal budget means less spending, not more taxes, and that taxpayers have the right to a simplified tax code seems antagonistic to liberals, but to those of us that live in the real world and advocate constitutional government, such rights are merely commonsensical.


Copyright Publius Forum 2001