What If Only Taxpayers Voted?

One very important area of government functionality, where taxpayers should have influence in direct proportion to how much they pay, is appropriation.  Appropriation is not an explicit power of Congress.  Appropriation is an implied power – implied as “necessary and proper for carrying into Execution” the explicit powers such as the power to tax and the power to provide and maintain a navy. Yet, even though it is only an implied power, appropriation is the main power by which Congress – and the WH – keeps itself in power.

We really ought to have a taxpayer-elected ‘Appropriature‘ to appropriate money.  Voters would vote for members of the Appropriature in proportion to the taxes they pay. This way, the Appropriators would tend to those who managed the money most efficiently.  And to make sure they didn’t tax people to buy votes, the Appropriature would have no other powers – not even the power to tax.  Taxes would be collected by Congress and put in the Treasury. Taxpayers would get tax receipts for which they would acquire ballots to vote for Appropriators.  Only the Appropriators could spend the money deposited in the Treasury.  Thus, Congress would retain the power to tax but would have little incentive to use it as they couldn’t spend the money buying votes.  In fact, taxpayers would have more incentive to pay taxes that Congress would to enact them as the taxpayers would be able to vote for the Appropriators to spend it.