All expenditures over $1 billion or foreign aid requires voting by citizens

Economy
1

Taxes come from hard-working Americans. It seems appropriate that US Citizens have a say in any expense over $1 billion or financial aid to foreign countries. These should be represented as proposals on voter ballots.

The days of leisurely giving billions of dollars away needs to be a thing of the past. Furthermore, we need to have more accountability on our money. How do we lose billions of dollars with all the technology that we have?

The goal of this policy is to reduce governmental spending to get our debt down. Our debt is a threat to our country and will deprive future generations of the American dream.

86 Likes
2

I kind of love this idea, but I wonder about the logistics. How do you imagine the process of informing voters and organizing the voting process?

5 Likes
3

Great question! I would imagine us using technology. The education could occur via zoom calls where both sides are able to share their view of pros and cons. There are many other ways education could occur.

Ultimately, the approval or non-approval would get more people involved and force critical thinking.

2 Likes
4

I think long term, yes technology is a great answer. Maybe there could also be in person voting once in some reasonable time period for people who would choose to opt out (thinking older generation here). We could couple this with one issue bills where people could read the one page bill (or summary) and then the arguments for and against. You could vote at once on a group of upcoming laws.
For those who opt-in to technology, maybe there could be a specific voting app. Where you could vote as often as you like, especially on funding bills, that also have a one page proposal and arguments for and against.

4 Likes
5

I would also add no expenditures to foreign countries until our national debt is under control

7 Likes
6

100% agree

1 Like
7

I feel this is a great idea however I would specify that it cannot be more than one billion at one time AND/OR if total amounts given within a year of the first gift totals more than one billion.

2 Likes
8

I like the proposal but I respectfully disagree with the means and arbitrary amount. The HoR is supposed to approve budget and funding requests, but there is no accountability there. I will ponder alternatives as this issue should be addressed somehow.

2 Likes
9

Technology can do this easily - as long as everything is logged to avoid hacking (highly likely given the $ being spent)

  • Blockchain technology can ensure every vote is recorded
  • Allow any US citizen to install the app but they have to pass identity check during install/registration
2 Likes
10

My concern here with tech is its vulnerability to cybersecurity issues.

I think use of zoom, or any other streaming method for disseminating information, is fine, but the voting needs to stay out of the tech world. The evolving scandals with electronic voting should be more than a cautionary tale, they should be recognized as a course-altering catastrophe.

Additionally, great care needs to be taken to involve those who are not heavy tech users, or who do not have the means or opportunity to access that information. Distributing the information via MSM or through tech channels is going to miss a lot of less-tech people who’s tax money is just as much at stake. We need to make sure that we don’t lose folks who we should be including.

11

I think this number is at least 3 zeros too big … we’re not going to correct our out-of-control malfeasance if we limit it to billion dollar errors.

In this case I think we need to think smaller, not bigger. :wink:

4 Likes
12

This needs to be lower than 1 billion. It should cap for citizen approval at 250 million.

2 Likes
13

I agree with you. I put the $1 billion threshold to initiate discussion on potential policy.

1 Like
14

I just posted about creating a transparency system. Click my profile and check it out. This could be included in that system. Citizens can mark “yes” or “no” under the topic and it would be associated with that government official’s profile.

My post was about creating a system of transparency over all voting government officials in all levels of government to include their title, job description, disclosure of private investments, their voting history, attendance, etc. Additionally, it should detail election dates and bill proposals. In short, the transparency system would create a central location for voters to analyze issues, monitor conduct, and get insight outside of media and ads.

2 Likes
15

Any money allocated to other countries that are not directly for the citizens of the United States should be banned. I’m sorry but our country is falling apart and government continues to communicate that we are working towards some great utopia. If we spent all tax payers money here with better oversight of funds then we could have that utopia.

2 Likes
16

@SarahSpangledBanner you can add a link directly to your proposal in your post.

17
2 Likes
18

I don’t disagree with the sentiment here, but I will say that people only suggest things like this when the system is badly broken:

When you can’t trust your representatives to spend $1 billion in your best interest

You’d have no problem with this expenditure if you believed that it would serve you & your country best

Problem is we all know the “elected” politicians are not doing things in yours or my best interest

That’s the root cause; the suggestion here just tries to mitigate the damage

1 Like
19

Sorry. I grabbed the wrong link. I didn’t want to delete because it received a comment. Here’s the correct link. Transparency

2 Likes
20

Not sure who you think is ok with reps spending $1billion on anything. Pretty big assumption.
Any program that big is going to be riddled with waste and inefficiency, and ripe for fraud and grift. It’s a management problem.
So no, “have no problem” isn’t it. I’m definitely going to have a problem with a $1billion expenditure on ANY program.
Break it down into sizes that can be carefully managed, and we’ll talk.