It’s easy to reduce the deficit, drop tax rates, and provide better services to more people. I could do all three at once.
Just mandate that people buy that better service and tax any non-government providers of it.
Et, voila!
Economically, we’re worse off. But financially, the government looks like gold.
Imagine the only kind of car legal to be owned and sold was a Cadillac. And that every adult had to buy one.
General Motors would be immensely profitable. And all that profit could be spent paying down GM’s debt. Or the government could take it to pay for other services, leaving GM at break-even (although with enough for lavish executive lifestyles, luxurious labor contracts and robust lobbying endowments).
Meanwhile, taxes could be reduced, as there would be no need for communal transport. And sales tax collection would be up with all those people buying expensive cars.
For most people, a Caddy is too much car. But undeniably more plush than the average jalopy. We are forced to overspend on cars. That’s a simple waste of potential. Like finding a twenty-dollar bill on the ground and using it as cigarette paper.
With this mandated, politicians can claim to have solved the public transportation issue, helped the poor, and improved the budget. Because the pain is all off-budget.
It could even be argued that this is the path to minarchy (the smallest government possible). Just have enough govenrment to devise and enforce the rules of a perfect society.
My example was automobiles. Washington is doing the same with health care. It can be repeated across the whole economy. Maybe some industries are left as privately-held and politically controlled instead of becoming new government agencies.
At that point, the only difference is the color of the unicorn as specified in the legislation.