Taxpayers Know Best

Published in the New York Times on April 1, 2001

To the Editor:

The Democrats' proposed $300 per taxpayer rebate (news article, March 28) would be only the fastest way to give back the surplus, but also the most efficient. No government action — whether tax reform or new spending — is as effective as putting cash in taxpayers' hands to spend on what they need most.

That's only the beginning. If Americans know better than government how to spend their excess tax dollars, wouldn't we do better to give back the more than $500 billion already being spent each year on government-administered welfare and subsidy programs? Closing down these inefficient programs could save enough for a tax rebate that would provide real tax relief to the middle class while giving underprivileged Americans a true ladder out of poverty.

ALLAN OSTERGREN

White Plains, March 28, 2001

The writer is a senior research associate, Institute for Socioeconomic   Studies.