[Hoot Gibson]

I would fully support a constitutional amendment that would deny the right to vote to American citizens who are not net-federal taxpayers but that is never going to happen. People who are net consumers of federal goods and services should not be allowed to vote to expand the benefits that they are receiving.

The federal government has replaced private charities in many ways and those who depend on charity should have no say in how much their benefactors are giving them. (Those who have paid into Social Security or had careers in the military are not charity cases, but they should also not be in position to increase their own benefits beyond their contributions to their retirement.)

Think about how much smaller, efficient, and less expensive to support that our federal government would become if it shrank to include only constitutionally mandated functions and those programs that actual taxpayers were willing to support financially. No more buying votes by dangling "free" money under the noses of society's moochers.

I would gladly give up my right to vote in federal elections after retirement to live under a federal government that would be able to live within its means in a country where citizens understood that freedom comes with responsibilities and the basic responsibility is to support yourself and your family unless you are absolutely unable to do so. Think about how competitive our economy would be in such a country. The US would once again become a model for countries around the world to emulate, instead of the laughingstock economic basket case that we have become.