What is the ideal method of Taxation for libertarians?

[Contumacious]

i see alot of talk from people around here about how they are against direct taxes, and even some who are against any form of taxation whatsoever.What, in your mind is the best way to go about funding a constitutionally sized government? Taxing the Free Market? the government needs at least some money to function right?

Lotteries.

 

[Feenix566]

I like the idea of having taxes that directly relate to the service being provided. So, for instance, ports should charge docking fees and use the money to fund the Navy. Borders should charge crossing fees, and use that money to fund the Army. (That solution makes sense when the Army is defending US soil, not nation-builidng abroad) The states can charge a gas tax and use that to fund roads. The fire departments should sell fire insurance, and whenever they put out a fire in a house that's uninsured, they should send the people a bill. The city water and sewer departments send you a bill for how much you use. The EPA should be funded by billing companies depending on how much pollution they make. etcetera etcetera...

Incidentally, while we're on the subject of fire protection, there is such a thing as private fire protection. With some particularily expensive homeowners insurance plans in high-risk areas, the insurance company actually has its own fire company that goes to the houses.

 

[nickcoons]

But you still need an institution to deliver first class mail at a reasonable rate. And while i am for competition, no one can compete with an institution that has the constitutional right to exist on tax payer dollars.

There are probably quite a few people that would prefer to use a competitor for first class mail if it were offered as an option, but it may cost more (though that remains to be seen). Likewise, there are many that would like to send their kids to private schools, but the fact that public education is free sways quite a few people. This is not to say that public education is affordable, because it's really not as cheap as it appears. It's subsidized by tax dollars. In the end, it costs more than private education. Unfortunately, you cannot opt-out of paying public education taxes simply by sending your children to private school.

Similarly, the USPS seems unbelievably cheap because the cost of postage is only a part of the cost. If subsidies were removed and the USPS was forced to survive on its own generated revenues, we'd see the true cost of government mail. It wouldn't be more expensive, it would just appear that way because of the new-found transparency in the system. Given that, there's no reason we couldn't have competition in mailing and provide the service for less than the USPS.