Idea of the day: A Taxpayer Receipt

Every once in awhile, you hear of an idea so blindingly obvious and inarguably wise that you wonder why in God’s name it’s still a notion and not a reality.

That happened to me this morning when I heard about the Taxpayer Receipt, the brainchild of the folks at Third Way.

In a brief and readable policy paper, David Kendall and Jim Kessler propose “providing each taxpayer with a receipt that shows them exactly how their money is spent to the penny.”  That’s it.

Well, why aren't we doing it?