Brian Kolfage supported President Donald Trumpâs proposal for a wall on the the U.S.-Mexico border. He was frustrated that Congress still refused to fund the wall (as I write this, weâre in the early hours of âgovernment shutdownâ theatrics over that very argument).
Unlike most Americans, Kolfage did something above and beyond voting and complaining to assuage his dissatisfaction: He started a campaign to raise $1 billion in voluntary funding for the wall, using âcrowdfundingâ site GoFundMe. As of Dec. 23, the campaign had raised more than $16 million.
Personally, I consider the border wall one of the dumbest and most evil ideas since disco, but I applaud Kolfageâs initiative. I think heâs on the right track when it comes to funding government generally.
I see two big problems with this particular campaign.
One problem is technical: Apart from a few discrete areas like gifts to pay down the national debt, the executive branch can only spend money appropriated by Congress for specific purposes. A group of us canât just decide we want a war with Pitcairn Island, write the president a check and expect him send forth a carrier strike group or launch some Tomahawks. Or at least itâs not supposed to work that way (it does for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin).
A second problem is moral: Much of the land on which the border wall would be built is owned by people (that is, itâs not âgovernment propertyâ). That land would have to be bought, and some owners donât want to sell. Which means it would have to be stolen through the process of âeminent domain.â On that end, this effort is like crowdfunding a bank robbery spree.
But I still like the general principle. It reminds me of an old antiwar saying along the lines of how beautiful it would be if the Air Force had to hold a bake sale every time it wanted to buy a new bomber.
If instead of collecting taxes, Congress simply approved project goals and appropriated âas much money as is voluntarily donated towardâ those goals, it would constitute a giant step toward a free society.
Instead of an Internal Revenue Service, the federal government could contract with GoFundMe to set up and operate GoFund.gov.
It will never happen because too many people are too intent on taking other peopleâs money for their pet projects. But itâs a beautiful dream, isnât it?
