> So, if Libertarians were in charge, all taxation practices were cancelled, where would the money come for the police forces and army?

I posed this question to the candidate the day I initially posted this to the message forum. This morning, he e-mailed me back this response:

"Thanks for your questions. Actually, I'm only calling for an end to the federal income tax. Federal here means National, although in a different context federal means the relationship between states and the national government.

"I've often explored ways to fund government voluntarily. This is a very long-term prospect, and is not someting I am advocating happen tomorrow. Most of my thinking revolves around having people voluntarily sign a Constitution, which would include some mechanism by which they would pay "taxes", and in return they would get the full protection and services (courts, etc.) of the government. The key here is that it would be voluntary - a choice likely to be presented to them at age 18 or thereabouts. Those who do not opt in would not be able to use most government services, like civil courts for example. But they would of course be subject to the same laws as everyone else. This is just a sketch, and needs a lot of development. The specific "tax" mechanism here would likely be a land value tax - just the land, not the improvements upon it.

"Other ideas include a contract tax - if you want a contract to be legally enforceable, then you pay a fee to the government. So it's a pay-as-you-go system, which has a certain elegant, precise justice to it. However, I don't think this will fund defense costs - likely to be the largest budget expenditure by far, even with a smaller military.

"If we do away with the federal income tax, we are indeed left with much less revenue. Some libertarians like to point to tariffs as the remaining source of revenue that can fund the legitimate functions of the U.S. Government. But I am a champion of free trade, so I would do away with tariffs and import duties. Excise taxes are about the only remaining source of general revenue - check out your phone bill. But I would do away with those as well. So in the interim between now and some future of voluntary government financing, some possibilities are a national sales tax or a flat tax (going back to an income tax, although a much less invasive one)."

-FP