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I was trying to think of a place to stick the money that wouldn't incentivize over-policing and couldn't think of one. But your option is perfect. There's obvio
by merpnderp 8y ago
I was trying to think of a place to stick the money that wouldn't incentivize over-policing and couldn't think of one. But your option is perfect. There's obviously no incentive for government employees to return money to tax payers, so if anything, this would incentivize under-enforcement of fines and fees.
- antsar 8y agoAren't government employees also taxpayers? The incentive is much weaker, but still there.
- Gibbon1 8y agoI thought long and hard about that one and decided that fines should be remitted to the social security administration and booked against the perps account as a contribution. As far as I can tell this is extremely easy to implement. And utterly removes any mal-incentives.
- maym86 8y agoIt means the fine could have less of a deterrant effect on anyone who can afford it as they can frame it as money they'll get back in the long run. Why not speed if your ticket counts towards your retirement. Having a inbuilt social good for breaking the law might make people more willing to do so as they can justify their illegal action as a contribution to public good.
- zipwitch 8y agoFines also need to be proportional to income, or you're (potentially) doing far more harm than intended or neccessary to the poorest violators, and failing to deter the wealthier ones.
- Gibbon1 8y agoYou already have the problem that small fines aren't much of a deterrent effect on wealthy people. Though one might be surprised how butthurt well to do people can be over trivial amounts of money. A mitigating thing is monthly SS insurance benefits max out.
- maym86 8y agoSpeed until you max out your social security benefit is a crazy incentive.
- Gibbon1 8y agoYou can also max out the points on your license and your insurance companies patience.
- maym86 8y agoThat happens either way, the discussion is about having an effective fine to discourage people and crediting the person's social security account clearly doesn't do that.
- Gibbon1 8y agoI don't think you actually understand how the social security program works.
- maym86 8y agoJust saying someone doesn't understand something because they disagree with your idea is not a constructive argument. You pay in monthly based on income up to a maximum amount. If you say a speeding fine just counts towards my monthly contribution and is deducted from what I have to pay anyway why not speed?
- slededit 8y agoThat way if I want to contribute more than the maximum to my 401k I can use this as a workaround. And drive super fast too!
- BLKNSLVR 8y agoUse it to fund Internal Affairs...
- QuadmasterXLII 8y agoHave the defendant bring the fine in cash, and ritually burn it with witnesses present. This is equivalent to collecting the money, because it allows the government to print slightly more money without inflation, but verifiably prevents anyone directly involved from pocketing it.