John,
An interesting idea, to pay taxes only for the services you actually
"use". As a member of the armed forces, I must ask how much we would
charge businesses (or individuals) for the protection provided. Of
course, you'll never get anything like that because no congressional
representatives would be able to help out their constituents through
entitlement programs.
When you right down to it, what you're proposing is federalism, taken to
the limit. I've always enjoyed an idea originated by Robert Heinlein in
_The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_: If a government wishes to institute any
new programs, then the people who propose and vote for the program, i.e.,
the legislators, should pay for it from their own pockets. I wonder how
interested Teddy Kennedy would be in socialized medicine then?
Steve