Briefing · audio

The Electorate briefing

The simplified version. Same bargain as the front page. Three minutes, not a paper. Transcript is below the player.

Transcript

1. Maya

   This is The Electorate briefing. Short version. Not the working paper. I'm Maya.

2. William

   I'm William. I wrote the paper. If you only remember one sentence, remember this: if you don't want the federal vote, don't take it. If you do, take the duties.

3. Maya

   That's the slogan. What's the actual offer?

4. William

   It's an opt-out program. Regular Citizen status. No federal income tax up to two hundred thousand dollars. No federal welfare. No draft. No federal vote. And a one-time debt package: up to a hundred thousand on student loans, fifty thousand on a mortgage, twenty thousand on credit cards. Then you go live your life. Focus on local issues.

5. Maya

   So Washington just pays people to stop voting?

6. William

   No. Washington buys future liabilities. Social Security, Medicare, the long tail. Dimes on the dollar, because a check today is cheaper than decades of old-age insurance. Then it negotiates with creditors for more savings. It is a buyout, not a new welfare program.

7. Maya

   Who actually takes that?

8. William

   The twenty-six-year-old with eighty thousand in student loans who does not care about D.C. The couple who want a house more than they want a primary. The people who already don't vote, and would like that to be legal, complete, and done. A quarter of adults sat out the last three presidential cycles. This just tells the truth about them.

9. Maya

   That's the opt-out. You also built a path for people who aren't citizens yet.

10. William

    That's the Left wedge. A path to citizenship. New Citizen status. Legal. Not the ballot. Not the benefits. You pay taxes until a hundred thousand dollars has been contributed, or for ten years. No criminal history. You have to speak English. People who self-deported go first. After that, you can apply for the Electorate. You do not assume it.

11. Maya

    And for people who do want the vote?

12. William

    That's the Right wedge. We call that class The Electorate. SAVE Act documentary proof of citizenship. Balanced budgets. A smaller voting roll. Two thousand dollars if you skip a federal election without an excuse. National service. You keep Social Security and Medicare as they exist. You also take the job.

13. Maya

    Fewer voters. Harder roll. Duties attached.

14. William

    Yes. Respect the people who are done with federal politics. Hold the people who keep the ballot to the duties attached to it.

15. Maya

    Can Congress just pass this?

16. William

    No. Wrap it as a New Deal package if you want the politics to work. Do not pretend it fits in ordinary statute. Constitutional amendments would be required. This is a working paper, not law. The caps are proposed. If you want the long version, it's on the site.

17. Maya

    The Electorate briefing. Episode one. The opt-out.

Caps are proposed. This is not enacted law. Back to the opt-out · Full framework