Government shall offer no benefit nor deny any privilege to one citizen that it does not offer or deny equally to all citizens.


As long as the government is in the business of redistributing wealth there will be enormous problems. Public corruption and entitlement mentality are two of the worst aspects. You see it at every level of government.

This does not mean government can't implement a social safety net for people who run into trouble for whatever reason. This amendment would make sure the net is available equally to all citizens. The overall effect of this would be to discourage government from being too intrusive into its citizen's privacy or patronizing of citizen's lifestyles.

If government believes people should have a minimum level of health care, that would be OK as long as that minimum level is made available equally to all citizens. Equally means equally. No income test, no qualifications, no kidding. You could buy more if you wanted it, or if you purchased insurance that would pay for it, but whatever the government provided, would be available to all citizens without further qualification. We might have to start small, perhaps with emergency treatments, immunizations, checkups, antibiotics, glasses and dental cleanings. But we'd do it for everyone who wanted to use the government provided service. If we found we could afford acute and chronic disease treatments, prophylactic medications, even cosmetic treatments we could provide them too.

Public education already works this way. The government offers a basic service. You can use it if you want or buy something more to your liking. It's not called "socialized education" even though that's exactly what it is. There is no income test wherein students whose parents earn more than some threshold are turned away.

Government may want to assure that no citizen starves. Food stamps could be offered. Under the 28'th, if the government offered stamps or WIC debit cards then everyone who wants them can get them, regardless of their income or assets. Maybe the government would rather run a soup kitchen. It would have to be open to anyone, even the wealthy.

Free government housing would work the same way.  A government provided roof over your head would be offered equally to anyone who wants it. It could be a tent, townhouse or a McMansion. It just depends on how much the people are willing to spend.

Government would be prevented from giving public money to non-profits, political and other organizations (forget the $3 political contribution checkoff on your 1040 and all public election funding. The politicians don't want it anyway because of the strings attached, and the Internet is turning out to be a better solution.) or other private organizations unless they gave the same money to anyone who asked. You might think this would cripple NGO's like the Red Cross. And it might cause some disruption at first, but it would make it necessary for the NGO's to get their money from the people, not the governments.

Unemployment insurance and welfare would also be prohibited unless government decided to send subsidy checks to every citizen. If they just served the poor or unemployed they would not be permitted under the 28th. Workers worried about gaps in employment could purchase private insurance if they really wanted it.