Letter to the editor: Incentivize whistleblowing

OPINION:

Kudos to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for launching a new program designed to reward whistleblowers with up to 30% of the fines imposed on fraudsters (“Treasury cracks down on cartels using illegal immigrants to rip off Medicaid, Medicare,” Web, March 30).

But what if the criminal fraudsters have already squandered or laundered their ill-gotten gains? In such cases, won’t the whistleblower who put themselves on the line out of a reward?

Mr. Bessent is on the right track with this idea, but there’s a far superior one to make America a healthier, more efficient nation.

In President Trump’s 2011 book, “Time to Get Tough,” he writes, “We’re going to have to invent our way out of the mess our country is in.”

I believe that’s half of the equation, with the other half being “incentivize our way out” of our now-$39 trillion national debt.

I propose what I call the Trump 1% Rule, under which any U.S. citizen who submits either a cost-saving or revenue-generating idea that makes the U.S. government’s balance sheet healthier would receive a one-time, 1% commission of the economic impact of the idea.

In effect, the U.S. government would receive 99% of the benefit of the idea, with the submitter receiving a tax-free 1% percent commission.

For example, there’s a wildly popular idea being pushed to eliminate “Super Sick Monday” — the day after the Super Bowl, on which millions of workers call in sick or show up hungover. The already established President’s Day is just a week away on the calendar. Having Presidents Day automatically back up to the Super Bowl would save U.S. businesses $3 billion in lost productivity.

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Given the 21% corporate tax rate, that’s $640 million that could be recouped to the Treasury in the form of lost tax revenue. And it’s $6.4 million in commission to the person who “owns” the inaugural Trump 1% Rule idea.

Using the collective brain power and genius of the innovative U.S. population, we can successfully combat the ticking time bomb that is our massive national debt. Just imagine how the 1% commission would incentivize the American people.

LUANA DUNN

Glen Burnie, Maryland