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Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by siftrics on Monday May 15, 2023 @11:18AM (#35949613)
In the US, you can give extra money to reduce the deficit. You cannot redirect what you already owe so that it all goes towards reducing the deficit.

So I think your point "nonono, I didn’t mean to pay down the debt with my money!" is moot.

Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by amalcon on Monday May 15, 2023 @11:24AM (#35949706)
That sort of direction wouldn't be meaningful anyway, since money is fungible.
Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by jonhohle on Monday May 15, 2023 @11:44AM (#35950096)
It’s not like money that was previously allocated for debt service could then be moved to something else. In AZ we can direct about $4k to specific organizations and receive a 1:1 tax credit. That impacts revenues, but not how much those programs would receive otherwise.
Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by amalcon on Monday May 15, 2023 @11:45AM (#35950114)
They could obviously just issue new debt, though.
Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by siftrics on Monday May 15, 2023 @01:29PM (#35951607)
You can make tax-deductible donations to certain organizations. This results in them getting more funding than they otherwise would. Sure, redirections may not modify the budget of the US government programs directly, but it does have meaningful impact on the world.
Re:U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr by digging on Monday May 15, 2023 @11:47AM (#35950165)
It would be if federal budgets were determined by the allocations people indicated on their tax filings. But that would be a mess if unrestricted.