How do contributions to personal pension schemes affect income tax position?

What do you think of my ten proposed Constitutional amendments?

• I'm working on a few more too. I think the main reason that American government is so troubled right now is that our politicians are not beholden enough to the right people.  I know this is a long shot. What I'm mainly looking for is feedback as to what you think the strong and weak points are in these amendments, assuming they could be passed. Draft - November 2, 2013 Whereas, the United States Constitution was written in excess of 224 years in the past and; Whereas, the sum effect of adherence to the Document by government, along with the Amendments and judicial interpretations in the intervening time; has been insufficient to prevent the subordination of the political process to dogma, corruption, graft, and partisanship; And Whereas, the people of the United States of America have among their collective recourses to the above grievances the Right to see the  Constitution Amended; provided a three-fourths majority of the States shall agree upon a proposed change; Proposed, a Series of Amendments to the United States Constitution. Article 1. Regulation of Financial Transactions as Speech Section 1: Financial transactions to which an elected representative, appointed government official, legally-empowered public employee, or applicant or candidate for any such office or position; or the spouse, immediate family member, or any confederate of such a person; is party shall be held as a distinct class of Speech, and shall be subject to limitation and regulation as the law shall direct. Section 2: All information concerning any and all financial transactions made or agreed to be made between any person or entity and any person whose financial dealings are subject to Section 1 of this Article; shall be public record. Section 3: No information concerning transactions subject to this Article shall ever be withheld from any U.S. citizen seeking access to it. Nor shall any such information under any circumstances be classified, redacted, abridged, or destroyed. Loss or partial loss of such information through carelessness or negligence shall be a felony, and shall be punishable as the law shall direct. Section 4: Failure by any person subject to Section 1 of this Article to honestly and unreservedly disclose to the public information concerning financial transactions subject to this article or to proactively cooperate with requests for information concerning such disclosures or the details of the transactions disclosed, shall be a misdemeanor if negligent and a felony if willful, and shall be punishable as the law shall direct. Section 5: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 2. Regulation of Campaign Finance Section 1: No person or entity shall donate or bequeath, either directly or by means of a living or non-living intermediary, to any Candidate running for office in a constituency in which he or she has no standing to vote. Section 2: No Candidate or Incumbent running for election shall ever use his or her own personal funds, or the personal funds of a spouse, family member, or confederate; in excess of a combined, campaign-long total of  the equivalent of fifty thousand U.S. dollars in the year 2013. Section 3: Any candidate for any elected office who, as of 24 hours prior to the opening of the polls, shall have had more than one-tenth of one percent of his or her total accepted campaign funds donated by any one person or entity shall be stricken from the ballot. Section 4: At no time shall any person induce another to vote for or donate funds to a Candidate, or to refrain from voting for or donating funds to a Candidate; by means of threats or infliction of reprisal, or by the threat or infliction of any form of deprivation or duress. Such conduct shall be considered a felony and shall be punishable as the law shall direct. Section 5: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 3. Regulation of Official Speech Section 1: The speech of elected representatives and of appointed government officials shall be held as a distinct class of Speech, subject to limitation. Section 2: Elected representatives and appointed government officials shall ensure that any and all statements made by them which are directed toward or which may be communicated to the public or their constituents or to the press are accurate, factual, and as complete as possible while protecting properly classified information. Section 3: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 4. Apportionment of House Representatives and Definition of Districts Section 1: Voting district boundaries within the States at all levels and for all branches of government shall be determined by splitting the population into equally sized groups divided by the shortest possible absolutely straight line; and shall not be subject to changes by legislation or official mandate. Section 2: The Census Bureau shall have the responsibility for conducting redistricting, this process being completed within 180 days from the ratification of this article and thereafter within 120 days from the issuance of each Census. Altered districts shall become effective upon the intervention of an election. Section 3: In the House of Representatives, the representative-to-population ratio of each of the States shall not exceed that of the State entitled to the smallest number of total representatives; and at no time shall there be fewer than one representative for every one million persons in any State, excepting when there shall be fewer than one million total persons in a State, in which case the one representative minimum for each State shall be preserved. Section 4: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 5. Election of Senators Section 1: The Seventeenth Amendment to this Constitution is hereby repealed. Section 2: U.S. Senators shall be nominated by the Governor of each State from among the members of that State’s duly-elected Legislature, subject to the selectee’s acceptance and a simple majority confirmation vote by the other members of that State’s Legislature. Section 3: State Legislature seats vacated by confirmed Senators shall be filled as the Constitution of that State shall dictate. Section 4: The Governor of a State may recall one or both of that State’s Senators, subject to a simple majority confirmation-of-recall by the Legislature. Recalled Senators shall continue to serve in all capacities until a replacement has been selected and confirmed, and has traveled to the seat of government and has declared his or her readiness to assume the office; unless the U.S. Senate shall resolve by at least a three-quarters majority that the recalled Senator should be immediately disempowered due to demonstrable professional or legal misconduct. Section 5: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 6. Compensation of Elected Representatives Section 1: The Twenty-Seventh Amendment to this Constitution is hereby repealed. Section 2: Upon taking office, the real estate property and financial assets of each elected representative and appointed government official at the State and Federal levels shall be held and maintained in blind trust until such time as that person is divested of the powers and responsibilities of office. Persons subject to this article shall be provided with serviceable accommodations and transportation for themselves and such dependents or immediate family as may accompany them. Section 3: Elected Representatives’ and appointed government officials’ yearly salaries shall at no time exceed two times the average yearly income, after taxes, of people of the United States, to include the unemployed between the lawfully-established ages of majority and of highest age of eligibility for retirement benefits, if any. Salaries subject to this article shall be tabulated and set every twenty-four months and shall take effect on the third day of January in every even-numbered year. Section 4: No elected representative or appointed government official shall draw a pension from service in that office. Outgoing elected representatives may be entitled to a severance payment equal to up to 180 days’ current wages, subject to a simple majority direct confirmation vote by his or her constituents at the time he or she leaves office. Outgoing elected representatives shall be eligible to draw unemployment benefits in accordance with the laws of their respective State. No special privileges shall be enacted for outgoing elected representatives or appointed government officials pursuant to unemployment benefits. Section 5: While in office, any attempt by any incumbent elected representative or appointed government official or legally-empowered public employee, or candidate for any such office or position, to leverage his or her position, authority, or powers of office to attain position, gain personal favor, or secure additional income either while in office or thereafter shall be a felony, and both the official and any other involved parties shall be punished as the law shall direct. Section 6: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 7. Funding of the Government Section 1: Congress shall allocate funds within the federal budget to pay the nation’s debts, sufficient to avoid default on those debts. The federal debt shall never be paid by further borrowing. Section 2: No federal program or line item in the federal budget shall be more than fifty percent funded, and no Department of the Executive Branch shall be more than twenty-five percent funded; by borrowed monies or by bonds, credit, or deferrals. Upon ratification of this article, the federal government shall have eight years to achieve full compliance with the provisions of this section. After this time has elapsed, the federal government shall borrow no additional funds while not in compliance with this section. Section 3: The federal government shall only borrow money in such amount as can be repaid, in full, within fifty years or less. Upon ratification of this article, the federal government shall have twenty-four years to achieve full compliance with the provisions of this section. After this time has elapsed, any portion of the total federal debt which has been held or recycled for greater than fifty years must be paid, in full, immediately, without any further borrowing. Section 4: Failure by Congress to pass a new federal budget by midnight preceding the expiration date of the current one shall result in the previous budget being automatically renewed for a full year, or until a new budget is passed. No temporary resolution shall ever be used in place of a full and duly-passed federal budget. Section 5: The government shall not engage in the practice of offering no-bid contracts; nor shall it contract for any item which is commercially available to the general public in a functionally-identical form. Section 6: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 8. Income Taxation Section 1: No income tax shall be levied at any level of government which shall cause any taxpayer to be burdened with a greater base rate of income taxation than any higher-income taxpayer Section 2: Any and all sources of income other than wages, if taxed; shall be taxed at a rate at least equal to the rate of income taxation levied upon each person so taxed. Section 3: No income tax subsidy, reduction, benefit, or rebate shall be granted to any taxpayer, unless it shall affect all lower-income taxpayers also so taxed to at least a proportionally equal extent. Section 4: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 9. No Immunity for Government Officials Section 1: No elected representative shall receive immunity from prosecution for any act which he or she shall have committed while he or she was in office. Section 2: No elected representative shall be eligible for pardon or commutation of sentence for convictions related to conduct he or she engaged in while in office. Section 3: No public official accused of a crime shall receive immunity from investigation or from prosecution due to his or her position. Section 4: All allegations of misconduct by a public official or elected representative at any level shall be assessed and if corroborated and deemed both credible and legitimate, shall be fully investigated by qualified and impartial authorities. Section 5: At no time shall any allegations of misconduct by elected representatives or public officials be assessed or investigated internally by any entity to which the accused individual belongs. Such assessments and investigations shall be carried out by an entity sufficiently removed from the accused individual and from any entities to which the accused individual belongs so as to remain objective and impartial. Section 6: Any failure by any accused individual or entity to which that individual belongs to fully and unreservedly cooperate with any assessment or investigation; or any attempt by any individual or entity, without exception, to dishonestly influence the outcome of any assessment or investigation of any allegation of misconduct shall be a felony, punishable as the law shall direct. Section 7: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary. Article 10. The Right to Privacy Section 1: Every person who is on or within property which he or she owns in whole or in part or in which he or she legally abides and who is situated on or in such property in such a way that he or she is out of the immediate view and hearing of the public; shall have a right to privacy. Section 2: All forms of person-to-person electronic, digital, or telephonic communication along with information contained therein shall be protected from search or seizure without a warrant in accordance with the Fourth Amendment to this Constitution. Section 3: No government entity or government-funded or government-overseen entity shall, under any circumstances, conduct surveillance of any U.S. citizen without a court-approved warrant. Section 4: Every person shall be the sole owner of his or her personally-identifiable information, in perpetuity, and all contracts to the contrary shall be null and void. No government entity shall ever use this information such that any provision of this Article is circumvented or rendered ineffective; nor in any other way except as is specifically enumerated by law. No commercial entity shall use this information except as is specifically agreed to by the owner of that information, nor shall such entity ever require the disclosure of such information as a precondition to the rendering of advertised or publicly-offered services, except as is absolutely necessary in order to collect payment for a specifically agreed upon and fully disclosed service. Section 5: No elected representative or appointed government official shall be entitled to any expectation of privacy at any time or under any circumstances, while invested with the powers or responsibilities of office or position. No legally-empowered public employee or law enforcement official not meeting the preceding criteria shall be entitled to any expectation of privacy at any time  or under any circumstances, while acting in his or her official or empowered capacity. Section 6: Congress shall effect the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation, as necessary.

• Answer:

  You are right insofar as legalism is the way ...