Letters to the Editor
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Simple Solution
Huckabee will just appoint Chuck Norris to lead the United States Fair Tax Federal Revenue Administration and State Tax Authority Reconciliation Service.
Piece of cake.
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To Mike Wanabee
Can omniscient God, who Knows the future, find
The omnipotence to Change His future mind?
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More class warfare from the GOP
Thank you Salon for publishing this article and raising awareness on Huckabee's "Fair" Tax proposal. It's important to know that Huckabee's Republican brand of populism is all about shifting even more of the tax burden on to the middle class, lower middle class and working class while lightening the load of the upper middle class and wealthy. That's typical. Reagan did the same, as Social Security taxes (or payroll taxes) have skyrocketed since 1980 to compensate for total income tax cuts. Since Americans are only taxed on the first $88,000 they make, this is a nifty little way of giving the little guy a break (in the neck) while making him think you're doing him a favor because he thinks ... great, last year I was paying 30 percent federal income tax; this year I'm paying 25 percent. If the press was covering Republican tax policies in any sort of depth for the past 30 years, the American public would have never let the GOP get away with the evisceration of the strong, healthy middle class created by FDR's New Deal policies. If this article is accurate, the Fair Tax is a way to *really* stick it to those of us who primarly work for our livings rather than invest inherited wealth. Just one question ... if the Fair Tax is so great for the wealthy, why is the GOP monied establishment treating Huckabee as if he is the second coming of Joseph Stalin? If there is one thing I've learned about Rightys after reading their publications for all of these years is they know money; they know it really well. When it comes to what policies will put the most dollars in their pockets, even the most casual Righty gets terribly wonkish. So shouldn't they be embracing Huck? You'd think a national sales tax would be their wet dream come true because they could do most of their shopping during overseas trips, saving them thousands and thousands and giving them an excuse to travel to boot. Anyone have any idea why not more of the Greedy Old Party is on board with Huck?
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Can you provide support for your claims wrt tax cut and tax increase?
I'm not disputing you Brad, but your argument is weakened since you don't appear to support it with a link to anyone or anything. Other important questions are: how much of a tax cut and how much of a tax increase....
Other notes: my general feeling is that the Federal Department of Sales Tax Collection and Auditing is not even in the same order of magnitude of the size of the IRS, and most of it can be done by computers.
One benefit to a Sales Tax that hits people with EVERY single purchase is that it might lead more people to civic participation -- understanding how their money is being spent. Now the downside is that most people will be ever more vigilant in refusing to fund schools but they may also refuse to fund prisons and stupid laws that increase the prison population. They may also start remembering which lawmakers fund bridges to nowhere, and which ones create corporate welfare.
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Other benefits: it eliminates an enormous burden for many private citizens, eliminates a big layer of overhead for business, and decriminalizes failure
Comparing income tax reporting and collection to health care insurance company overhead, the benefit of a sales tax is that:
- Individuals and families faced with noticeably less stress in March and April. This is important in a society and world that just keeps getting more and more complex, more and more busy, and finds us spending more and more of our time to fulfill OTHER people's needs, and not our own needs. I think a lot of people would trade a bit of tax inequity for a great deal of tax reporting simplification.
- Large business now keeps two sets of books, right? Legally they are required to. There are the books for the IRS to one set of regulations, and another set of books for the SEC. Both large and small businesses would have a large external cost lifted from them through tax reporting simplification. What would the effect of such a benefit be to their productivity?
- It's tragic that well meaning people can be hounded literally into debt or prison by the IRS and forced to hire accountants and lawyers that many cannot afford. I have felt this myself, and I have seen a $100,000 claim against me by the IRS ($100,000 after their final tally of penalties and interest) literally transform overnight into a $5,000 refund when they acknowledged they had lost a $15,000 quarterly payment that I had sent in in a timely fashion.
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My Tax Plan
Pitchforks and torches, the proletariat taking back the McMansions from the Haliburton Fat Cats.
See ya in 2012 - Scorched Earth Party
"There is no problem so large that I cannot be solved by killing everyone involved."
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Replace "Sales" With "Value-Added"
So a national point-of-sale tax would be just about the stupidest way to apply a transaction tax, because it hits only once in the cycle, and basic items are taxed the same as luxury items. A VAT works a little better, because the more processing an item requires, the more tax is built in to the final cost. Thus, fresh vegetables are taxed maybe once or twice, the components that eventually go into creating a Rolls-Royce are taxed multiple times. Since the rich don't necessarily care about the cost of their luxury goods, besides them being priced out of the reach of normal citizens, so much the better. And if fresh food items become substantially cheaper than processed foods, we have a win for the poor.
However, I don't know if the average American taxpayer understands exactly how much money it takes to run our government. Either way, a VAT or a sales tax will add substantially to the prices at the register. You may not see a drain on your paycheck any more, but you'll see a drain on your receipts.
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Ron Paul Does NOT Support the "Fair Tax"
Thank you for pointing out the problems with Huckabee's so-called Fair Tax plan. However, your statement,
All of the GOP's second-tier candidates -- Alan Keyes, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul -- are FairTax proponents ...
is incorrect. Ron Paul does not support this dangerous scheme. He is in favor of abolishing the IRS, period ... and replacing it with nothing (certainly not a 23% national sales tax). He would make up for the lost revenue by ending our overseas empire, bringing the troops home, and pushing for deep spending cuts.
Please check with the Paul campaign or at his web site if you want to confirm this.