The VAT Is Obama's License to Spend

FoxNews ^ | Apr 20, 2010 | Olivier Garret

[SmartInsight]

White House adviser and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker floated the idea of introducing a Value Added Tax (VAT) as part of an overhaul of the U.S. tax system in early April. Since then there has been significantly more buzz about the idea.

But both sides so far have been missing the largest issue: that a VAT is not just any old tax, it is a plague of potentially epic proportions that promises to further expand the size and scope of the federal government and prop open the spending floodgates for good.

[Wolfie]

Pssst...he’s not waiting for any license.

[EagleUSA]

Jobs? Forget about it. Tax the golden goose to death. Then see what happens...

[doc1019]

The VAT Is Obama's License to Spend

And his license to tax ...

[Man50D]

We already have a VAT. Corporations like individuals have taxes levied on their income. The difference is businesses consider the tax as a cost of doing business. They pass that cost onto the consumer at each stage of production by including it in the price. The VAT now being proposed will merely add a VAT on top of a VAT!

The far better method is to pass The Fair Tax Act(HR25/S296) that will replace all federal incomes taxes with a national sales tax and abolish the IRS! Fair Tax ping!

[fatnotlazy]

I don’t think we will see a fair tax at least not in this administration. These guys want to extract as much as possible from everyone with the intent to steal eveyrthing we have worked hard for and ultimately destroy us. Obama and his ilk can’t stand wealth...except for what they can steal for themselves.

[southernsunshine]

What keeps tickling the back of my mind is the simple majority I believe this congress intends to use to pass whatever measures/taxes they wish.

Having said that, I firmly believe the more people that know about, and understand, the FairTax, the more We The People will demand it!

What you said....abolish the IRS!!!!!

[Man50D]

I don’t think we will see a fair tax at least not in this administration.

BO/BS and his fellow socialist minions are not the government. The people are the government.

[Don Corleone]

Tree to mill $1.00

Mill to lumber yard..5.00

Lumber yard to Builder $10.00..

Builder to home buyer $20.00.

Now add the VAT...15, .75..$1.50.3.00. Government gets $5.40 out of nowhere and the ultimate consumer pays it all.A 27 percent tax to you all neatly hidden away. What a way to make the economy boom. Think what it will do to the cost of a car or TV with all the component parts each one being taxed along the way to a complete item. Correct me if I am wrong here....please.

[KC_Conspirator]

Whaaaa? He is acting like he has no license right now.

[FrankR]

A VAT tax will send a shudder across America. Buying anything will be slower, and more carefully thought out...necessities only.

My plan is to only buy things like groceries, but anything else I need, I will try very hard to find it "used" rather than buying "new".

If I need a lawn mower, tools, furniture, etc., I'll be checking the want ads, Craigs List, and eBay before going to buy it retail or wholesale.

Actually, if we buy something "used" in the VAT world, we should get a tax "refund" because used items are "VDT"... Value Deducted Tax" items.

The VAT is just another rung in the ladder to socialism...that "utopian dream" of all liberals and marxists.

But there is a question that never is discussed...Does anyone really think - even when we're paying 95% taxes in the future - that it will be enough? Do they really think these socialists will tell us, or even know, when we reach the proverbial "utopia".

What will be the announcement? Something like: "Okay everyone, we have attained Nirvana; everyone put down your tools and go home and relax; free groceries are available at all government owned stores; all schools are closed and all students get a free college degree certificate; do whatever you like, no ID required, you will received a free government check every week for the rest of your lives to spend on fun, dancing, and entertainment.".

Ludicrous? yes...but there are many out there who think obama is leading us to the fabled city of "Big Rock Candy Mountain", Willie Wonka land of fun and games...all free.

But the truth is, there will never be enough for him or his minions; they'll always be right there, wanting more from us...it will never end.

The obamabots think the world was built for them, and we should be the eunuchs to bring them fruit and piss buckets.

The man is insane, even a layman paying attention can tell that...he should be impeached and locked in a rubber room.

[streetpreacher]

You just keep telling yourself that every April 15th.

[Graybeard58]

My plan is to only buy things like groceries, but anything else I need, I will try very hard to find it "used" rather than buying "new".

Eventually, even the "used" things you buy will have been bought originally with the VAT added in, thereby making them cost more too.

[oyez]

The people are the government.

The people were the government.

[FrankR]

"Eventually, even the "used" things you buy will have been bought originally with the VAT added in, thereby making them cost more too. "

Well, that's true too, but most things - like furniture - have huge markups when bought new, and then a few months down the road you can buy them for a lot, lot less. And, the feds can't get their VAT a second time because NO VALUE has been ADDED.

But that is what he is driving us to..."BARTERWORLD". More and more businesses will go OUT of business, causing the loss of more and more jobs...thus more and more tax money lost to the FEDs...and what do those dumbasses do? Make upa new tax, of course.

Ya know, even if Harvard doesn't teach basic economics, he could listen to the Billy Preston song, "Nothing From Nothing Leaves Nothing" and learn what he needs to know.

Even if he knows full-well what he is doing, it is still insane. No man is an island, complete and unto himself (well, maybe excepting Hank Johnson, whose islands tend to tip over).

The kenyan can have all his czars and advisors, but they are a criminal lot, and eventually they will start to turn on each other...it's a guaranteed fact, it always happens. Without the people to back him up, obama could well find his "Brutus" amongst those who now serve him.

[pankot]

The VAT will go into the same “lockbox” as Social Security and be pissed away by Congress; just think of the earmarks this will buy the Crooks.

[BenKenobi]

Put it in perspective.

American top rates were about 15 percent lower than Canadian top rates at the end of the Bush administration:

35 vs about 29.

Advantage is about 6 percent.

add a 5 percent VAT to the Canadian numbers, and you are looking at a 1 percent spread, not taking into account provincial/state taxes.

In my province the PST is 7 and the income tax is 15 percent. In Texas thare is a VAT of around 7 percent, but no income tax.

This gives Texas a 15 percent competitive advantage over me here in Canada.

A national VAT, at say 7 percent will cut that competitive advantage in half for Texas against BC here in Canada, at least for all earners over 300k.

This is bad, very bad for the USA.

[M. Espinola]

Not only spend, but continue to steal tax funds.

[Impy]

The VAT won’t be passed this year. And the issue will be DOA in the next (R) congress

[ridesthemiles]

IIRC, this is not a substitute tax for sales taxes——it is an ADDITIONAL tax on each stage of production, and sales taxes will be charged on the VAT tax.

A Tas on a tas is illegal in the USA, butr it has been done for years, hammering customers with sales taxes on top excise taxes.