Posted on 08/20/2012 9:46:12 AM PDT by Starman417
I have a confession to make - I've been a bit of a hypocrite on one issue. I like to rib my lefty pals for their inability to offer any realistic, constructive solutions to the problems that they want to solve. There is no energy source we can use that won't have a leftist opposing its construction, and none of them are willing to offer any kind of realistic policy for satisfying our energy needs. On the federal budget, they love to call for raising taxes that nobody will pay to balance the budget, while oblivious to the fact that we're beyond the point where tax increases can have any meaningful impact. To some degree I've weighed in on taxes, and I didn't give the conservatives much better treatment than the leftists when I had to explain that conservatives are the reason we're never going to see a flat tax or a fair tax. Sure, I've weighed in with some proposals for tax increases to support our military by taxing the free riders (as in the rest of the world), and I've also called for tax increases designed to curb areas that hurt economic activity (politicians, lobbyists and trial lawyers). While my last two ideas would help raise revenues and modify some behaviors, in the larger scheme of things they would not have a huge impact given how ridiculously complex our tax situation is. And neither of my last two proposals have any chance of even being considered politically. So I've been guilty of the same accusation I so often throw out about not having any ideas that are both constructive and realistic.
Until now.
After a local Tea Party meeting one of my fellow attendees reached out to me and asked me to look over a proposal he had for tax reform. Given that this city has no shortage of people with grand ideas I was naturally skeptical. But then I read his proposal for the Neutral Tax, and when I was done reading I had just one thought... "What on Earth did this guy just say?" So I read it again, and it started to make sense. I didn't share my initial reaction to disparage the Neutral Tax - it's just that it's such a different idea from anything I had read before that it didn't sink in on the first reading. Think back to when you were in school and the first time you saw something like "Se habla Espanol?", or "(x + 2)(y + 3) =20", or your first Supply and Demand curve. Looking back you know that none of these concepts are complicated, but the first time you saw them it took a brief recalibration of your brain to comprehend what you're looking at. If the first time you read the white paper (it's an easily digestible four pages) it sounds like a foreign language read it again. It's not a difficult concept; in fact it's so simple it could actually work. Here is a quick summary:
The federal government stops taxing citizens directly, and instead applies a flat tax that is assessed against each individual state. It is then up to each state to decide how it wants to tax its residents. From there the state still keeps its cut for its own obligations while sending the feds their share.
That's it, as simple as that. Really.
Changing over to a Neutral Tax system has a number of advantages:
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
AND drilling on Federal Lands that We The People own, we could use those royalties and earnings to pay OFF the 16 T debt. Keep the money here at home and not in Canada, or Mexico or the Middle East. Create jobs. Become energy independent. Appoint Sarah Palin as Energy Secretary. She is tough and reformed the oil industry and their strong hold over Alaska. And yes, I’ve sent this suggestion to the Romney campaign.
How would the “flat tax” be accessed against each State? By population? How is this any better than what we have now?
There will be no serious reform in our political system as long as we cling to the current failed tax system.
I don't know if THIS idea is the solution but at least it continues the conversation on how to reform the US tax system.
It’s an interesting idea, and while the mechanism of taxation is a problem, it’s the spending at the federal level that is really “The” problem - and this doesn’t seem to address that, at least not directly.
This doesn’t prevent the fed from spending, it just keeps them out of the details of collecting.
I guess it would help, perhaps as a first step, but I get the feeling it wold be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Tax AND regulatory relief are the only meaningful stimulus to the economy. All else is a waste of time, money , and lives.
A flat tax eliminates all loopholes, gimmes, tax subsidies and other corruption in the current code. It would be the single greats blow Americans could strike to the Progessive movement. There is a direct link between the rise of the Progressive movement to political dominance in the USA and the implementation of the Income Tax.
While they’re at it, return the election of senators to the state governments.
It just won't happen..
The spending and waste are out of control. These people waste our hard earned money like it is going out of style. They are very free handed when it comes to spending OUR money. We can only hope to replace a majority of them, especially those with a D next to their name. And Boehner too. And McConnell too. I’m not a fan of either of them.
It would be interesting, under this mechanism, to see what power a state would have to withold remittances to the federal government as punishment for 10th Amendment violations.
If such a “neutral tax” would be implemented, I would like to see the retroceding of all federal lands and resource rights back to the states where those lands reside.
It was an awful mess of a political cronyism system that had everyone hating Rome.
Bring back the Tax Farmer.
Which is exactly why it will never come to pass. Unless we can replace all the scumbags in Washington in a relatively short span of time.
It is a reality, and there is plenty of historical evidence to backup the fact that when the federal government opens a new source and means of tax revenue, you end up getting that in addition to all the other legal means of taxation.
Regardless of WHAT IS SAID, regardless of the WELL-MEANING INTENTIONS AND PROMISES, as long as there is a 16th Amendment in place, there will be an income tax on individuals.
And the income tax code always grows like a cancer to metastacize. There have been 5 major reforms since 1913 on the federal income tax code and each time it has been made flatter, simpler and seemingly more fair only to metastacize into a monstrous complexity that is anything but flat, simple or fair.
Now the neutral tax would need to amend the Constitution to repeal the 16th Amendment OR amend it to give states the right to opt out of a federal income tax on its residents if the neutral tax is imposed.
The neutral tax is also not new and taxes similar to it were applied to states before 1913 as direct taxes with apportionment.
The FairTax is the best reform by far and solves every REPEAT EVERY problem that the federal income tax creates. Of course tax evasion will always be a problem but much easier to enforce against under the FairTax code than under the current income tax code.
EVERYONE STUDY UP!!!
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_faq
That’s what I’ve been quietly advocating for years.
The IRS should be no more than two guys who work two weeks a year. One week they write up the tax bill for each state & territory (based on a suitable population equation, akin* to Congressional or Electors distribution) and mail it, and one week to deposit the checks. One guy checks the other’s work.
Done.
Let each state work out how its residents will pony up the taxes. Let citizens move to whatever state they see fit & fair for taxation.
* - “akin” = I’m open to suggestions.
I appreciate the FairTax. Looks good as written. Thing is, like the Income Tax it won’t stay that way long.
I have a problem with inserting federal tentacles into every retail transaction nationwide. The “21% tax on buying a Coke” will, thanks to a powerful national data infrastructure and data mining techniques, will soon become “21% base tax on buying a Coke, but based on your above-average income we’re jacking it to 25%, based on it being a soda we’re jacking it to 35%, based on your medical records we’re jacking it to 50%, based on your frequency of soda purchase we’re jacking it to 60%, and based on your unpaid parking ticket we’re sending the in-store cop to your register to arrest you right now.”
I’ve watched the history of government for a long time. You don’t want to give the feds the power to monitor every transaction.
You want the Neutral Tax: federal involvement ends at the state line, with the governor writing an annual check.
I disagree. While the tax code certainly is a boon to the rise in government power, ultimately it’s the money raised by taxes that is the fundamental source of that power. Unless this plan dramatically decreases how much government can spend, scrapping one tax code for another simpler code only makes our chains a bit more comfortable.
As long as we refuse to scrap the existing code with its thousands of hidden taxes, we will see no real reform in our political system. You must scrap the existing code 1st, not hold out for some never to be realized "perfect" tax system
The FairTax scraps the income tax code and ensures the 16th Amendment is repealed.
There is no means in an absence of an income tax code and a 16th Amendment for the federal government to apply different retail tax rates based on income or to tax anything different from one state to another. Therefore, the federal government will abide by the Uniformity Provisions of the US Constitution.
It is important to understand the FairTax replaces current taxation so that a 2x4 in Home Depot sits on the the shelf today at a price of $2 and it will still be after the national retail sales tax (NRST) a total purchase of $2 under the FairTax. This is because the taxes levied on the supply chain by the income tax code inflate the price of products by about 22% on average and the FairTax gets rid of that 22% and replaces it with 22% NRST. It’s a replacement tax and will never allow a simultaneous income and retail tax because it scraps the income tax code and repeals the 16th Amendment.
The FairTax rate is self-regulating. The code requires Congress to vote on the rate every year so that everyone will see what their rep voted for. It must be the same rate for all goods and services AT THE RETAIL LEVEL, never business to business (B2B). It must be uniform to comply with the US Constitution across all states.
The feds will not be monitoring every transaction but the can always investigate, even now. The states will be monitoring more as collectors of federal sales tax. It’s a fact that more than 70% of all retail transactions occur in about 3000 retain chains. This makes very easy to monitor and enforce collections. Also the Fed and the State can conduct investigations by having an agent purchase a retail good or service and then watching if it gets reported to the state. So sting operations will be easy to conduct. These types of facts make it very easy to enforce taxation under the FairTax.
Also the underground economy such as drug dealers, prostitution and so forth will finally be paying their share of taxes because they have to buy retail goods and services and every time they spend on retail they will be paying federal sales tax.
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