[phil_will1]

You should check the link out - there is a graph of the pages of the system that is quite revealing. It validates what I have been saying for some time - the growth in complexity of the current system is unsustainable. If we don't get serious about Fundamental Tax Reform on a proactive basis, we will have to do so when the system collapses of its own enormous weight.

The second point is that this article by Cato does a good job of laying out a few of the problems with the current system (a thorough and exhaustive treatment would have been longer than War and Peace). However, their solution - the Flat Tax - is totally inadequate for the magnitude of the problem. It is the equivalent of treating a cancer patient with aspirin. These guys MUST be kidding.

[phil_will1]

tax reform bump

[upchuck]

BUMP!

[ZOOKER]

Heard a fellow on the radio this morning that suggested 10 members of the US Congress be selected at random and forced to figure their own taxes.

Any Senator or Representative that made a mistake was to be immediately executed.

He guaranteed that the tax code would be simplified by next April 15th. Sounds like it would work to me.

[ancient_geezer]

A Taxreform bump for you all.

"A hand from Washington will be stretched out and placed upon every man's business; the eye of the federal inspector will be in every man's counting house....The law will of necessity have inquisical features, it will provide penalties, it will create complicated machinery. Under it men will be hauled into courts distant from their homes. Heavy fines imposed by distant and unfamiliar tribunals will constantly menace the tax payer. An army of federal inspectors, spies, and detectives will descend upon the state."
-- Virginian House Speaker Richard E. Byrd, 1910, predicting the consequences of an income tax.

 

If you would like to be added to this ping list let me know.

 

Thomas Hobbes from Leviathan

• It is fairer to tax people on what they extract from the economy, as roughly measured by their consumption, than to tax them on what they produce for the economy, as roughly measured by their income.

[Montesquieu wrote in Spirit of the Laws, XIII,c.14:]

• "A capitation is more natural to slavery; a duty on merchandise is more natural to liberty, by reason it has not so direct a relation to the person."

 

-- a free people that pays slave taxes to its government is willingly training itself for bondage.
Alan Keyes 1999

[jolie560]

...(spoof of Schedule A)...

"line 27 (Miscellaneous Deductions)---your deduction is limted by 2.5% (.025) of your Federal AGI on line 34, unless your deduction is listed as exempt in Publication 930 (Miscellaneous Deduction Exemptions). In that case, your deduction on line 27 is limited by 50% of the amount on line 22 (total income) less any excess charitable donations listed on Schedule A--line 17 (Carryover from prior year). This deduction may not exceed $5,000."

[jocon307]

"However, their solution - the Flat Tax - is totally inadequate for the magnitude of the problem. It is the equivalent of treating a cancer patient with aspirin"

Well what do you suggest, a "national sales tax" or VAT or "consumption tax'? I think these would be regressive.

Or are you a "one tax" person, like who was it? Henry George? Is that right? Only a tax on property? I'd go with that, but only if you restricted the franchise to those same tax paying property owners.

Let me know, je suis curious! (Like John Kerry, NOT! His motto, taxes: the more the better!)

[lilylangtree]

What I find interesting as well as outrageous is that there is one very small statutory line that permits the govt to tax its citizenry.

[whereasandsoforth]

I wonder (often) why a sales tax is great for cities and states, but is wrong for the federal government. I'm not pushing for one. I'm just wondering.

[vannrox]

[Protagoras]

However, their solution - the Flat Tax - is totally inadequate for the magnitude of the problem. It is the equivalent of treating a cancer patient with aspirin. These guys MUST be kidding.

With all due respect, ignorance of the all the policy papers that that Cato produces might lead one to the mistaken, out of context, conclusion that you drew. I realize THIS article, and it's one line, by THIS author, on this ONE NARROW tax issue leads one to think that they think the flat tax is the ultimate solution they recommend.

For a more complete view, please visit their website, go to issues, taxes, and see ALL the articles and studies and possible solutions they offer there.

A consumption tax might be the number one recommendation. Thanks.

[tdadams]

I was on the IRS website the other day. I knew it was a tangled mess of Leviathan paperwork, but I had no idea how many forms, schedules, and pages of instruction the IRS publishes. It's truly shameful that we have such a complex system that has obviously been well-carved to cater to the friends of those in Congress.