[ancient_geezer]

Hiding taxes in transactions out of the view of the electorate is like driving a car without brakes or speedometer.

Transaction taxes are a great formula for perpetually growing government. How does an electorate exercise "Eternal Vigilance" with government imposed horse blinders on?

If one must be taxed, one must be aware of how much they are being taxed. The cost of government must be perceived all as well as the largess demanded of government.

 

A Taxreform bump for you all.

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

John Linder in the House & Saxby Chambliss Senate, offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and payroll taxes outright, and provide a IRS free replacement in the form of a retail sales tax:

H.R.25, S.1493
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.

Refer for additional information: http://www.fairtax.org & http://www.salestax.org

[Poohbah]

A consumption tax, with the tax clearly denoted on the receipt in big numbers, is my preferred solution.

[Bigun]

If one must be taxed, one must be aware of how much they are being taxed. The cost of government must be perceived all as well as the largess demanded of government.

A M E N ! ! !

[Remember_Salamis]

I agree on this tax. But, I'd be careful about making this argument. Conservative opponents of the FairTax are already making this claim in regards to the NRST. A month ago, Ramesh Ponnuru wrote a piece in the National Review in essence saying that the NRST is TOO efficient and painless, making it easier to raise taxes. He further states that a flat tax would exact enough pain on the taxpayer to prevent further tax hikes.

I love the NRST, but I've been thinking lately about an idea and I've mentioned it to you before: apportioning the tax bill among the states. You replied to my idea that that the Articles of Confederation had such a setup, and it was a failure. But that's not true. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Federal Government had NO authority to tax states and basically had to ASK for money.

So here's my proposal:

Funding for all non-defense spending will be apportioned among the states. Funding for Defense, Homeland Security, and border patrol will come from a tiny National Retail Sales Tax. Based on the 2003 budget and a 23% National Retail Sales Tax if the ENTIRE budget was funded by an NRST, The Defense/Homeland/Border NRST would only be 4 - 5%.

States will be able to collect their share of the tax bill whichever way they want, whether that be through sales taxes, income taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, or some ingenious method we haven't even thought of. Over time, states will demand that those federal programs the state can provide itself be eliminated. And there you have it: A hybrid, NeoFederalist Tax policy that shrinks the size of the Federal Government.