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Democratic Leaders Call on President Bush to Address Tax Simplification Now
Yahoo ^ | Dec 15, 2004 | Nancy Pelosi...

Posted on 12/15/2004 8:42:45 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection

December 15, 2004 President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As we approach a new session of Congress, Democrats and Republicans agree that we must reform the tax code now. Recent statements by Administration officials indicate that you may postpone the appointment of a tax reform advisory panel and may delay sending Congress a proposal until 2006. We are writing to encourage you to act now so that tax reform can move us toward a system that is more fair, less complex, and that adequately funds the budget without perennial deficits.

Democrats are committed to the following principles:

We look forward to working with you on a bipartisan basis to simplify the tax code for all Americans. Together, we can create a tax system that reflects common values and creates a more vibrant economy.

Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

    Sincerely,

Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader

Steny H. Hoyer
Democratic Whip

Robert Menendez
Democratic Caucus Chairman

Charles B. Rangel
Ranking Member, Committee on Ways and Means

John M. Spratt, Jr.
Ranking Member, House Budget Committee

George Miller
Ranking Member, Committee on Education and the Workforce

Rosa L. DeLauro
Co-Chair Steering and Policy


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: tax; taxes; taxreform
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

What a bunch of weenies.

They know tax simplification is a winning issue and they're trying to jump out front and steal W's thunder on this. We'll see that miserable woman on TV saying "we told the President" this and "we warned the President" on that.

The letter is crap.


41 posted on 12/15/2004 11:42:52 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Free Speech is a Right. Being Wrong is Just Wrong.)
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To: concerned about politics

"If Republicans want real tax reform and the elimination of wasteful social programs, they should make a bill saying every taxpayer has to sign a form saying they've been told exactly how much the government has taken from them in taxes each year. People would scream for reform if their tax rate was brought to their conscience attention."

***

I think they're aware of how much is taken away by seeing the gross and net on the check stub.

If you REALLY want people marching by torchlight to the IRS building, END WITHHOLDING. Once they have to start filing once a quarter and writing $1,000+ checks to the IRS every three months like self-employed people, they will go NUTS...


42 posted on 12/15/2004 11:58:41 AM PST by Zhangliqun (What are intellectuals for but to complexify the obvious?)
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To: Zhangliqun

Make it due only once a year, the day before elections!


43 posted on 12/15/2004 12:01:40 PM PST by CSM
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To: CSM

Gee, you think all those people that signed the letter are running for reelection?


44 posted on 12/15/2004 12:39:51 PM PST by EQAndyBuzz (60 votes and the world changes.)
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To: cowboyway

Not quite the case.

They really DO want to get this issue voted on and out of the way quickly - long before election 2006... they want the Senate Demodogs to kill any tax reform effort in 2005 and make it "old news" by the time the 2006 elections roll around.


45 posted on 12/15/2004 1:49:53 PM PST by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: concerned about politics

"They want Bush to start something so they can attack it and claim they'll "fix it for the sake of the children and the poor" if they're elected to replace Republicans in 2006."

-- How about fixing Social Security for the "children" and the "poor"?


46 posted on 12/15/2004 2:11:46 PM PST by Remember_Salamis (Freedom is Not Free)
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To: AFPhys
really DO want to get this issue voted on and out of the way quickly - long before election 2006

Maybe they really want to get it voted on, but they don't want bipartisan politics.

47 posted on 12/15/2004 2:12:36 PM PST by cowboyway (My Hero's have always been cowboys.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Democratic Leaders Call on President Bush to Address Tax Simplification Now

Translation, Democrats, "Bush, you are too good a poker player for us, so should your hand right now."

48 posted on 12/15/2004 2:16:37 PM PST by Paul C. Jesup
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To: xzins

2003 2004 2005
Outlays:
Discretionary:
Defense (DOD) 388 433 420
Nondefense 438 475 490
Total, Discretionary 826 908 910
Mandatory:
Social Security 470 492 510
Medicare 246 266 290
Medicaid and SCHIP 165 182 188
Other 298 314 320
Total, Mandatory 1,179 1,254 1,309
Net interest 153 156 178
Total Outlays 2,158 2,319 2,397
Receipts 1,782 1,791 2,037
Surplus/deficit 1 –375 –527 –360


49 posted on 12/15/2004 2:18:28 PM PST by Remember_Salamis (Freedom is Not Free)
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why fight this? lets so what we can do.

the one step, step to success
1.go to a fair tax/sales tax.
nothing more than that. lets not muddy the water with cuts in entitlements. once people SEE how much the taxes are when the buy something then the PEOPLE will rise up and end all this welfare state. WE MUST get taxes off of the pay stub and have it come out of the hands of tax payers. only then can we end the run away spending and truely reduce the tax load.

50 posted on 12/15/2004 3:54:49 PM PST by postaldave (ACLU = Anti-Christian, Liberal, and Un-American.)
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To: concerned about politics

"get back at the end of the year"

Get back, not here. I have raised my kids - my house is paid off and I still have the same income as before. I pay every year. I have tried quarterly payments and zero deductions nothing works. Lose money make money it makes no difference. I guess being rich (laugh here) is its own punishment being the overacheiving capitalist that I am. Rant off sorry


51 posted on 12/15/2004 4:53:08 PM PST by dozer7 (Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe)
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To: Remember_Salamis
I remember during the Bush/Perot/Clinton campaign they spoke of items that were not shown in the budget deficit that made it (far) larger than the numbers shown. Do you know what they were or is my memory faulty?
52 posted on 12/15/2004 6:32:49 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army and Proud of It!)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

http://www.fairtax.org


53 posted on 12/15/2004 6:33:45 PM PST by ApesForEvolution (You will NEVER convince me that Muhammadanism isn't a death cult that must end. Save your time...)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
All the comments about the duplicity, insincerity, and political calculation in this letter are undoubtedly correct. But it means something else too: the Dems are conceding that there is going to be tax reform, and that they won't like it. That is why they are already laying the groundwork to demonize it in '06.

I think that means that Dubya is going to pull this off, and they know it. And if it simplifies tax preparation even at little, it is not going to be demonizable in '06.

54 posted on 12/15/2004 6:44:08 PM PST by Southern Federalist
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To: xzins

Yeah, it's the SS surplus, which is applied to the defecit.

In 2003, $713B was collected from SS taxes, but only $470B was spent on SS payouts. That's a $243B surplus that pays for the debt generated by the general revenue fund. There's also something called the "off-budget surplus", but I'm not sure exactly what that is.

But if you look at all money coming into the gov't and all money going out, they defecit #s you see are accurate.


55 posted on 12/15/2004 7:40:11 PM PST by Remember_Salamis (Freedom is Not Free)
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To: Remember_Salamis

The receipts are roughly 1 trillion 800 billion for fy2004 (just completed), and estimates of just over 2 trillion for fy 2005. The deficit is not lowered by spending control but by increased income.

I'm curious about the sources of the income -- income tax is a large category, but what are the other large categories. Thanks.


56 posted on 12/16/2004 4:23:00 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army and Proud of It!)
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To: ancient_geezer

WOW! Thanks for the links. I already knew over 21% of my paycheck went to taxes, but I didn't realize another 20%-25% of hidden taxes were in everything I buy PLUS the usual sales tax - sounds pretty regressive. The Fair Tax makes all that go away?... and I don't have to mess with taxes at the end of the year anymore? COOL!.. got my vote!...Let's replace it!


57 posted on 12/16/2004 6:33:53 AM PST by azrep (Change is not necessary; we are not required to survive. - A. Einstein)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

There's no need to shrug this off. You can learn everything you need to know about real, very fair tax reform at www.fairtax.org. It IS a bipartisan effort, no matter how much you want to believe its a liberal vs. conversative piece of legislation.

By the way, the comment about the privatization of Social Security. Passage of this tax reform bill will in fact help the cause for SS reform. The economy will grow so much that the $2 Trillion shortfall that the Poodle talked about will not be noticed. In addition, no more payroll taxes will ever be taken out of your paycheck, thereby putting the SS fund into more of a general fund, leading to easier privatization, and/or getting rid of the useless system for younger people.


58 posted on 12/17/2004 10:08:27 PM PST by jmklei0 (For the good of the People.)
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