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One Simple Rate
The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal ^ | Sunday, August 21, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT | Steve Forbes

Posted on 08/21/2005 1:01:15 PM PDT by sportutegrl

A major domestic battle looms this fall, when tax reform--a centerpiece of the president's bold domestic agenda--will finally be on the table. The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is expected to release its findings by the end of September. After the political shellacking the White House took on Social Security, the administration will be strongly tempted to take a conciliatory path that supports only superficial reforms, essentially preserving the status quo of our hideous income tax code.

Such a course would have perilous consequences, economically and politically. In fact, the administration has an opportunity here to boldly retake the initiative, to recover lost political support and thrust an already decent economy into high gear and, at the same time, make America better able to meet intensifying competition from China, India and others. How? By junking the entire federal income tax code and starting over with a flat tax. A growing number of countries are doing this--and so should we.

The current system is beyond redemption, a beast whose complexity, confusion and outright unfairness have corrupted our economy and society. Americans waste more than $200 billion and over six billion hours each year filling out tax forms. They engage in all kinds of useless economic activity intended to take advantage of the code's maze of deductions and to reduce taxes--from deducting donations of old socks to making unwanted investments. The waste of brainpower--at a time of increasing global competition--is incalculable.

The code corrupts our system of government by encouraging the crassest political conduct and by creating a massive, intrusive federal bureaucracy. One-sixth of the private-sector employees in Washington are employed by the lobbying industry.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: fairtax; flattax; forbes; taxes; taxreform
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Okay, this is Forbes Flat Tax Proposal. I prefer it to the sales tax, "fair tax". We need to get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax, too.
1 posted on 08/21/2005 1:01:20 PM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: sportutegrl
BTTT

The confiscatory and unfair IRS must go.

2 posted on 08/21/2005 1:06:35 PM PDT by janetgreen
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To: sportutegrl

I'd be for simplification, but I wouldn't support eliminating the home-mortgage interest deduction unless the statutory rate drops very significantly.


3 posted on 08/21/2005 1:11:38 PM PDT by nj26
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To: sportutegrl

the current system is very useful for trying to force human behavior in one direction or to carve out exemptions in exchange for campaign contributions. The only way it will be changed to a flat tax is either with massive public outcry or the republican party growing some brains and cajones and doing what they always claimed they'd do if they were in power.

I don't hold out much hope for the latter.


4 posted on 08/21/2005 1:15:03 PM PDT by flashbunny (Always remember to bring a towel!)
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To: sportutegrl

BTTT


5 posted on 08/21/2005 1:24:04 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: sportutegrl
Okay, this is Forbes Flat Tax Proposal. I prefer it to the sales tax, "fair tax". We need to get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax, too.

I'm all for the fair tax rather than the sales tax. Not only does it sound fair but it would be easier to implement than the sales tax idea.
6 posted on 08/21/2005 1:29:03 PM PDT by adorno
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To: nj26
I'd be for simplification, but I wouldn't support eliminating the home-mortgage interest deduction unless the statutory rate drops very significantly.

One of the ideas in the Forbes plan is that you can continue filing as you do currently which includes mortgate deductions. He is convinced that once you realize that you will end up ahead with the fair tax, you will forget about your precious mortgate deductions and the current system..
7 posted on 08/21/2005 1:32:40 PM PDT by adorno
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To: sportutegrl
Okay, this is Forbes Flat Tax Proposal. I prefer it to the sales tax, "fair tax". We need to get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax, too.

The Fair Tax eliminates the AMT. And the payroll tax. And the Social Security tax. And the capital gains tax. And the "death" tax. And other taxes as well.

Buy Boortz/Linder's book. You'll be amazed.

8 posted on 08/21/2005 1:36:12 PM PDT by upchuck ("If our nation be destroyed, it would be from the judiciary." ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: nj26
but I wouldn't support eliminating the home-mortgage interest deduction unless the statutory rate drops very significantly.

How about to 0%?

Check out the FairTax. (HR25 in the House, S25 in the Senate.)

9 posted on 08/21/2005 1:38:33 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (Fairtax.org)
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To: adorno

The Fair Tax is a National Retail Sales Tax.

Fairtax.org


10 posted on 08/21/2005 1:39:54 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (Fairtax.org)
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To: sportutegrl

If they keep income tax, the must repeal withholding. Everyone in this nation should have to pay their income tax by check, just like business owners and the self employed.


11 posted on 08/21/2005 1:40:20 PM PDT by MediaMole
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To: ancient_geezer; Principled; Bigun; pigdog


12 posted on 08/21/2005 1:40:30 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (Fairtax.org)
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To: adorno
One of the ideas in the Forbes plan is that you can continue filing as you do currently which includes mortgate deductions. He is convinced that once you realize that you will end up ahead with the fair tax, you will forget about your precious mortgate deductions and the current system.

No Fair! :)

You wrote "Forbes plan" and "fair tax" in the same comment as if they are the same plan. They are not. The "Flat Tax," favored by Mr. Forbes and the "Fair Tax" are two entirely different plans.

13 posted on 08/21/2005 1:40:42 PM PDT by upchuck ("If our nation be destroyed, it would be from the judiciary." ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: sportutegrl

The problem with the Flat Tax is that it's still a tax on income, and the IRS still exists.

Taxing income is Marxist, statist, control freakish, whatever you want to call it. It provides a mechanism for the government to control our affairs. Taxing consumption is a freer arrangement.


14 posted on 08/21/2005 1:43:36 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (Fairtax.org)
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To: adorno
Not only does it sound fair but it would be easier to implement than the sales tax idea.

No different from a state sales tax collected on every purchase. Or the gasoline tax. The difference on many taxes and fees is that they are buried in the receipt. Look at your phone bill sometime.

15 posted on 08/21/2005 1:46:47 PM PDT by Cobra64
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To: MediaMole
If they keep income tax, the must repeal withholding. Everyone in this nation should have to pay their income tax by check, just like business owners and the self employed.

Uhhh,,, the sheeple might figger out that they are paying taxes. Joe Six-Pack just looks at the Pay To The Order line and the $xxx.xx and cashes his check.

16 posted on 08/21/2005 1:48:59 PM PDT by Cobra64
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To: sportutegrl

Hard to see either a national sales tax or a flat tax going anywhere in Congress. Too many special interests profit from the current arrangement, where various scams can be hidden in the bowels of the tax code without the taxpayer even realizing it. In addition, without amending the Constitution, any tax reform will be effectively wiped out by Congress re-complicating the tax code within ten years.


17 posted on 08/21/2005 1:50:45 PM PDT by Phocion ("Protection" really means exploiting the consumer. - Milton Friedman)
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To: Cobra64

Which is why they will never repeal withholding.


18 posted on 08/21/2005 1:52:43 PM PDT by Phocion ("Protection" really means exploiting the consumer. - Milton Friedman)
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To: Cobra64

Darn, you figured out my sinister plot.

There are people in this country who think that they pay no taxes and get free money from the government in April. They are stupid people, but they do exist.


19 posted on 08/21/2005 1:52:47 PM PDT by MediaMole
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To: upchuck
The Fair Tax eliminates the AMT. And the payroll tax. And the Social Security tax. And the capital gains tax. And the "death" tax. And other taxes as well.

The NRST is merely an expansion of L. Ron Hubbard's cult of tax-fraud.
The supposed "benefits" are just as convoluted and deceptive as anything else that Scientology has to offer.
You can read about it here.

20 posted on 08/21/2005 1:58:40 PM PDT by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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