Posted on 12/24/2007 7:55:05 AM PST by Alex Murphy
WASHINGTON — Mike Huckabee, one of the most conservative Republicans in the 2008 presidential race, has embraced one of the most radical ideas on the campaign trail: a plan to abolish all federal income and payroll taxes and replace them with a single 23% national sales tax.
The idea -- dubbed the "fair tax" by proponents -- has been a political asset for Huckabee; its well-organized backers have helped catapult him from the back of the presidential pack to its top tier.
Sales tax proponents have tapped into seething voter hostility toward the Internal Revenue Service to become a below-the-radar political force, popping up at campaign events and candidate forums in Iowa and elsewhere.
The efforts on Huckabee's behalf by sales tax advocates helped spur his surprise second-place showing in an August Iowa straw poll -- the breakthrough that marked the beginning of his rise in the state and nationwide.
He is the only major presidential candidate to make the idea central to his campaign. "The first thing I'd love to do as president: Put a 'going out of business' sign on the Internal Revenue Service," he said at one debate.
Some wonder, however, whether his embrace of the plan eventually could turn into a liability.
The sales tax proposal has been around for years but languished on the fringes of practical politics and policy. Tax professionals generally regard the idea as impractical, regressive and even "crackpot," as one critic puts it.
It has gone nowhere in Congress. The 2005 Presidential Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform soundly rejected the idea. And many politicians shy away from it because it is easy for opponents to portray it as a huge tax increase -- as Democrats did in a 2006 Senate race in South Carolina.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
No it wouldn't, rather Congree would just find new ways to screw us. For example, they might start taxing certain goods and services at different rates to encourage or discourage consumption or other behavior. Or maybe Congress will tax different areas of the country at different rates depending upon economic need. And you can bet that Congress will prohibit the sellers of goods and services from itemizing the sales tax on the sales reciept so that the buyers can't tell how much the gov'ment is picking our pockets.
Don't misunderstand: I am in favor of a national sales tax provided the Federal income tax is repealed, the IRS is disbanded, and any change in the sales tax, including rebates, exemptions, etc., requires the vote of 3/4ths of both the Senate and the House. Yes, I realize that a national sales tax is imperfect and there will be inequities, but the alternative is to continue to complain about the current system. What has convinced me to support a national sales tax is that it will tax the underground economy, including illegal aliens and drug dealers.
Thats one reason it will never happen.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I was being sarcastic.
I see by some of the posts on here we have quite a few liberals on FR.
They claim they oppose big government but when somebody proposes to abolish the most abusive agency of big government these freepers all howl like wolves in the night.
Typical...not me crowd.
“I was being sarcastic.”
Why?
Rates and schemes with rebates are just devices to con folks into thinking the other guy is getting hit while you are special.
We need to all get the same tax bill for the same amount, when the politicians want to raise taxes it will be for everyone, no dividing and conquering the population.
Yes, I've never seen anything from the FairTax advocates that adequately deals with its problem of double taxation on retirees.
The "prebate" system tries to deal with the effect it would have on people that need to spend more of their income on essential purchases, so I'll grant them that, even whatever this system is isn't perfect. And I don't like the idea the the fed thinks they have the right of prima nochte on my paycheck.
But retiree funds? This must be addressed. And no, the IRS won't be abolished - someone will have to enforce the system, and thus be granted enforcement powers, no matter what the system is.
Christian = Conservative in the MSM.
Christian = Conservative in the MSM.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
A President wouldn't be collecting sales taxes.
Your answer implies someone you don't like cannot possibly have a good idea for the country.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ummm...yeah. I would imagine tax "professionals" would ay it is impractical - it would put them out of a job.
But I am curious where the 23% figure comes in. By my very rough and uneducated guess, if the Federal Government were limited to Constitutional bounds, the Federal Government could be funded with as little as a 5-6% sales tax. And with that budget, we could have a superior military and lots more true freedom than we experience today.
And of course, that still leaves quite a few states still stealing a % of our paychecks for state income taxes (on top of up to 10%+ in sales tax already).
It was a nod and a wink to what you said.
Everyone hates the income tax, but no one with a brain would stand for what would be really be a 30% sales tax...socialist prebate (welfare) or not.
Apparently you do not realize that exactly that is happening today under the income tax!
The price of EVERY product or service produced in the USA today contains within it ALL of the taxes as well as ALL the costs of complying with the tax code of every set to hands that touch the process of producing that good or service.
The FairTax would end all that and your purchasing power would be FAR in excess of what it is today!
See for yourself! Use the Fairtax calculator I posted above!
NEW YORK - Investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. said Monday it sold a stake in itself to Temasek Holdings and Davis Selected Advisors for $6.2 billion as it looks to strengthen its balance sheet. Temasek, an investment fund for the government of Singapore, will acquire $4.4 billion in Merrill Lynch common stock. Temasek has the option to purchase an additional $600 million of common stock by March 28. The investment is for no more than 10 percent of common stock.
I wonder ...when something is being made...would it be taked everytime a part is sold and bought...or would people have wholesale (tax exempt) numbers to use until the final product is sold/bought. For instance a house...would the builder have to pay this tax and all the components and then turn around and sell the house + tax?
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