Posted on 10/13/2011 5:19:07 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Herman Cain's "9-9-9" tax reform is attracting enough attention to become the focus of this week's Presidential debate. As a plan for overhauling revenues and unleashing the private sector, it's a bold gambit that shows Cain is willing to take chances and shake up the Capital.
The 9 percent business tax is a stroke of genius. It would give us the lowest business rates in the world and would make us the "tax haven" for investment from everywhere. The stock market would barely be able to stay abreast. The 9 percent personal income rate would eliminate all the deductions and put everyone on a level playing field. Tax collection from "the rich" would skyrocket because no one would hide income anymore, but "the other 99%" would make out as well. Cain's plan would fold in the 15 percent payroll tax so the new 9 percent rate would be an improvement - but would end the immunity that the bottom half has from paying any taxes at all. Altogether a good show.
The stickler is that 9 percent national sales tax. That's where things start to fall apart....
The sales tax has long been the preserve of the states and is now imposed in all but five of them (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon). The informal arrangement has been that the federal government gets income taxes, the states get the sales tax and local municipalities are granted the property tax. Often they poach. States and even cities have imposed income taxes and have also started trespassing on the property tax. But for the federal government to demand a 9 percent sales tax would be a whole new departure. Combined with state and city levies, it puts us near 20 percent, which is black market territory.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Now that’s funny.
You must read the whole thing before commenting.
The problem with article is it ignores that fact that in exchange for 9% sales tax you get flat rate of 9%. That would offset a 20% tax on a car.
I think he missed the point - 9 percent would replace ALL other taxes, if I’m understanding Cain - so the city/state/fed would each get 3 percent, right?
Read the article.
Great ploy CW! How many posts before it becomes obvious someone actually read the column?
Folks, NEVER support any legislation that calls for a simultaneous federal income tax with a federal sales tax.
That is the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent.
You’ll find even leftists supporting this. They’ll take a massive reduction in taxes in order to get this through.
Why?
Because after Cain leaves office, they will turn 9-9-9 into 19-19-19 then 29-29-29.
And remember those three numbers get added together and passed down the food chain to the consumer.
I like Cain the most of all the candidates. And I like the idea of a federal sales tax REPLACING the federal income tax and reducing taxes wherever possible, 9-9-9 is a really, really bad idea.
I did read the article.
ML/NJ
uh uh to the tax and this person’s solution, which is bouncing off of one to another.
nope
This is the first I've heard of this. Does this mean that the Fed would be telling the cities and states how much tax they would get? Really?
Why would we want to tamp down demand? Things grow and demand more. We want to grow and expand not die off.
I dont think the 999 plan has legs. too expensive and intrusive. I want less governemtn not more.
The point I want to make is, once either one of these additional “solutions” is in place — they will take deep root and we will be stuck with them for ever — and they will grow.
The problem isn’t revenue, the problem is SPENDING!
Absolutely not. Where did you get this idea from?
Oops. Sorry ‘bout that.
Who pays 20% tax on a car? Seriously folks you are now making up stuff to justify this foolish 9-9-9 tax plan.
He lost me at the carbon (the building block of physical life) tax.
Our founders would have put these envirowackos in the nut house.
Capital has a different meaning entirely.
Actually, it’s not that bad an idea.
He openly states that the carbon tax is just to raise revenue in lieu of a sales tax. Nothing undrhanded there.
And while energy costs would definetely surge, he’s right that they would be offset by the reductions in corporate and personal taxes.
Let’s face it folks, the money has to come from somewhere...
Of course politically it’s a non-starter anyway - mainly because of the kind of reactions you’ll see here.
Much better to shout “something must be done” I guess than to actually consider what that might be.
Kinda like the OWS people that way...
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