Well, I guess I’ll be the first to address the author’s proposal.
Basically, he proposes using a carbon tax (a tax on energy) instead of a sales tax. His main argument for doing so is that oil, etc., is already tightly inventoried, so this would make compliance easier and so on.
He also argues that a national sales tax would be regressive on the poor and hit fixed income households hard. These arguments have been debunked elsewhere, but I’ll save that. My response here is that these same objections (to the extent they are well-founded) apply to the author’s proposal of a carbon tax: higher energy costs (supposedly) hit the poor and fixed income people the hardest.
So, although his “easier compliance” reasoning has some merit, his reasoning on alleged regressiveness of the sales tax oesn’t really fly.
What needs to be analyzed here is what is the principle that Cain is trying to implement by the national sales tax? I see it this way:
1. EVERY American pays the tax.
2. EVERY American pays the same tax rate.
3. EVERY American is empowered to control how much tax he pays by regulating his purchases (beyond necessities). If he sees the need to Go Galt, the FedGov will feel it directly.
4. EVERY politician’s constituents will be affected by ANY tax rate increase. They will not be able to get away with voting to raise taxes on “the other guy.”
5. ANY tax rate hike will be clearly visible to EVERY taxpayer — it would be right there on your receipt for purchase. Congresscritters could no longer raise and raise the tax burden (as they have on the cost of gasoline) without people realizing it and raising hell.
Any tax that accomplishes the implementation of those principles would be a great thing for our country. We would have vastly more accountability over taxation than we do now. And vastly more power to control how much we want to fund FedGov through our purchases.
“Congresscritters could no longer raise and raise the tax burden (as they have on the cost of gasoline) without people realizing it and raising hell.”
Oh heck, we raise hell all the time right now, so you think that would really stop them from raising taxes? Dream on. And if they lower taxes in one place, they will pop up in another. If you don’t think there won’t be a multitude of ways around 9-9-9 to raise revenue, you are drinking kool-aide.
What needs to be analyzed here is what is the principle that Cain is trying to implement by the national sales tax? I see it this way:
1. EVERY American pays the tax.
2. EVERY American pays the same tax rate.
3. EVERY American is empowered to control how much tax he pays by regulating his purchases (beyond necessities). If he sees the need to Go Galt, the FedGov will feel it directly.
4. EVERY politician’s constituents will be affected by ANY tax rate increase. They will not be able to get away with voting to raise taxes on “the other guy.”
5. ANY tax rate hike will be clearly visible to EVERY taxpayer — it would be right there on your receipt for purchase. Congresscritters could no longer raise and raise the tax burden (as they have on the cost of gasoline) without people realizing it and raising hell.
Any tax that accomplishes the implementation of those principles would be a great thing for our country.
Well said.