CAVUTO REPORTS THAT BUSH CONSIDERING SCRAPPING THE IRS CODE!!!

Fox News Channel | November 6, 2002 | n/a

[Tree of Liberty]

Neil Cavuto just interviewed Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., the director of the OMB, and Neil let it be known that he's hearing rumblings that Pres. Bush is considering a total re-write of the tax code and that SecTreas O'Neill is strongly pushing a national retail sales tax!

[cdefreese]

If he does, he can kiss reelection good-bye. With an income tax you really don't even see the money going out. With a sales tax, you see it EVERYTIME you buy something. He will be branded for favoring the rich, since they are the only ones who pay it anyways....
...but on the other hand...
People will be bringing home MORE on EVERY paycheck. And that will make him look good.

Personally I am all for getting rid of the income tax and the bloated, overpowered, wasteful IRS too. Just have to wait and see.

[J. Semper Paratus]

Sounds great but too good to be true. Do you think that the world-running International Bankers will let him scrap the vital tool that guarantees the central government control in keeping other people from becoming wealthy and competing in power with them?

[Eva]

The NSRT may not be constitutional, but neither is the income tax and the courts haven't overturned it.

[Naspino]

This could be our Reconstruction era people. If the tax code is reformed then it seems like a MAJOR step in reducing the size of the government and what it funds.

[spokeshave]

Scrap the IRS but have a single low low rate like in Russia. and a postcard size form to complete.

NOT a "sales tax" try 17% or more on EVERY transaction from raw materials to consumer....why you think Europe is stagnating (VAT on everything)

[Dead Dog]

Unfortunately I agree, as much as I want an NRST, were not in the position to do it...unless there are "FBI files".

However, the USSC, with after a few retirements/appointments could after considering the validity of the radification porcess the 16th went through. I believe it violates more state constitutions than are necessary for ratification.

[aristeides]

You would have to own 67 Senate seats and 280 House seats to pull this off.

Why? You might need 60 Senate votes to close down a filibuster, but I don't see why a simple majority is not enough otherwise. President Bush is not going to veto it.

[hocndoc]

But won't that inflate the unemployment rate?
And what will we do with that huge building?
(/false naivete')

[Freakazoid]

I agree. To do this right we'll have to repeal the 16th amendment.

[BlkConserv]

A "national retail sales tax" is not constitutional

We're in the 21st century. It'd be nice for the feds to get their revenue from excise taxes and various other fees. But a NRST makes sense.

[Aquinasfan]

In other news I'm predicting major layoffs at HR Block.

LOL! I like it. When you're ahead, go for the kill! Don't go into the prevent.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

SecTreas O'Neill is strongly pushing a national retail sales tax!

This would be great but... It would have to be slowly phased in (10 - 20 years) so that the reprecussions don't tank (BADLY) the economy. Everyone has some kind of money somewhere based on what taxes will or won't do with it. Like 401Ks. I wouldn't be putting money into my 401K unless it was pretax. I can do a LOT better with other investments but the immeadiate 40% return by not being taxed can't be beat.

Plus, home ownership does have a stabilizing affect on the country. All of a sudden, with the national sales tax, it makes less sense to own your home. No write-off on the interest... let someone else deal with the headaches of maintaining my place of residence.

Too many things to go wrong here. It took 90 (more or less) years to get here we have to back out slowly.

[rogerthedodger]

if payroll taxes were simultaneously eliminated, then the lower and middle class gets more tax fairness out of this, since incomes beyond 80k are not taxed at the 8+% payroll rate that incomes below are. Plus, you control the amount of tax you pay. Don't want to pay so much? Don't spend so much.

[JohnGalt]

The only reason he would pick this as an issue (frankly, I think it's just red meat like promises to close down the NEA and then increasing the budget thank you 1994 Republicans) is that he believes its an easier road to haul than privitizing Social Security.

Otherwise this is just wishful thinking.

[arielb]

rewrite of the tax code I'm all for but a sales tax? Time to make all my transactions in cash. I'm sorry but it's not gonna fly

[Ditto]

The History of the IRS

The federal income tax was established in 1913. It actually required an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it legal. Why? Our Founding Fathers believed that taxing individuals on their private income was economic folly. They were right. The absence of an income tax, a tax on productivity, allowed our economy to grow and individuals to prosper for 124 years.

The original income tax legislation affected only individuals earning $4,000 or more per year, at a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans earned far less. The 16th Amendment was eventually ratified and added to the Constitution, and a national income tax was born.

That 16th Amendment was simply worded, the tax return consisted of only one page, and the entire tax code itself consisted of only 14 pages. No one could have imagined the vast impact it would have on the lives of their children, grandchildren and future generations of Americans.

Since then, the federal income tax system has become so complex that it requires tens of millions of Americans to seek professional help to comply with it, not to mention the enormous, expensive federal bureaucracy required to enforce and administer the tax. The Internal Revenue Service employs more investigative agents than the FBI and the CIA combined, and with 144,000 employees, employs more people than all but the 36 largest corporations in the United States.

In addition to the $8 billion needed to operate the IRS, at least $250 billion (that is $850 for every man, woman, and child in this country) must be added to account for the cost of complying with the tax code. Massive amounts of our national wealth are consumed merely by measuring, tracking, sheltering, documenting, and filing our annual income.

To learn more about how to end the IRS and replace it with a sane, fair, and pro-growth tax code, go to Fair Tax.org

[mlo]

The income tax IS constitutional, not that I like it. If we have to have it at all I say a simple flat tax accross the board, at a low rate.

[billbears]

A national sales tax? A national tax of any sort on the citizenry of the respective states and you say they are Constitutional? Forget the money issue, little green pieces of paper based on nothing. What makes you think a tax of this sort would be Constitution?

[Stand Watch Listen]

I’m shocked, ...shocked !!!!

[Naspino]

Well lets continue that thought. What will it take to change our tax-collection methods from income to sales tax?

House votes, senate votes? Would it require anything from the states in order to enact a tax on goods sold in that state? Would Oregon exempt itself?