Posted on 08/01/2004 6:08:53 PM PDT by NeoCaveman
A domestic centerpiece of the Bush/GOP agenda for a second Bush term is getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The Speaker of the House will push for replacing the nation's current tax system with a national sales tax or a value added tax, Hill sources tell DRUDGE.
"People ask me if I’m really calling for the elimination of the IRS, and I say I think that’s a great thing to do for future generations of Americans," Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert explains in his new book, to be released on Wednesday.
"Pushing reform legislation will be difficult. Change of any sort seldom comes easy. But these changes are critical to our economic vitality and our economic security abroad," Hastert declares in SPEAKER: LESSONS FROM FORTY YEARS IN COACHING AND POLITICS.
"“If you own property, stock, or, say, one hundred acres of farmland and tax time is approaching, you don’t want to make a mistake, so you’re almost obliged to go to a certified public accountant, tax preparer, or tax attorney to help you file a correct return. That costs a lot of money. Now multiply the amount you have to pay by the total number of people who are in the same boat. You can’t. No one can because precise numbers don’t exist. But we can stipulate that we’re talking about a huge amount. Now consider that a flat tax, national sales tax, or VAT would not only eliminate the need to do this, it could also eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) itself and make the process of paying taxes much easier."
"By adopting a VAT, sales tax, or some other alternative, we could begin to change productivity. If you can do that, you can change gross national product and start growing the economy. You could double the economy over the next fifteen years. All of a sudden, the problem of what future generations owe in Social Security and Medicare won’t be so daunting anymore. The answer is to grow the economy, and the key to doing that is making sure we have a tax system that attracts capital and builds incentives to keep it here instead of forcing it out to other nations."
"I'd rather have a flat tax."
"I am for getting rid of the Gestapo, er I.R.S.."
These two are mutually exclusive. Which would you prefer?
NOTHING would make me happier!
If we did away with Income tax and all the multiple layers of taxes on goods, we would become truly competitive and companies wouldn't have to send stuff overseas. Someone did ananalysis a year or so ago and the difference is very significant.
"The nice thing is that under the FairTax, Social Security and Medicare will continue to be fully funded -- no more Social Security Tax."
-- What's more is that it saves social security. No more worker-to-retiree ratios. ALL of sociaty funds retirees, not workers.
I hope this is a trial balloon.
There are plenty of poor families and middle class families who don't pay any federal tax right now, who would now start paying federal tax. Regardless of what economic sense that might make, when this is explained to the public, they will vote against it.
I think a national sales tax would actually collect more money -- too many people buy expensive goods and never pay a cent (you know drug dealers buying million-dollar boats, prostitutes, etc.,) they'd catch all that money with a sales tax that still wou;dn't get collected with a flat tax.
"The biggest advantage of a VAT is that it can be rebated on foreign sales without violating the WTO rules. The US dollar is currently quite weak because of trade deficits (we buy more abroad than we sell abroad). If we adopted VAT, we could sell more abroad because foreign sales would not be subject to the VAT."
-- A National Retail Sales TAx (NRST) would do the same thing. In fact, prices of exported goods would be even lower due to lower tax compliance costs. The VAT has HUGE compliance costs.
You're absolutely right, everyone pays it, and so everyone pays into it.
"$.65 per dollar" is the high end of estimates. It's probably in the $.40s.
1. Municipal Bonds - This is a $2 trillion market and everyone who owns these bonds has accepted a lower coupon rate in return for no income tax on the coupons. If income tax is eliminated, everyone who owns municipal bonds gets hosed.
2. Savings - Anyone with semi-substantial savings has already paid a high income tax on their earnings before the money was saved. Switching to a NRST would put these savings in an identical category to new untaxed earnings, and the savings will be taxed at the rate reflected by the new tax system. This is a huge double tax.
I am sure there are others, but there is no doubt in my mind that without addressing these two issues at a minimum, the NRST will never happen. The switch benefits young people, like myself, and hurts those at or near retirement - unless some sort of compensation is included. My dad and I have almost identical views in politics; I am a huge supporter of NRST and he is scared sh!tless by it, for the two reasons I have detailed.
bttt
The plan has been upgraded and expanded upon since then. go to http://www.fairtax.org
I believe in miracles!
I think if we really want to enforce how inequitable the current system is, we would eliminate the automatic payroll deduction and force people to write a check every month for their taxes. Their would be a howl for reform within six months.
Absent the tax code, accountants and the like would see a major increase in business and a major decrease in stress!
Think of it this way: Accountants are trained to help their clients grow their wealth. The most significant impediment to growing wealth in the US today is the income tax and the IRS.
Eliminate both, and our accountant FRiends would be happier (no fear of jail time if they misplace a "." or a "," or miscross a "T." They would be wealthier -- they will make a lot more money for their clients when the IRS is dissolved and the economy blossoms. And they will have a better home life -- no "last minute push" for tax return completions between January and April 15.
What is not to like?
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
Somehow, I suspect the puppet masters will puke blood before they allow this to happen.
But, what better way to clip their wings!
I'm for at least giving it a several decades try. Though I don't think we have that long before Christ returns.
You have me confused . . . .
Confused with someone who gives a sh!t about tax attorneys!
are you here yet?
"It will NEVER happen. The tax lawyer lobby is too strong."
-- It WILL happen. The Investor and Small Business Owener lobby is too strong. A majority of Americans own stock and have to pay capital gains taxes, many times AFTER-TAX! A higher percentage of Americans are entrepeneurs every day.
Let's not forget the mainstream media. If this wonderful idea gets legs, the press will go absolutely ape trying to stop it. Can you imagine the NYT headlines, day after day, week after week, denouncing it?
"ugh no sales tax. that would really turn me away from the GOP"
-- How so. Are you a CPA???
Go to http://www.fairtax.org
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