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."
It's about time the geniuses at the GOP figured this out. They should have been running an anti-IRS campaign since '92.
Good job, you brainiacs! Glad to see some thought over there!
My comment was really meant to be tongue-in-cheek (although it rings truer the second time through).
"That's a terrific idea on the tax side, and I am all for it. I'm not sure, however, that it qualifies as a spending cut. The Government will either find ways to exempt itself, or if all else fails print more money for itself. Spending cuts have to be specific and significant."
-- As it stands, HR 25 and S 1493 have it written in to the legislation that government would pay taxes.
"Agreed. let the hookers and drug dealers pay their fair share!"
-- And the illegal immigrants who would find it much harder to stay in the states. Here's a piece I wrote on the FairTax and it's affect on illegal immigration:
"Currently, it is extremely lucrative to employ illegal immigrants because they essentially work tax-free and are paid under the table. Under current law, an illegal being paid $10/hour in cash is equivalent to a legal worker being paid anywhere from $12-14/hour (15.3% in payroll taxes plus whatever the marginal tax rate is). Under the FairTax, it won’t matter; both workers would make the same because there are no taxes. And since there are penalties for hiring illegal immigrants, employers would naturally choose legal workers if there is no price difference. In addition, the illegal worker would not receive a monthly tax prebate because he has no Social Security number, making life in America much harder. As a result, there is a much larger incentive to migrate here legally and a large tax burden for migrating to the US illegally."
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” [Thomas Jefferson, letter to Benjamin Rush, 1800.]
Click here and here to help us scrap the Code, scrap the IRS and abolish the VLWC!
You can also click here to sign a petition in support of Fundamental Tax Replacement.
We will never be a truly FRee people so long as we have the income tax and the IRS.
I didn't have you confused.....my reference was not that you like tax attorney's but to join me in mocking them....
NeverGore :^)
1. Where would the government get the money to pay taxes? Their only stream of income is taxing us.
2. What are the consequences if the government is unable to pay its taxes? Would it eliminate services, cut payroll, shut down parts of itself, or simply raise more income (i.e., raise taxes; see question #1)?
No. I work in a retail business (restaurant). The burden of taxation will be focused on people like me.
Not true. Read here:
http://www.fairtax.org/pdfs/theundergroundeconomy.pdf
Right, besides do we want to pay 20% VAT (on the top of state sale tax) on ALL services, goods food and medicine like Europeans do ?
We the People, the American voters can provide the needed backbone for our politicians.
They get religion big time when faced with the posssibility of defeat in the next election cycle.
We outnumber the Bastards, and we can sendem home whenever we get the backbone to do so!
November is the time to do so!
I own a retail business. The burden is already focused on people like me.
****so you want a tax increase? and no the drug dealers won't pay a sales tax either. heck a lot of people avoid state and local sales taxes already by simply paying things in cash. I work in retail-I see this happen all the time.***
No---These people pay NO INCOME TAX. With a National Sales tax they would be forced to. I am sick and tired of the underground economy not paying their share while I pay mine. You can't avoid paying sales taxes by paying in cash. I work retail they have to pay taxes just not income taxes.
Never happen. Too many hand in the cookie jar dependent upon the system as it now is. If they make this part of the campaign it will through many millions of votes to the Rats.
Agree. We still need to make our government run more efficiently and at less cost. You have to eliminate entire programs, agencies, and departments. Unfortunately, with Congress you have the fox guarding the chicken house.
I agree. A Value Added Tax would be a disaster but I'm all for a National Sales Tax.
How long until you retire from the IRS?
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