yes, I do have some investments. a modest amount I assure you. however I am not arguing for my selfish benifit, but for other americans who might not enjoy the benifits of the market. We cannot hope to shape public policy by failing to consider the valid opinions and effects upon others in different situations.
"...We cannot hope to shape public policy by failing to consider the valid opinions and effects upon others in different situations...."
Agreed. But I assure you that if we continue to punish success with ever higher taxes, we'll get less success. If we continue to reward sloth with the Earned Income Tax Credit and other entitlements, we'll get more sloth. If we re-establish the firm connection between risk and reward, effort and gain we will encourage real economic growth.
The international implications of the FairTax are likewise impressive and far reaching. The FairTax is the only system which completely removes the burden of taxation from our exports. As you may be aware, the World Trade Organization has engaged in a Jihad against American goods but repeatedly authorizing retaliatory tariffs on our goods. MORE when I plug into shore power.......losing battery......
Sorry for the delay....plugged into shore power now....coffee in hand.....life is good.
Ok......with respect to the World Trade Organization...they've consistently used our system of corporate taxation as a weapon against US manufacturers. Our clumsy attempts to remove the cost of taxation from the goods that we export have been answered with retaliatory tariffs.
The Domestic International Sales Corporation was ruled an unlawful subsidy, as was the Foreign Sales Corporation, and most Recently the Extra-Territorial Income Exclusion. The FSC/ETI debacle resulted in the horrendous piece of legislation known as the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004...HR 4520. That was the corporate tax bill that repealed the ETI subsidy, but provided a zillion narrow subsidies and giveaways to any corporate interest with a lobbyist on the payroll. It added untolled complexity to the Internal Revenue Code.
Moreover, our arcane adherance to a system of global taxation of corporate profits with offsetting credits for foreign taxes paid, drove the corporate inversion phenomenon....whereby our corporations fled the US and re-incorporated in tax havens. While this did not result in a significant loss of jobs in the US, it did further reduce corporate tax revenue collected by the Treasury. If memory serves, the corporate net income tax accounts for only about 10% of total collections today.
The FairTax abolishes the corporate income tax and all entity level taxation. This will be a boon not only for shareholders, but consumers and for the employees as well. It will also remove a tool of manipulation from the WTO quiver and because the US will have a zero corporate tax rate, we will attract corporations from around the world. In fact, the Fair Tax includes a provision whereby foreign corporations are going to be taxed at 23%....domestic corporations at 0%. We learned our lesson from the corporate inversions....these provisions of the bill should attract an enormous amount of capital to the US shores...reincorporation in the US.....and with it jobs for all.
Those people who now find it difficult to find a job, difficult to compete...will have infinitely more opportunity once this system is enacted.
So, when you look at the total net effect.....you need to consider not only the nominal tax impact on each and every level of consumption....but the effect on economic opportunity for all...and the priceless effect of removing the WTO from the export equation. Only then will our goods be able to compete on a level playing field..and the balance of trade should improve.
That's a cliffnotes version of the international considerations...hope that helps to clarify another facet of this diamond.