Posted on 02/02/2006 7:35:33 AM PST by thehumanlynx
It is that time of year again. President Bush will journey tonight to Capitol Hill to do a ritual called the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. That is, for members who decide to show up.
The President will outline what he wants Congress to do. He will get huge media coverage, those members of Congress who love getting their faces on television will arrive early to get an aisle seat so they can be seen shaking hands with the president and then they will converge in Capitol Hill’s Statuary Hall afterward and do interviews with television and any other media outlet that wants to talk to them....
(Excerpt) Read more at humaneventsonline.com ...
There is no doubt that most people are disgusted with the current tax code. People look forward every year to their "rebates" or "I got ____$ back this year, I did well". But to me that is a bunch of crap. Wow! what a great deal, I pay in 1/5 of my check every week then at the end of the year I get a few hundred back, or a few thousand. The politicians love it, b/c they get loads of money to do whatever they want with, and b/c we get all excited about our big refund, never mind the fact that we've payed gobs of money into the system all year round.
I've read the FairTax book and if you are tired of a mountain of paperwork near Apr 15 (happens to be my Bday)- you should do some research and read this book or at least check out the fair tax to get some information about it.
I'm sure there will be some naysayers and detractors but that is their opinion and I'm sure they arent satisfied with the current code.
Admittedly there are some nuances within the fairtax that I dont 100% agree with, but it certainly is better than what I deal with now.
Particularly the language of the percentage rates of 23%, Which is an embedded figure. It can be confusing at first but look at this chart to understand.
Anyway lets get this thing rolling. Hopefully 2006 will be the last year with the current structure. Direct a few questions here and I will try to help or I'm sure there are others here more versed than I, that will surely add their 2cents.
Oh, I would heartily approve of a national sales tax on the provision that all income based government deductions were removed and never allowed while the national sales tax is in effect.
Even the libs should support it. After all, it has that oh-so-important aspect of taxing the rich more than the poor (as the rich buys more stuff or more expensive stuff) and it definitely has a large endorsement for having people save money (i.e. if you don't spend, you're not taxed) built into it's very nature.
I talk abut this to folks alot. I'm constantly surprised by the number of people who still have no idea what it's about, and then by their attitude that it will just never happen. We need to keep it in front of people.
hiccup
I love the FairTax we just have to be sure to repeal the 16th amendment 1st!!!
Don't want to be double taxed!
Agreed, madame bat
Anyone no if Pres. Bush has mentioned the FairTax?
anyone *know*...
Ping-a-ling
Anyone lobbying for the FT needs to keep three realities
in mind:
1. Like all institutions, the prime directive at the IRS
is the perpetuation of the IRS. They are probably already
threatening to audit politicians who support the FT.
2. For semi-honest pols, the FT nearly eliminates their
ability to effect policy by granting tax favors/penalties
to influence business and personal behaviour. This isn't
just a matter of social policy, but also vote-buying.
3. For crooked pols, they not only lose the vote-buying,
but they also totally lose the IRS as a political weapon.
When their "objection" to the FT doesn't make sense,
pick one or more of the above reasons.
I agree, there is plenty of incentive for some people to keep the current tax code. Lobbyists rake in huge chunks of money, that would be affected if the FairTax were in place. They are pros at getting their way, so I'm sure they will take issue with it. The pols will have to make a move on it if enough people are for it. The thing I like is b/c that this could be a bipartisan deal, I'm sure there will be a split by some. I just dont know why. The plan is not perfect, but it is certainly better than what we have. Every constituent of every district is affected by the current code in some way, probably adversely.
Those are certainly obstacles to be overcome. The good news is with the current focus on "reform" and general anti-lobbyist sentiment (Abrahamoff can be good for something after all!), this may be a good time to include this as a facet of lobbying reform. After all, without the income tax code to tinker with, the amount of lobbying drops significantly.
I don't have a reference, but I seem to recall that he was asked about it last year during a press conference, and while not specifically endorsing it, did mention that such as system would fit his guidelines for tax reform.
If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright and replace them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.Refer for additional information:
Whatever happened to all the talk about the flat tax? That's what appealed to me. Obviously second to a completely free market, however.
How do you describe it to them?
This thread will shortly be innundated with what is a small handful of anti fair-taxers who will throw out objections to the Fair Tax without offering any alternative themselves. But thank-you for posting the article and welcome to Free Republic.
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