And the Bush administration is exceeding even that with new programs, new bureacracies, increasing foreign aide and deficit spending....so what's your point?
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker was asking about simplicity and how do we understand all of this. Let me read a memo from the Joint Committee on Taxation . This ought to be simple enough for the gentleman to understand.
The memorandum is in response to their request for an estimate of the budget neutral tax rate for H.R. 2525. That is the bill of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. LINDER), a bill to replace the current U.S. corporate and individual income, estate and gift and Federal income contributions act, payroll taxes, with a flat tax on retail sales of all goods and services.
Then on the second page it has a little chart here, neutral over 5 years, 59.5 percent. That is what they want to do, neutral over 5 years, national sales tax 59.5 percent. I believe the American people can understand that.
Glad to see you are still supporting the liberal and Mr. Frost(D-Texas), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, in there quest to keep th income/payroll tax system lewislynn.
And the Bush administration is exceeding even that with new programs, new bureacracies, increasing foreign aide and deficit spending....so what's your point?
And even using their demogoguery.
You might note the current(2001) total federal tax rate is 23.6% of gross family income according the Tax Foundation website.
Not the level of burden you imply. But then I'm not a particular fan of Republicans or Dems. I prefer that everyone know what they are really paying in taxes and everyone be hit with the same rate of 23% of their spending instead of 23.6% of their gross income, with a large fraction of the tax burden hidden, which you seem to be in favor of.
Looks like you are in good company however as 70% of the voting public still clamors for more from government looking for the top 40% of taxpayers to foot the bill.
And neither I, Alan Keyes nor Walter Williams see much change in that until the shell game ends.
Walter Williams, World Net Daily, 10-25-2000
According to the most recent U.S. Treasury Department figures, in 1997 the top 1 percent of income-earners (those with income of $250,000 and higher) paid 33 percent of all federal income taxes. The top 5 percent of income-earners ($108,000 and over) paid 52 percent, and the top 50 percent ($36,000 and over) paid 96 percent of income taxes. Guess what the bottom 50 percent of income earners paid?
If you're among those who pay little or no federal income taxes, what do you care about tax cuts? Moreover, if you think tax cuts pose a threat to government handout programs, you might be openly hostile and support Al Gore's silly "risky scheme" talk. So many Americans paying little or no federal taxes makes for a natural spending constituency. It's like me in the restaurant: What do I care about extravagance if you're footing the bill?
Keyes on Taxes & Government Spending:
- "The income tax in effect makes us vassals to the government – the politicians decide how much income we can keep. No mere “reform” of this slave tax, such as flattening the rate, can correct its fundamental denial of control over our own money. Only the abolition of the income tax itself will restore the basic American principle that our income is both our own money and our own private business - not the government's."
- "Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax would rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens. True economic liberty and moral revival go hand in hand."
- "A national sales tax would also put the American citizen back in control of national fiscal policy. The best way to curtail government spending is to cut taxes, because they can’t spend what they don’t get. But with a sales tax, we could deny funds to a spendthrift government – and give ourselves a tax cut – whenever we make the private choice to alter our spending and saving habits."
Alan Keyes Interview with Des Moines Register:
- Conservative commentator Alan Keyes said Thursday one of the first things he would do as president would be to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.
- The Republican presidential candidate said he favors a national sales tax of about 23 percent that would also replace the payroll tax that pays for Social Security.
The intent of the structure of the individual income tax is for political and social control not revenue collection. The Individual Income tax is maintained to establish and hold every person in the country perpetual legal jeopardy.