CAVUTO REPORTS THAT BUSH CONSIDERING SCRAPPING THE IRS CODE!!!

Fox News Channel | November 6, 2002 | n/a

[Tree of Liberty]

Neil Cavuto just interviewed Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., the director of the OMB, and Neil let it be known that he's hearing rumblings that Pres. Bush is considering a total re-write of the tax code and that SecTreas O'Neill is strongly pushing a national retail sales tax!

[babygene]

"You would have to own 67 Senate seats and 280 House seats to pull this off"

I believe I could sell it...

[rolling_stone]

Since then, the federal income tax system has become so complex that it requires tens of millions of Americans to seek professional help to comply with it, not to mention the enormous, expensive federal bureaucracy required to enforce and administer the tax. The Internal Revenue Service employs more investigative agents than the FBI and the CIA combined, and with 144,000 employees, employs more people than all but the 36 largest corporations in the United States. In addition to the $8 billion needed to operate the IRS, at least $250 billion (that is $850 for every man, woman, and child in this country) must be added to account for the cost of complying with the tax code. Massive amounts of our national wealth are consumed merely by measuring, tracking, sheltering, documenting, and filing our annual income.

This is IMO the crux of the matter and bears repeating over and over, the massive non productive dollars wasted, which would still be wasted by a flat tax, but not a National Sales Tax. Imagine that money put into productive investments and the returns it would produce, a giant shot in the economy and jobs on one hand and loss of some jobs in the accounting field on the other. A change from non-productive jobs to productive jobs! Imagine the number of trees that could be saved by scrapping the current paperwork requirements.....

[rdb3]

If Bush got this done, he would go on Mount Rushmore.

IF Dubya gets this done, forget him going on Mt. Rushmore. He'll need his own Mt. Bushmore.

No mercy.
Coming soon: Tha SYNDICATE.

[hchutch]

The personal exemption is a matter of fairness, and too many people are used to it. The same with the home mortgage-interest deduction.

Speaking as someone who rents, I have no problem with that, and it is probably part of a compromise.

The 401(k), though, is VERY important. The more people invest, the more of a stake they have in fiscal conservaitsm, low taxes, and all of that.

The other important item is to ERASE corporate taxation. Those taxes on Microsoft, GE, GM, Chrysler, and other companies are paid by us in the form of higher prices. We ought to eliminate that and make this country more hospitable to businesses.

[Naspino]

A second political move is that it puts a massive wall in the Democrats class-warfare plan for elections. How can you say "X supports tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of 1% of Americans" or "I favor a tax cut for the poor...". Its all about dismantling the election issues that Democrats created.

[Molly Pitcher]

I missed this report myself. This thread has some more info...

[ConservativeLawyer]

You would have to replace the $$$ from somewhere

No, the government would just have to cut back and live within its means. What a wonderful day that would be!

[show me state]

A large number of states are already attempting to create a "national" sales tax independent of the federal govement.

The effort is called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project.

http://www.nga.org/nga/salestax/

http://www.geocities.com/streamlined2000/

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/717692/posts

[fuquadukie]

My greatest concern? A NRST will be implemented, but they'll keep at least part of the income tax. And then the income tax will slowly creep back up. And we'll have the worst of BOTH worlds.

Uuhh, like, say Canada? Most, if not all of Europe?

Never will happen. And, I'm a CPA (not practicing anymore, so my job doesn't rely on the Internal Revenue Code).

[fuquadukie]

My greatest concern? A NRST will be implemented, but they'll keep at least part of the income tax. And then the income tax will slowly creep back up. And we'll have the worst of BOTH worlds.

Uuhh, like, say Canada? Most, if not all of Europe?

Never will happen. And, I'm a CPA (not practicing anymore, so my job doesn't rely on the Internal Revenue Code).

[Lizavetta]

It would eliminate the loop holes for illegals (what 9 or so million of them) and it would open up a new source from tourism.

I didn't think about that...good point.

Most of the rich people (leftists) avoid income taxes all together.

You're wrong here, though. I know rich people and they're paying through the nose, and yes, two of them have very good business managers/accountants. My husband makes a good 6-figure income and is therefore "rich" according to the tax code, and we're getting reamed as well (approx. 48% income tax).

[Drewman626]

Imagine the number of trees that could be saved by scrapping the current paperwork requirements.....


HAHAHA This is how we sell the idea to Ralph Nader!!!


Well... his followers at least...

... well... who cares... they don't vote or pay taxes anyway... :)

[Tree of Liberty]

Cavuto will re-air again later tonight, baring breaking news.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

They've talked about it,now maybe they'll DO ABOUT IT!

[onedoug]

WOW bump! Let's Roll!!!

[Naspino]

Most of the rich people (leftists) avoid income taxes all together ----- You're wrong here, though. I know rich people and they're paying through the nose, and yes, two

I said leftists -- the ones that keep their money overseas; Baldwins and Stiesands..

[lelio]

The national sales tax eliminates the need for tax audits!
It doesn't eliminate tax audits, but it sure makes them a lot less painful. Its just "How much did you buy and how much did you sell" question. They'll still have to do audits, but since everything is more transparent they can really pick out the bad apples easily without having to spend a year going through their tax return.

[Naspino]

I know Al Gore's response to this in 2004.

..it sounds like a risky scheme...

[BaghdadBarney]

I agree somewhat with your take on the home interest deduction (in the short term, it could be political suicide) BUT there are places that are doing just fine without the deduction, i.e. Europe. Housing values in Europe are comparable to those here in the States and they're citizens don't enjoy a tax deduction. Have your read the Robbins' book on the Flat Tax? It goes in-depth on this question...

[William McKinley]

The possibility that is flashing before my eyes is him doing with this the same treatment he gave to the Iraq issue. Bring it up. Get the dialog going. Wait for the Democrats to basically dare him to make his case; then make the case. Watch the Dems go apoplectic, with some choosing the class warfare route and some trying to play Mini-me to him. Milk it right through the 2004 election- and then when voters take out the Democrats obstructing real tax reform and reward him with even bigger margins in both chambers, just do it.

I still bet it is just idle chatter, but the template has been created.