[Destructor]

What a great day that would be for America! The day we get the IRS off of our collective backs- for good!!

[Tennessean4Bush]

No way. You would have to own 67 Senate seats and 280 House seats to pull this off. And even then it would be hard as bricks to pull off. No way legislators abdicate the power the tax code gives them. I do not care what kind of mandate they think they have.

[dittomom]

SCRAPPING THE TAX CODE!!! Now, that has a nice ring to it!!!

[PatrioticAmerican]

CHIEF Bump!

[The Vast Right Wing]

I'm still dreaming right?

[aristeides]

One of the few accomplishments of the Congress the last time Republicans controlled the presidency and both Houses of Congress was the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. I'm no admirer of that code, but the fact that that Republican administration chose to work on it shows where Republican administrations place their priorities.

By the way, ditch the Internal Revenue Code and you also ditch an objectionable feature of that Code of 1954 that LBJ took pains to include in it: the provision denying religious organizations a tax exemption if they engage in political activity.

[BobFromNJ]

Bumperino!

[Mr. Thorne]

Well, holy BLEEP!

Wouldn't it be cool, tho...

= D

[cdefreese]

If he does, he can kiss reelection good-bye. With an income tax you really don't even see the money going out. With a sales tax, you see it EVERYTIME you buy something. He will be branded for favoring the rich, since they are the only ones who pay it anyways....
...but on the other hand...
People will be bringing home MORE on EVERY paycheck. And that will make him look good.

Personally I am all for getting rid of the income tax and the bloated, overpowered, wasteful IRS too. Just have to wait and see.

[J. Semper Paratus]

Sounds great but too good to be true. Do you think that the world-running International Bankers will let him scrap the vital tool that guarantees the central government control in keeping other people from becoming wealthy and competing in power with them?

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

SecTreas O'Neill is strongly pushing a national retail sales tax!

This would be great but... It would have to be slowly phased in (10 - 20 years) so that the reprecussions don't tank (BADLY) the economy. Everyone has some kind of money somewhere based on what taxes will or won't do with it. Like 401Ks. I wouldn't be putting money into my 401K unless it was pretax. I can do a LOT better with other investments but the immeadiate 40% return by not being taxed can't be beat.

Plus, home ownership does have a stabilizing affect on the country. All of a sudden, with the national sales tax, it makes less sense to own your home. No write-off on the interest... let someone else deal with the headaches of maintaining my place of residence.

Too many things to go wrong here. It took 90 (more or less) years to get here we have to back out slowly.

[JohnGalt]

The only reason he would pick this as an issue (frankly, I think it's just red meat like promises to close down the NEA and then increasing the budget thank you 1994 Republicans) is that he believes its an easier road to haul than privitizing Social Security.

Otherwise this is just wishful thinking.

[arielb]

rewrite of the tax code I'm all for but a sales tax? Time to make all my transactions in cash. I'm sorry but it's not gonna fly

[Ditto]

The History of the IRS

The federal income tax was established in 1913. It actually required an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it legal. Why? Our Founding Fathers believed that taxing individuals on their private income was economic folly. They were right. The absence of an income tax, a tax on productivity, allowed our economy to grow and individuals to prosper for 124 years.

The original income tax legislation affected only individuals earning $4,000 or more per year, at a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans earned far less. The 16th Amendment was eventually ratified and added to the Constitution, and a national income tax was born.

That 16th Amendment was simply worded, the tax return consisted of only one page, and the entire tax code itself consisted of only 14 pages. No one could have imagined the vast impact it would have on the lives of their children, grandchildren and future generations of Americans.

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.

To learn more about how to end the IRS and replace it with a sane, fair, and pro-growth tax code, go to Fair Tax.org

[Stand Watch Listen]

I’m shocked, ...shocked !!!!

[Mark]

Abolish the IRS? Damn! I was just getting accustomed to the chains.

[mpreston]

The Democrats are on the run. I don't know how many times today I've heard someone say "now that the Republicans have total control they will also receive total blame for the economy". This puts the tax code issue on the table before they can even regroup and shifts the ecomonic blame game partially back to the Democrats.

[rs79bm]

This is nothing new, my friend. In fact, I remember him saying something about it in the 2000 elections.

[MattinNJ]

PLEASSSE. The tax code is killing this country. All someone has to do is read Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. We would take off like a rocket. Plus think of the increase to Republican popularity. The Dems would step in front of this as a scheme that would only benefit the top 1% and get run over by a Mack truck.

[SamAdams76]

Just goes to show you what a shrewd operator this president of ours is. Guess who is going to get credit for whatever happens over the next two years? The GOP Congress, of course! Over the next two years, our heads will be spinning with all the things that happen with this Congress. And two years from now, people will be saying "Remember the days of the gridlocked, do-nothing Democrat ruled Senate?"

If Bush is able to get this kind of stuff through the GOP Congress, we could be looking at a GOP super-majority by 2004 or 2006.