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White House Floats Idea of Dropping Income Tax (altogether)
New York Times, Business and Financial Desk, Page 14, Column 5 ^ | 2/8/2003 | EDMUND L. ANDREWS

Posted on 02/08/2003 5:56:38 PM PST by Bigun

White House Floats Idea of Dropping Income Tax Overhaul By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — President Bush, having already set off a firestorm over his proposals to cut taxes and revamp retirement accounts, suggested today that the time might be near to drop the income tax as a whole and replace it with some form of consumption tax...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; consumptiontax; incometax; nrst; taxreform; whitehouse
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To: ApesForEvolution
BTW, where did you get "30% sales tax on the food, clothes and medicines they buy" from?

NRST propagandists prefer using the deceptive practice of "tax inclusive" rates, which produces a mathematicly smaller number. However, the way most normal people are accustomed to calculating percentages, the rate is approximately 30%

Posing as "tax reform", the NRST (HR 2525) also represents a "land grab" where business interests are favored over individuals purchasing for their own use:

This a significant inequity between individuals trying to buy their own new homes and landord/investors looking to buy the same single family dwelling as a rental investment. This disparity has long term implications affecting the distribution of private property. The American tradition favoring individual property rights is reversed. The NRST would discourage individual "consumption" of real property.

While this example illustrates how the NRST affects purchase of a new home, it also applies to all other retail sales, including necessities such as food, clothing and medicines. It also applies to the necessity for shelter, not only for new home purchase, but also to rent charged by landlords.

Thank-you for asking and providing me the opportunity to explain how incredibly heinous and opressive this tax is!

381 posted on 02/09/2003 11:49:36 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Bigun
"Critics of such proposals contend that the political challenges are too daunting, because attacking countless special preferences means challenging innumerable powerful lobbying groups The Democrats will place any president that tries this in a convertible moving slowly through Dallas.
382 posted on 02/09/2003 11:49:56 AM PST by Kay Soze
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To: Principled
Alright. I spent my 10 minutes. First off, I don't believe for a minute that "prices will go down 20-30%" upon enactment of HR 25. This repeal of *federal* income tax does nothing to alleviate individual state and local sales taxes, or state income taxes (which as the site points out, do get passed on to consumers indirectly.) These taxes are *NOT* removed by HR 25, so one presumes they still would contribute to the cost of goods and services. In short, I don't buy the fundamental assumption - that prices would go down.

Second, I see nothing to convince me that if a 23% tax is levied on *every* "new good or service for personal consumption" that that won't have drastic economic consequences. If I am right, and prices didn't decrease because of the removal of the federal income tax, then there are many goods & services America will decide to do without, or do without more often. Many people work their way into the middle class by providing personal services to people without that much more money than them: hair braiders, hair stylists, manicurists, etc. All these services would have a 23% automatic price increase.

It is completely untrue that "consumption tends to be more constant than income." People's levels of consumption WILDLY vary throughout their life cycle. (Ask any parents with a new baby and a toddler.)

This part is particularly screwy: Perhaps most importantly, to ensure that no American will pay tax on necessities, the FairTax plan provides a prepaid, monthly rebate for every registered household to cover the 23% consumption tax spent on necessities up to the federal poverty level.

This says to me that the consumption tax *will* be charged on food and medicine at the point of sale, and that if you want your money back, you *register* with the government and get some amount back *up to what you would have spent had you been poor.* In other words, those who buy better quality food, medicine, or medical care are *penalized* by a limitation to the amount rebate. Instead, ALL tax on necessities should be refunded or better yet, not charged at the point of sale at all.

Notice also this line from the bill's section on registering to get your rebate: Said registration shall be signed by all members of the qualified family that have attained the age of 21 years as of the date of filing. In other words, if you are 18, living on your own,NOT a student supported by your parents, you can't register & thus get your rebate?

If I've misunderstood this point, please clarify. But the more I read about this, the worse it sounds.

383 posted on 02/09/2003 11:50:13 AM PST by valkyrieanne
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To: Willie Green
The NRST would discourage individual "consumption" of real property.

It looks like that to me, too. For instance, you would pay federal tax on a new house, but not on a "used" house. Do you pay a federal tax on land every time it's sold? (Seems like it to me.) Since all land on the face of the earth is "used," seems like there should be NO sales tax on land sales, or that the lot itself should not be taxed.

Attempting to tax lots when they're bought by individuals but NOT by developers for re-sale is fundamentally wrong, anti-populist, and a way to create a landed, feudal class & a peasantry, even though it doesn't seem like that now.

384 posted on 02/09/2003 11:53:51 AM PST by valkyrieanne
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To: valkyrieanne
and a way to create a landed, feudal class & a peasantry, even though it doesn't seem like that now.

Exactly!

It is an inherently regressive tax that wipes out the Middle Class.
The long term result is a two-tiered, socio-economic, 21st Century, eco-feudal system.

385 posted on 02/09/2003 12:01:26 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: valkyrieanne; lewislynn
Second, I see nothing to convince me that if a 23% tax is levied on *every* "new good or service for personal consumption" that that won't have drastic economic consequences.

And please don't be misled by claims of a 23% tax. NRST advocates use a deceptive method of calculation they call "tax inclusive" that works like this:

Imagine an item that costs $1.00, tax-included.
Under the NRST method, this means that 23¢ is tax that is collected by the government and 77¢ is the cost of the item due to the seller.
This is how they claim a 23% tax rate.
Yet most people would calculate this 23¢ as 29.87% of a 77¢ item. (Still producing a $1.00 total)

Ironicly, when challenged that the NRST proposal does nothing to reduce government spending, they claim that it makes taxes "more visible" to the taxpayers who would in turn demand a reduction in spending. Yet they hypocritically bury the tax in the purchase price of an item with this "tax-inclusive" pricing methodology!

386 posted on 02/09/2003 12:17:04 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: ApesForEvolution
...but abolishing the IRS and replacing it with a reasonable NRST such as the Fair Tax is genius.

Yeah, right.
It should not be a surprise to anybody that the NRST was first sponsored in Congress by certified lunatic and convicted felon James Traficant.

387 posted on 02/09/2003 12:27:54 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: ApesForEvolution
The progressive income tax was adopted from the Marxist (Socialist)Communist Manifesto and it along with the slave-manipulating IRS/IRC needs to GO!

Hear Here!

388 posted on 02/09/2003 12:28:44 PM PST by Bigun
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To: Billy_bob_bob

, if I believed that the nrst had ANY chance of being implemented the way it is worded, I would support it. However, I am afraid that it has NO chance whatsoever of being implemented this way, and would eventually devolve into a VAT. Ick

Ahhh! I really hate to be the one to inform you but for all practical purposes, our corporate tax is a VAT. The NRST is designed to reverse that situation as well as repeal the individual income tax.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/foundationmessage03-00.html

"Under the WTO definition of the term, a sales tax is an indirect tax, as is an European-style VAT. The economic equivalence of an European-style VAT and a subtraction-method VAT is well-established. A subtraction-method VAT is essentially identical to a business income tax except that all purchases of plant and equipment may be expensed, rather than depreciated as under current U.S. law."

And every man woman and child in the nation, pays federal taxes through that VAT.

DO YOU PAY YOUR INCOME TAX
AT THE SUPERMARKET?

by D. Sherman Cox J.D. L.L.M. Taxation

The full impact of the federal tax system(taxes in gross wage/salaries & other compensation + business income/payroll taxes) added onto the base(taxfree) price of retail consumption goods and services is 36% for federal taxes alone.

I'm in favor of sticking with the Devil I know rather than dancing with the Devil I don't know.

Doesn't look like you know the Devil you are dancing with too well at all, from my perspective.

389 posted on 02/09/2003 12:33:10 PM PST by ancient_geezer
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To: TruthNtegrity
Oh, how I'd love to see this happen. First I get to watch all the Dims have major hissy fits, and second, we'll have Republican Presidents for the next 20 years, in order to keep the Dims away from any chance of trying to change this and bring back the IRS.

SO TRUE! Your thought about the future if this should ever come about is probably true. And it reminds me of President Johnson, after the civil rights legislation, said, paraphrased, 'this will put the blacks under our thumbs for the next 200 years'. And as some the the programs sprung into massive action, like the one that encouraged young black girls to have babies out of wedlock in order to qualify for free government housing and food stamps, etc, the precious, once tight knit and cohesive black familys began to crumble-leading to a lifestyle of government dependence. Democrats took this dem designed victemization status and ran with it-using it to powerfully keep our blacks out of the promise that is all Americans.

If our President and his advisors are serious about repealing the income tax, it won't be to keep people voting republican, it will be because it is the RIGHT THING TO DO. Our founding fathers are knocking on some powerful hearts....I hope it continues!

390 posted on 02/09/2003 12:36:13 PM PST by Republic (tommy daschle is a WEASEL OF MASS DISTORTION (tractorman)-so truthful, it almost HURTS!)
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To: Willie Green; ApesForEvolution

Posing as "tax reform", the NRST (HR 2525) also represents a "land grab" where business interests are favored over individuals purchasing for their own use:

Posing?

H.R.25
SPONSOR: Rep Linder, John (introduced 01/7/2003)
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:
http://www.fairtax.org & http://www.salestax.org

Sure looks like tax reform to me.

Willy, how many years you going to continue with the same wornout irrational diatribe? You never change it or try even to clean it up to present a more coherent and rational argument for your postition. Just through it out there to bump a thread because you don't like seeing the NRST touted as a alternative to the income tax.

You continually throw it out inspite of the fact it has been totally refuted everytime you have posted it.

Now to answer your specific allegations:

This a significant inequity between individuals trying to buy their own new homes and landord/investors looking to buy the same single family dwelling as a rental investment.

ROTFLM(_|_)O!

Still playing rich man against poor man aren't you Willy.

You do know of course, that investors are home buyers and renters too, don't you?

Why don't you mention:

These factors more than overcomes any imagined advantage of investor over the homebuyer so that all homebuyers can become an investors too.

But then good socialists never consider becoming investors themselves now do they W.G.

391 posted on 02/09/2003 12:41:58 PM PST by ancient_geezer
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To: ancient_geezer
I'm smart enough to know not when to dice with a pro. You have proven over time to be quite knowlegeable about the subject of taxes. OK, I'm willing to be edjumacated.

Help me out here, as an average person who has been taxed into submission and who is as jaded as it is possible to be, who has lost all faith whatsoever in our government, tell me how this magical NRST is going to make things better in the real world? How is this going to make my life better? I know the NRST is supposed to do all kinds of wonderous things, but why should I believe that it will actually produce what it is supposed to produce?

Again, I'm not talking about the nifty proposals on the papers that have been written, I'm talking about the nut-cutting reality of federal bureaucrats being given a new set of rules and being told to enforce them.

Federal bureaucrats. New rules. New enforcement. Feel that chill down your spine yet?
392 posted on 02/09/2003 12:42:34 PM PST by Billy_bob_bob ("He who will not reason is a bigot;He who cannot is a fool;He who dares not is a slave." W. Drummond)
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To: Willie Green; valkyrieanne
Now, lets take a look at some of your points and see how they hold up:
  • A family purchasing their own new home house(residential land is not taxed) for $200,000 pays NRST at a tax-included 23% rate. This means that of the $200,000 paid, $154,000 goes to the seller, and the Gov't receives $46,000 in tax.
  • A typical family purchasing their own new house today has 25% or more of their gross income extracted by the Federal government before they even think about buying a new or even an older house. That is not even counting the tax costs and costs of compliance placed on businesses of an additional 20 to 30% and embedded in the price of the new house.  

  • A landlord/investor can exploit the business exemption of NRST and purchase the same new single family dwelling tax free as a rental investment for only $154,000. Tenants pay NRST on rent and Landlords act as tax collectors for the government
  • Of course that landlord/investor also pays the same tax on the house he lives in or rents before he can ever become an "investor/landlord" in the first place. Or do you figure such folks live in NY allies and sleep on park benches.

    Additionally, a buyer of an older home, is not charged the NRST, which is the case of most first time buyers of homes.

  • The $154,000 vs. $200,000 purchase price advantage that landlord/investors enjoy over individual personal homebuyers can be expressed two ways:
    • Landlord/investors enjoy a 23% discount compared to the individual personal home buyer.
  • Actually not, as the Landlord/invester pays the 23% tax on the home he lives in whether rented or purchased, the same manner as any other individual.

    Again untrue, the landlord/investor pays the same tax on the home he rents or buys new for his personal use. All individuals are treated the same under the NRST. Infact, because the individual receives the full benefit and control of his gross income, as opposed to merely after tax income under the current system. That plus the NRST prebate paid to ALL households provides an enhanced opportunity for everyone to become investors.

    Under the current Income/Payroll tax system, the total contribution of the federal tax system(including taxes in gross wage/salaries) to the price of retail consumption goods and services is 36% for taxes alone. Including cost of compliance at around $600billion/year, increases that percentage to about a 47% total burden with respect to current family consumption expenditure caused by the federal tax system as it exists today.

     


    Frankly, I'll be happy to pay 23% of the total payment for new goods and services, or as you would put it (30% added on) to the tax free price any day. Considering that I have available my full gross pay from which to accrue tax free growth of my savings and investments.

    Compared to what we are hit with now:

    We must . . . End Tax Slavery Now; Nov '97
    by Jarret B. Wollstein

    HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY PAY?

         According to the Tax Foundation, in 1994 the average American paid 22.4% of his or her income in federal taxes, plus 11.8% in state and local taxes - 34.2% total.

         But that's just the beginning! Dr. James Payne of the University of California found that in addition to direct taxes we also pay huge, hidden taxes including:

         For every $1 we pay in direct taxes, we spend an additional $0.65 in compliance costs. And even that figure doesn't include the cost of import duties, license fees and other government regulations. For a typical U.S. family, the real cost of taxes and regulations is at least:

    Federal taxes              22.4% of income
    State & local taxes      11.8%
    Compliance costs        22.2%
    Regulatory costs         12.7%

    70.1% of your income is now consumed by government


    393 posted on 02/09/2003 12:50:25 PM PST by ancient_geezer
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    To: Billy_bob_bob

    Federal bureaucrats. New rules. New enforcement. Feel that chill down your spine yet?

    State administration of the NRST, not federal, infact the change to most states allow for a simpler system than already exists.

    States collect and enforce the NRST passing collection on to the United States Treasury.

    H.R.25
    SPONSOR: Rep Linder, John (introduced 01/7/2003)
    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:
    http://www.fairtax.org & http://www.salestax.org

    How is this going to make my life better?

    The individual family is relieved of liability for report or remitting the tax, that is the province of the retail business, just as it is today for retail sales tax currently in existence. The Feds are no longer in the personal business of the family.

    but why should I believe that it will actually produce what it is supposed to produce?

    Simply put ,the bill will do as it says, Read it. Don't support the bill and work for its enactment nothing will be produced. Support it, and it becomes the tax law. Nothing more, nothing less.

    But then you can not believe and continue to live under the Devil that is and the federal intrusiveness that goes with it.

    We must . . . End Tax Slavery Now; Nov '97
    by Jarret B. Wollstein

    HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY PAY?

         According to the Tax Foundation, in 1994 the average American paid 22.4% of his or her income in federal taxes, plus 11.8% in state and local taxes - 34.2% total.

         But that's just the beginning! Dr. James Payne of the University of California found that in addition to direct taxes we also pay huge, hidden taxes including:

         For every $1 we pay in direct taxes, we spend an additional $0.65 in compliance costs. And even that figure doesn't include the cost of import duties, license fees and other government regulations. For a typical U.S. family, the real cost of taxes and regulations is at least:

    Federal taxes              22.4% of income
    State & local taxes      11.8%
    Compliance costs        22.2%
    Regulatory costs         12.7%

    70.1% of your income is now consumed by government


    394 posted on 02/09/2003 1:01:16 PM PST by ancient_geezer
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    To: ancient_geezer; lewislynn
    You do know of course, that investors are home buyers and renters too, don't you?

    Gee wheezer, that seems to contradict the statements made by other NRST shills.
    Are you sure you have permission to make statements like that?

    "A home is NOT an investment, W/G, but merely a place to live."

    Posted on 03/26/2001 16:27:50 PST by pigdog

    To: pigdog, Willie Green

    It's amazing how many people view a home as an "asset," as well. It's a frickin' LIABILITY.

    90 Posted on 06/29/2001 09:45:01 PDT by Poohbah

    BTW, what ever happened to pigdong?
    Did you guys have to lay him off due to budget cutbacks?
    395 posted on 02/09/2003 1:06:08 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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    To: ancient_geezer
    You propose to reduce the burden the Federal Government imposes upon us all from %70 to under %30, and you propose to eliminate most of the intrusive federal snooping and oversight that goes along with it. Last but certainly not least, you propose to do this with an act of legislation?

    Sounds wonderful. It also sounds very unrealistic. From what I know of history, governments don't voluntarily give up most of their revenue stream and power over a population simply because they are petitioned. Mao said "power comes from the barrel of a gun", and I have to agree with him on that one. Right now they have the money, the bureaucracy, and the guns. And they're going to give that up because we walk up to them with a piece of paper and politely ask them to give it up?

    Well, heck, who knows. Stranger things have happened. I guess its worth a try.
    396 posted on 02/09/2003 1:10:20 PM PST by Billy_bob_bob ("He who will not reason is a bigot;He who cannot is a fool;He who dares not is a slave." W. Drummond)
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    To: ancient_geezer
    You said:

    
    Federal taxes           22.4% of income
    State & local taxes     11.8%
    Compliance costs        22.2%
    Regulatory costs        12.7% 
    
    70.1% of your income is now consumed by government

    Let's see. You want to eliminate the 22.4% Federal tax and replace it with a 30% (at least) National Retail Sales Tax. The other taxes will continue. So under your scheme we will have to pay a total of 77.7% total taxes. Hey, let's jump right on that.

    What makes you think state and local taxes, compliance costs, and regulatory costs will go away after the NRST is implemented? Will the Clean Air Act be repealed? Will the ADA be repealed? Will there be no one to enforce the collection of the NRST at the point of purchase?

    397 posted on 02/09/2003 1:10:47 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty" not the "Statue of Security.")
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    To: Frohickey
    Repeal the 26th Amendment first... then we can talk about a replacement.

    "Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
    Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. "

    Please. We don't need this one repealed! What's wrong with you?

    398 posted on 02/09/2003 1:13:49 PM PST by dufekin
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    To: Billy_bob_bob

    tell me how this magical NRST is going to make things better in the real world?

    It will give you first control of your pay check before government gets any cut. From there it is up to you how you spend or invest your income.

    Live frugally purchase used or do for yourself and invest, you receive maximum benefit to the accumulation of the basis for wealth accumulation by the private individual.

    Spend it all, government gets a take of 23% of what you spend.

    You stand in control of how much tax is extracted from you by your own choices.

    How is this going to make my life better?

    You have greater liberty and control over you life. You are burdened less by government by the reduction of the costs of compliance (65 cents for every dollar collected under the current system) on business, meaning greater profitibility of investments and potential for lower prices through competition.

    If you can't find a better economic life with those working for you, stay with the current system.

    399 posted on 02/09/2003 1:15:39 PM PST by ancient_geezer
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    To: ancient_geezer
    Gotta admit that all sounds very good. Still very skeptical about any chance of success in implementing it, but from what I have seen so far I like it. It sure seems like it would be an improvement, because the income tax strikes me as just being plain old wrong.
    400 posted on 02/09/2003 1:18:01 PM PST by Billy_bob_bob ("He who will not reason is a bigot;He who cannot is a fool;He who dares not is a slave." W. Drummond)
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