Free Republic

In a nation whose government and citizens scarcely hesitate to spend money, and whose personal debt and entitlement liabilities climb staggeringly, economic conservatives would try to encourage more saving. One proposal many back for that purpose is the national sales tax, called the "Fair Tax" by its supporters. It has gained the enthusiastic support of free-market pundits like Robert Novak and Neal Boortz and from a presidential candidate, Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. This national sales tax would aim to promote saving by shifting the federal tax take from income to consumption. But even some of the most staunchly...

Hidden [income tax] costs go well beyond the question of economic incidence versus legal incidence or the compliance burden. Every tax system distorts economic decisions, alters economic behavior, and retards economic output below that which otherwise would occur, resulting in what economists agree is the “deadweight loss” or “excess burden” of taxation. Deadweight loss is a hidden extraction cost of taxation – the machine that didn’t spin, the worker who didn’t show up – which represents a depletion in purchasing power perhaps more nefariously improvident than if the government had collected that resource. The average worker is of course completely...

Advocates of replacing the income tax with the FairTax — a consumption tax in the form of a national retail sales tax (NRST) on new goods and services — regularly point to the complexity of the tax code, the millions of hours and dollars wasted on compliance costs, the evils of the withholding tax, and the abuses of the IRS to bolster their case for the FairTax. The twin truths that taxation is theft (no matter how the money is collected) and that the US government should never be given a budget that is in the trillions (no matter how...

A Battlefield for Tax Reform There are a few significant battlefields in the war for tax reform. One of them is Free Republic. What makes the Free Republic battlefield significant is that the debate is at the cutting edge. The debate on Free Republic is the most current and most knowledgeable. It is a year ahead of other significant battlefields (radio talk shows, political town-hall meetings, conversations among neighbors and coworkers.) The trend on Free Republic with respect to tax reform is going to show up in the real world. Free Republic is a tiny segment of the world, albeit...

Hezbocrats Attack Wal-Mart By Herman Cain The Hezbocrats, a roaming band of militant guerrillas seeking their party’s 2008 nomination for president, have most recently lobbed their rhetorical bombs at Wal-Mart, that cruel capitalist occupying corporation. The most recent base of Hezbocrat activity was Iowa, the state whose January 2008 party caucuses are the nation’s first measure of presidential preference. The Hezbocrats, armed with nothing more than Katyusha-grade class warfare rhetoric, descended upon Iowa earlier this month determined to take down Wal-Mart, a company they consider the nation’s largest capitalistic oppressor of the proletariat. Leading Hezbocrats, including Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE),...

Where Congress Fumbles, the States Recover By Herman Cain August 16, 2006 "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." – 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution The inability and unwillingness of Congress this year to cut federal spending, restructure Social Security, eliminate the estate tax and protect our borders has been well documented. If the Republicans lose seats this November in one or both chambers, they will have their self-imposed legislative impotence to blame. Fortunately, many of the...

Illegal Dirty Little Secrets about Social Security By Herman CainThere are two dirty little secrets behind the debate over the illegal alien issue that even the advocates of securing the borders first have failed to discuss. The first secret is that the estimated twelve to twenty million aliens living and working illegally in the United States have to commit identity theft to secure employment. The second secret is that without illegals' payroll tax contributions, filed under stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers, the Social Security system would collapse years earlier than estimated. Hard to believe, here are the facts. The...

One Culture, Indivisible By Herman CainNew York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of illegal aliens last week at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, "Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders…our city's economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true of the nation." Bloomberg and other elected officials who value the economic impact of illegal aliens' labor over the cultural decimation wrought by our acquiescence to illegals' demands should be swiftly removed from office. Those we elect to make laws must not be allowed...

Misplaced Priorities Again in the Senate By Herman CainIt could cost more to get caught working in the world's oldest profession if a bill passed last week by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee becomes law. The Finance Committee approved legislation that would allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to prosecute pimps and prostitutes for tax code violations. Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) proposed the legislation, which would impose a 10-year prison term on pimps for each prostitute in his employ on whom he fails to file a W-2 form. What's next? Will the Senate Finance Committee require pimps...

We Need a New Independence By Herman Cain "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." When our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they envisioned a governing body comprised of citizen legislators who served at the consent of the public. Today, too many of our elected officials have become independent kings concerned more with power, party and their political careers. The people who elect them and common sense policy solutions are no longer priorities. The inability of the men and women who represent us to secure...

Democrats' New Direction: Same as the Old Direction By Herman CainHouse and Senate Democratic leaders held a press conference on June 16 to announce their bold, new policy initiatives in a plan called New Direction. Their accompanying press statement promises, "Democrats are ready with a New Direction, with policies to address the real challenges Americans face every day." Their idea of the "real challenges Americans face every day" does not include fighting and winning the global war on terrorism, restructuring the Social Security and Medicare programs, rewriting the income tax code or cutting federal spending, because none of those issues...

It’s Time To Go RINO Hunting By Herman Cain June 7, 2006 The split in the majority party between conservatives and RINOs – Republicans in Name Only – first became apparent during last year’s debate over proposals to restructure the Social Security program. The chasm has only deepened this session in debates and votes in Congress on immigration, tax policy, spending and judicial nominees. Whether we agree or not with all aspects of President Bush’s agenda, we at least know his positions. Conversely, Congressional Republicans are like a lost ship adrift at sea with no captain or compass. President Bush’s...

We Need More Big Potatoes By Herman CainMy grandfather was a farmer. Though he was the grandson of slaves, he was able to own his small farm in rural Douglas County, Georgia and earn a modest return as the fruits of his labor. Many times as a little boy when I would visit my grandparents, Granddad had to take a load of potatoes into the local farmer's market. When he finished loading the wagon Granddad would announce to all the grandchildren running around in the yard, "Them that's goin', get on the wagon! Them that ain't, get outta the way!"...

Social Security Scam Keeps On Ticking May 17, 2006 By Herman Cain The Social Security Trustees issued their annual report earlier this month, and the program's fiscal outlook is even worse than estimated last year. Yet, as predictably as May brings rain showers from Heaven and bloated supplemental spending bills from Congress, liberals in the media, the House and the Senate continue to deny that the Social Security program faces a fiscal crisis. The 2006 Social Security Trustees Report found that the estimated year in which the program will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll tax...

Americans for Fair Taxation Educational and Networking Conferences It was my pleasure to attend an AFFT Educational and Networking Conference in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, January 21st, along with about 300 enthusiastic FairTax supporters. The cost was $10.00 per person to cover lunch and handout materials, which included a nicely done FairTax Volunteer Manual and a Florida Congressional Contact sp;readsheet. Hosted by David Allen, a local talk show host and ardent FairTax supporter, the meeting was focused on grassroots organizing and creating effective citizen action teams to move the FairTax issue forward in Jacksonville and the state of Florida. Following...

Stop Lying About Tax Cuts March 29, 2006 By Herman Cain Every good liberal will tell you that low tax rates cause tax revenues to drop, hurt the economy, benefit only the wealthy and cause skyrocketing budget deficits. A Wall Street Journal article last week blew a hole in those liberal lies. The Journal reported that federal tax revenues for the first five months of fiscal year 2006 are up 10.3 percent from the same period a year ago. The 2006 revenue growth adds to a 15 percent tax revenue increase from 2004 to 2005. This good fortune for U.S....

Gross Congressional Negligence March 15, 2006 By Herman Cain When corporate executives commit fraud and negligence against their customers and employees, they get fired or go to jail. Every year that members of Congress delay in restructuring the Medicare and Medicaid programs to avoid facing a coming economic disaster, they are committing gross negligence against the citizens of the United States. Unfortunately, many of them get re-elected. In 2004, 99 percent of House incumbents were reelected, as were 96 percent of their colleagues in the Senate. For over 40 years Congress has attempted to socialize health care delivery through excessive...

Liberal goal for America: Gutless socialism by Herman Cain Feb 21, 2006 The United States of America is drifting away from capitalism and its free-market foundations toward a gutless brand of socialism. Yet unlike the tyrannical dictators who ruled communist nations in the 20th Century, congressional liberals lack the guts to tell the public their true intentions. Those intentions are motivated by the Marxist philosophy of “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” Instead of conducting a deadly revolution, liberals are waging their war on capitalism through public policy, assaults on our free-market system and...

Effective leadership in business and politics requires going to W.A.R. to achieve successful solutions: Working on the right problem. Asking the right questions. Removing barriers that impede progress toward the ultimate goal. Sometimes that W.A.R. must start with your own management team. It might seem obvious that President Bush is in charge of what goes on in the White House, but it is more obvious that he has some crippling weaknesses in his management team. The negative outcry over the sale of management of six U.S. ports by a British firm to Dubai Ports World, owned by the United Arab...

The battle between "South Park""South Park" creators Trey ParkerTrey Parker and Matt StoneMatt Stone and Scientology is escalating. The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a "South Park" episode called "Trapped in the Closet," which lampooned both the religion and Tom CruiseTom Cruise. The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy CentralComedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening...