Free Republic

Recently, I was on vacation in Budapest, Hungary, taking one of those bus trips of the city. Our guide was a young lady, probably mid-20's, who spoke excellent English but had always lived in Budapest. We drove by a major university and she said that a college education was free in Hungary. When we drove past a large city bus stop, she quickly pointed out that it, too, was free. Finally, we drove past a large hospital where I was told that medical care was free. Curious, I asked her what her income tax rate was and she relied that...

One of the dumbest things a country can do in a recession is raise taxes. Yet, after pronouncing the end of austerity, Italy's "grand coalition" government, led by Enrico Letta, is going to hike the VAT. Why? It seems they need to hike the VAT to pay for a decrease in property taxes. Recall that Silvio Berlusconi was only willing to take part in Letta's grand coalition on condition property tax hikes were rolled back. Letta agreed to do that, but now Letta says Italy needs revenue hikes to make up for it. Grand Coalition Splintering Curiously, the International Business...

I am seeing many posts regarding Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan, many with omissions and errors.

According to Fred Barnes at The Weekly Standard, the Obamis are planning a lame-duck session of Congress, "filled with defeated and retired senators and House members," to pass a VAT (value-added tax). Liberals know that they get a chance to enact progressive legislation only once in a generation. That's when the cycle of politics throws up a liberal majority in Congress, and liberals have the votes to cram down their agenda. That's why President Obama is in such a hurry, eager to jam down liberal legislation in the teeth of popular opposition. I call it the ratchet. In the 1900s,...

It is interesting how the left will take a politically popular idea and pervert it into something that will only further destroy a country that is already well down the road to serfdom. The latest example is the Obama administration's repeated statements that it is looking into the possibility of a Value Added Tax (VAT). This comes after almost two decades of millions of Americans advocating a "Fair Tax" instead of the current income tax system. Obama's apologists will state that they both are, after all, taxes on consumption. The similarities after that, however, largely evaporate. The Fair Tax is...

A value added tax, or VAT for short, is something that has been floating around Washington for some time now as a solution to help the trillion dollar deficit woes. Most Americans probably do not know what a VAT is, considering it is a fairly recent European idea, but they are probably wondering how it will personally affect them and their families. Well, you better open your eyes and smell the taxes because a VAT is coming to a store near you. Started by the French in 1954, a VAT has now been implemented throughout the European Union and many...

Corruption: The carbon trading system being pushed here has spawned crime and fraud across the pond. Cap-and-trade is not about saving the planet. It's about money and power, and absolute power corrupting absolutely. All across Europe authorities have been conducting raids, rounding up individuals involved in a new version of Climate-gate. This time the data aren't corrupted. Europe's Emissions Trading System is. The system is so sick, it's turned out to be a scam built upon a scam. Twenty-five people have been arrested in raids by British and German authorities as part of a pan-European crackdown on carbon credit VAT...

The idea of a value-added tax (VAT), attacked by national Republicans ever since it was floated by a White House adviser, has some GOP supporters in Congress. Five Republican House members are co-sponsors of a bill by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) that would impose a VAT on imports from countries that use the tax. In the Senate, George Voinovich (R-Ohio) has suggested that replacing income taxes with a VAT could be one way to streamline the tax code. "I don't know whether it would [be more efficient] or not," Voinovich told The Hill. "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't...

President Barack Obama's bipartisan commission to fix our long-term deficit crisis held its first meeting on April 27. But a couple of weeks ago, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a symbolic measure rejecting an important tool to restore fiscal sanity to the budget: the value-added tax. To which you might respond: a what? Americans like to think of our country as exceptional. Our tax system certainly is. The United States is the world's only developed nation without a national broad-based consumption tax. As a result, our taxes hit income harder than most countries. Nearly 38 percent of our overall tax take...

I studied Economics at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. When an economist reads 'VAT', they don't think "a value-added tax", as you mere workers/taxpayers are meant to think, but rather an economist sees "a Tax on the Value Added". It should enter the public debate that "Value Added" is a business term; an economics term that means GDP, or Gross Domestic Product. That is, the wealth creation of the United States of America. The "Value Added" of any organization is equal to the Outputs minus the Inputs. It is the fundamental wealth capacity of that organization....

With the stunning emergence of the consumption-based Value Added Tax (VAT) as a legitimate public policy option, the Obama administration has now all but made it official: There is no European economic idea too extreme for 21st century America. Even if the Europeans themselves are largely headed in the opposite direction. VAT, first rolled out in 1950s France, is a sales tax on everything that every person or entity buys within a country, with exceptions or reductions carved out for things like food, newspapers, or various links along the industrial supply chain. Compared to the H&R Block subsidy program that...

A taxing development surfaced on Wednesday. White House economic advisor Paul Volcker is calling for a new national sales tax -- a value added tax or "vat" -- to help close the deficit. But as CBS 2 HD found out area residents are saying "vat chance." Talk about starting a tax revolt. Volcker's call for a new national sales tax -- on top of the state and local sales taxes we pay now -- got a loud Bronx cheer from just about everyone. "That's crazy. That really is crazy. Why would need any more taxes than we already have?" said...

Acknowledging it would be a highly unpopular move, White House economic adviser Paul Volcker said yesterday the United States should consider imposing a "value added tax" similar to those charged in Europe to help get the deficit under control. A VAT is a national sales tax that, like state and city sales taxes, would be collected by retailers. Volcker, at the New-York Historical Society, told a panel on the global financial crisis that Congress might also have to consider new taxes on carbon and energy.

<p>The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday.</p>

Anyone who thinks that health-care reform alone is going to close the massive current -- and even larger projected -- U.S. budget deficit is deluded. President Obama has pledged that health-care reform will not make matters worse. But that isn't good enough. There is no way to restore this nation to fiscal health without higher taxes -- for the middle class as well as for the rich. The only question is when. Those increases should be enacted now, phased in gradually after the recovery is well established, and tied to the increased spending that health-care reform will generate. ... So...

Pelosi says new tax is 'on the table' By Michael O'Brien - 10/06/09 10:59 AM ET A new value added tax (VAT) is "on the table" to help the U.S. address is fiscal liabilities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday night. Pelosi, appearing on PBS's "The Charlie Rose Show" asserted that "it's fair to look at" the VAT as part of an overhaul of the nation's tax code. "I would say put everything on the table and subject it to the scrutiny that it deserves," Pelosi told Rose when asked if the value-added tax has any appeal to her....

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 6, 2009 Mr. Dingell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. Short title; table of contents. (a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “National Health...

TAX REFORM COMMISSION? YEAH ... RIGHT. The president's so-called tax reform commission telegraphed its intentions several months ago when members stated that they were not going to recommend a full reform of our federal tax system, rather they were going to recommend some incremental reforms. The The FairTax Book hit the book stores and debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller's list. Politicians and other Beltway denizens told co-author Congressman John Linder that the success of The FairTax Book was a certain indication that the people of this country were in the mood for wholesale reform. Who...

And, the last comment that I would make before I turn to Senator Breaux for his comments, I think it's fair to say that as we go through this process of developing a better system, better tax system for America, that there will be five areas in which -- five principles, if you will, that will focus our effort. The first is filing taxes will be straightforward and easy to understand. Point two, our tax system will be fair and transparent. Taxpayers will be able to understand their tax obligations, and have confidence that they and their neighbors are all...

WorldNetDaily / Commentary Bush tax package guts middle class Posted: May 26, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Joan Veon © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Using tactics of deceit and distortion, President Bush will sign a tax bill that was literally dictated by him to Congress and passed by the Senate late last week while the writers were still crafting it. What is being put into action will not only completely gut our entire tax code but will add a level of taxation that heretofore was only known by the children of Israel when pharaoh commanded them to make bricks without straw. The tax deductions...