Posted on 03/12/2004 3:19:27 PM PST by det dweller too
The problem of off shoring jobs isn't fixed by limiting free trade, the problem is fixed by changing our tax STRUCTURE that is causing an UNSTABLE economic condition. By our emphasis on the income tax to fund government, we have put the burden on US residents to pay for ALL the costs created by government activity. Those costs become folded into our cost of living and become part of the cost of anything made here. Meanwhile some businesses have figured out they can avoid all those costs and keep their prices low by going outside of our borders.
In 1913, after much struggle and debate, congress got the income tax incorporated with the passage of the 16th amendment. Prior to that, almost all federal revenue was from tariffs. We also had a bad experience with commodity taxes before the revolution [remember the Boston Tea party and “no taxation without representation”], and the tariff was causing trade wars. But the final straw was that the tariff-based system just wasn't bringing in enough money for those politician’s plans.
And the initial income tax rate was very mild, just 1% starting at 5X the median income. So even after the income tax was incorporated, the majority of the revenue still came from tariffs on imports. Interestingly in 1913 the Federal Budget was only about $1 Billion! Today it's about 2,500 times bigger.
Today 90 years later those horrible tariffs are gone, the nanny state is huge and expanding rapidly and virtually 100% of the cost of all this is born by the US taxpayer. By a cruel twist of fate, none of these costs are born on products and services that are sold here as long as those things are NOT made by any US citizens or residents. This is outrageous! The income taxes, corporate taxes, regulations and lawsuits drive the cost of living and producing products and services HERE through the roof and make it nearly impossible for us to produce anything HERE that we can sell HERE.
This is where the problem solving should be done. Shift some of the taxes from income to commodities.
..........TAX PRODUCTS ........... NOT PEOPLE!!!
If there is a tax on commodity sold in this market, and it is the SAME tax rate regardless of where it came from, then nobody can complain. This is fair because it costs something to keep this market here. There are no open sewers on the side of the streets, or thugs with machine guns in pickup trucks roaming the streets, or government officials demanding payoff. This is a peaceful, well ordered and the most profitable market to sell in. Remember, they are coming HERE to sell. It is entirely within our rights to expect ALL merchants selling HERE to pick up some of the costs of having access to this market.
Some will argue that sending jobs overseas has been going on for a long time and the net effect is good, that those are all low tech low pay jobs and that this change opens up opportunity here for the better jobs. Well it looked like that was happening for a while because the technology here could make productivity and quality advantages that could more than offset the cost advantage of going overseas, but nothing stays static. Flush with money from the increased business over the last many years, overseas operations have made quantum leaps in productivity, quality and service. Add the effect of broadband internet connections that put a supplier in China only one mouse click away and you have a situation where a foreign company can match any domestic source for quality, service, selection, delivery, etc. and overwhelm them with low pricing.
An analogy may make it easier to see. Suppose you have a big department store in a town that was very popular. This store offered a place for the local clothing and goods suppliers to sell their products, and in return asked for a 30% cut for the store. Now this system worked fine for many years, then one day some suppliers came in from out of town and, because of a quirk in the contracts, didn’t have to pay the store their 30% cut. At first these out-of-towners only made a few lower quality, inexpensive products and nobody was very concerned about them. After a while though, these out-of-towners started to improve. They slowly got into the higher priced and higher quality products and because they didn’t have to give the store a cut, they could beat everyone on price. The local suppliers worked feverishly to compete by cutting costs, then wages, then staffs, then products, but they couldn’t overcome the advantage the out-of-towners had on pricing. Then the store told the remaining local suppliers that they had to increase their cut to the store to 40% to keep it open. Soon the local suppliers were so financially weak that the out-of-towners could get any business they went after and the local suppliers started to disappear. In the end, the out-of-town suppliers had nearly all the business, and the store went bankrupt.
Leaving the effects of regulations and lawsuits aside for now, If we want to have a stable society again, what we need to do is reduce personal and corporate income taxes and add the equivalent in commodity taxes. The net tax burden on US citizens and residents would not change, so it will be a tax shift and not a tax cut. But for the first time people who bring imports to the market will contribute to the cost of having that market there. The products and services made in this country will be more competitive, economic stability will return and costs will go down, and EVERYONE will be PAYING THEIR FARE SHARE!
What you are talking about is a "Value Added Tax." In every country that ever instituted a VAT income taxes were never repealed.
Some of the overview is refutable, some is suspect owing to old decisions that may not apply to the system we have now. What he says about excise taxes is true enough. And the hints about the effect of being involved with the social security set of statutory rights dovetails with the maxim that if you have rights, inalienable or statutory, you must have responsibilities.
He seems unaware of the logical effects on the states and citizens after the South lost the war and citizenship was awarded at the federal level.
It ought to be an interesting read. This is a fact, I think, somewhere around the middle of the last century, the character of the relationship between American citizens and their government changed.
"Out-of-towners" being cheap foreign labor and products and "locals" being native American businesses and people going bankrupt.
What we are witnessing is the fortunes of America being sucked off to overseas with the blessings of our own government.
IMHO, this will continue, regardless of whatever regime sits in the Oval Office.
Well that sucks! But I don't think it is cast in stone. Honestly though, I don't think democrats will ever let go of income taxes. But given that, perhaps they can go back to the original income tax that started at 5X the median income. Today that would be about @200,000. Back to partisan politics briefly, if they loose a lot of seats this time their agreeability to income tax changes like this will come way up.
I am afraid that with democrats the love for taxes is genetic.
No, it's simple. There is a commodity tax, like a value added tax on the service. When the company invoices for the service, be it from a phone bank in Bombay or down the street, a percentage goes to uncle sam, because this is where the service was purchased. And the commodity service can be at different rates for different commoditys. A simple customer support function is one rate and professional help like medical X ray analysis work could be another.
Then that would simply be a tariff, and as we have seen countless times, tariffs cause resentment and trade wars that are costly and they simply don't work anymore. But by reducing our income taxes first that would take down the fixed cost imbedded in our manufactured goods, then we simply add the tax back on the goods for everyone. Now there is no basis for a trade war since they are asked to pay a tax that we are nlso paying. They will not like it, but they have no Legitimate complaint.
Yes, the United States, state and local governments impose costs on business. Many of these are fundamental health and safety costs. Our buildings are inspected during construction to make sure they don't fall down. We have to have fire alarms and lighted exit signs and sprinkler systems.
We have stringent electrical codes to avoid hazardous situations that could electrocute people and/or burn down buildings and houses.
We require two exits so people aren't trapped and trampled getting out in an emergency.
What you foolish free traitors don't realize is many foreign countries place ZERO value on human health and life. NO FREE COUNTRY PLACING VALUE ON HEALTH AND LIFE CAN COMPETE WITH THOSE TREATING HUMAN WORKERS AS EXPENDABLE.
The value of the lives of human beings in China and India is nearly zero to their governments and businesses.
You people who think the export of all manufacturing from America is just fine and dandy are dangerously misled and have spent too much time with your noses in textbooks.
America is racing to the economic bottom and you are too blind to see it.
I am suggesting this tax structure because we can't tell other countries to follow our laws and regulations. What I am saying is that for anybody selling products HERE You will pay for the infrastructure of keeping this place HERE. Then domestic companies will have those costs REMOVED from their cost overhead. Now the domestic company can compete wil anyone, even slave labor if necessary.
Maybe they understand far more about international tax law than you.
we're doomed
If anyone is driving America to the economic bottom, it is those people who are trying to hold on to third world jobs in the name of maintaining a first world standard of living.
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