Posted on 08/01/2004 6:08:53 PM PDT by NeoCaveman
A domestic centerpiece of the Bush/GOP agenda for a second Bush term is getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The Speaker of the House will push for replacing the nation's current tax system with a national sales tax or a value added tax, Hill sources tell DRUDGE.
"People ask me if I’m really calling for the elimination of the IRS, and I say I think that’s a great thing to do for future generations of Americans," Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert explains in his new book, to be released on Wednesday.
"Pushing reform legislation will be difficult. Change of any sort seldom comes easy. But these changes are critical to our economic vitality and our economic security abroad," Hastert declares in SPEAKER: LESSONS FROM FORTY YEARS IN COACHING AND POLITICS.
"“If you own property, stock, or, say, one hundred acres of farmland and tax time is approaching, you don’t want to make a mistake, so you’re almost obliged to go to a certified public accountant, tax preparer, or tax attorney to help you file a correct return. That costs a lot of money. Now multiply the amount you have to pay by the total number of people who are in the same boat. You can’t. No one can because precise numbers don’t exist. But we can stipulate that we’re talking about a huge amount. Now consider that a flat tax, national sales tax, or VAT would not only eliminate the need to do this, it could also eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) itself and make the process of paying taxes much easier."
"By adopting a VAT, sales tax, or some other alternative, we could begin to change productivity. If you can do that, you can change gross national product and start growing the economy. You could double the economy over the next fifteen years. All of a sudden, the problem of what future generations owe in Social Security and Medicare won’t be so daunting anymore. The answer is to grow the economy, and the key to doing that is making sure we have a tax system that attracts capital and builds incentives to keep it here instead of forcing it out to other nations."
I also like the flat tax but prefer the NRST because of the added privacy. There really is no need for the government to know how much "income" we make.
Jaw-dropping, pure awe. Equality in taxation. Make it so.
"It will NEVER happen. The tax lawyer lobby is too strong."
I think you might be underestimating the the strength of character of GW. If he wants it bad enough, he'll get it.
Further, egalitarians and the dynamic of envy will make not punishing the successful difficult.
I understand that, but let's read:
""By adopting a VAT, sales tax, or some other alternative.."
It looks like they're looking at all the options. Personally, I favor the NRST. But I'm all ears and quite open to other alternatives.
Nowhere in this story does it say that Bush supports getting rid of the income tax. Drudge is really scraping this time.
A BUMP to END THE IRS! - ping.
This is the second article today that I've read in which Bush or his campaign have attacked accountants. Given the performance of Big 5 (or 4) firms over the last few years, it's probably a winning strategy. Lawyers, however, are the real plague of our society.
If Bush does make this a campaign promise he has just assured himself re-election.
Of course how he handles then will determine the future of the Rep Party.
Hallelujah !
And I tend to agree.
Bush didn't say that he supports this. This is just an excerpt from Hasterts book. Why is drudge saying that this is Bush?
I've heard this song & dance before.
And there should never be a need for workers of a country to ever know, for any reason outside of our defense to know!
Of course, national security is another sufficient reason.
A national sales tax would be such a powerful and liberating change for this nation. The dems will be fighting and kicking all the way, but this would bury sKerry and co.
I don't want Europe's V.A.T.!
I'd rather have a flat tax. Years ago Forbes pushed it and it made sense.
I am for getting rid of the Gestapo, er I.R.S..
He will not get it unless he gets a landslide and an election mandate. Even then a tough proposition
could settle on a flat tax - OK By me
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