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Posted on 08/12/2004 8:05:11 PM PDT by Dubya
WASHINGTON - George W. Bush is known for liking bold, sometimes even risky, initiatives - ideas like sending a man to Mars, or revamping the US immigration system, or overthrowing the dictator of Iraq.
But is the president really ready to take on the American tax system? A comment Tuesday at a town-hall meeting in Florida has reignited the long-simmering debate in conservative circles over whether Washington should rethink the way it levies taxes.
When a supporter asked President Bush about scrapping the current tax code and replacing it with a national sales tax, he replied favorably: "I'm not exactly sure how big the national sales tax is going to have to be, but it's the kind of interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously."
Since then, White House spokesmen have not ruled out the idea. Nor have they ruled out that Bush may announce a big new initiative on the tax system at the Republican convention. Some of the president's economic advisers are known to support reforms to simplify tax collection and promote savings and investment.
Rep. Bill Thomas (R) of California, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, also favors looking at alternatives and told reporters that his committee will do so. And in a new book, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) of Illinois calls for replacing the current system with either a national sales tax, a value-added tax, or a flat income tax.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry jumped on what he called the Bush "proposal," saying it would harm the middle class. "Were the Bush proposal to be adopted, many Americans would be paying more than 20 percent in national sales taxes" on top of state taxes, he said.
Not all conservatives like the idea of instituting a national sales tax. Bruce Bartlett, a former Treasury Department official under the first President Bush, writes this week in National Review online that even a 23 percent national sales tax, as proposed by Rep. John Linder (R) of Georgia four years ago, vastly undercalculates the rate that would be needed to replace all federal revenue.
For now, the question is whether Bush really wants to inject this bold new idea into an already issue-laden campaign. "They have other things they want to talk about," Mr. Hastert told the Associated Press recently. But Bush is known for his on-message discipline - and so perhaps his quick comment wasn't a gaffe at all.
VOTE HERE http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0813/p03s01-uspo.html?s=hns
jeeze this is not a Bush proposal, it was an idea brought forth by a Bush supporter. I guess we will hear how President Bush wants a national sales tax tomorrow. He just said it was an interesting idea.
YES !!
(I presume to replace the income tax...)
Bush did not float this idea. He IS however, in favor of reducing the IRS code to something reasonable.
He was asked about his on Larry King this evening. It was clear that he wasn't ready to jump on the sales tax plan. When asked, he did say that he wanted to address the tax code and simplify it, but it would be inaccurate to say that he was pushing the sales tax idea. I was glad to hear that he had at least had this plan brought to his attention. He wasn't in the position of defending it or even explaining it even minimally.
It's the only fair tax extant -- you buy a Beemer, you pay more than the guy buying an Aspire. Exempt food to mute the expected outcry in that area, and I think this is a winner.
What he could do is ask for a few volunteer states for a test run for a specific period of time. If it worked and no loss of revenue it could gradually be expanded. I would start with boarder states.
Rebates for people spending less than 70% of their gross income up to $100,000.00 (in order to encourage savings). No sales tax on any items for use on farms including furniture, clothes, hot tubs and giant screen TVs.
I'm 100% in favor of eliminating the IRS almost entirely and replacing the "work penalty" tax (income tax) with a national sales tax. Even though it will be 23% or maybe even more, this is how much tax we are already paying. The consumption tax does not increase government revenue but it does make there fundraising transparent.
If anyone wants to know more about the consumption tax I would recommend www.fairtax.org.
Can't the media get anything right??
President Bush ought to make it the centerpiece of his "ownership" society second term agenda. He should seize on Kerry's Dominguez Hills comments today and observe the Democrat wants to preserve the income tax and IRS when its time to get rid of both. That the difference is Republicans believe your money should be yours to keep unless you spend it while the Democrats believe the money belongs to the government the first minute you make it and you should keep what's left over. It really couldn't be simpler.
There are already 9 states which don't have a state income tax. Alaska and Wyoming get extra cash thanks to oil/natural gas/mining. Nevada has the gaming industry to fallback on. But that still leaves Florida, New Hampshire (no sales tax either), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
You said it! And how about 1000% tax on tobacco and 10,000% tax on firearms, and 1,000,000% tax on.......
Just another way for social engineering. Flat tax - 10%. If it was good enough for God, it's plenty good enough for the political leeches.
Well, Bush hasn't publically floated the idea of a NRST or Flat-Tax (yet) but I've no doubt this is a trial balloon being floated by RNC leadership.
It's possible it may be introduced in some manner at the convention. Or, if they deem public response not where it needs to be, they may just continue gradually easing this discussion into the public's water coolers.
I'm sure they are running polls currently about the areas in which the public will need to be educated to give this proposal a fighting chance.
"You said it! And how about 1000% tax on tobacco and 10,000% tax on firearms, and 1,000,000% tax on.......
Just another way for social engineering. Flat tax - 10%. If it was good enough for God, it's plenty good enough for the political leeches."
Correct me if I'm wrong. Since tax freedom day came in July this year it seems that the sales tax rate needed to replace the income tax would be much higher than 10%.
If the average person pays half their income in federal, state and local taxes, doesn't it logically follow that the proper sales tax level to replace all of those is a 100% tax on everything? That way, you buy something for a buck and then give a buck to the government. Isn't that the same as a 50% income tax where the goverment gets as much as you spend on yourself?
You'd expand your tax base, because half of the people pay almost no tax now, and some pay negative (EITC) tax. The number I've seen is %17, but that was with some payback to the poor, which I think should not be implemented.
Imagine an electorate where over 1/2 of the voters don't pay tax, voting people to raise the taxes on those that do.
Isn't that what we are approaching right now? It will only get worse if dems/socialists succeed in expanding the dependent underclass and convincing them to vote them in to protect the entitlement gravytrain. Kinda disheartening if you actually work your a$$ off/pay a crapload of taxes, eh?
I live in Alaska. No state income or sales taxes. No property taxes. We get the pfd every oct. The state spends more per-capita than any other and provides benefits not found anywhere else. Problem is spending has outpaced oil revenues over the years; unless everyone starts paying 4 bucks a gallon for gas in the future.
Alaska has revenue/spending problems. You see it in the infrastructure, schools, and quality of life to some extent. I guess there comes a point when the downside is too great and I'd rather pay say 2 grand in prop taxes to solve the problems in say education. (books, school buildings, and curriculum) Or say for road construction/maintenance.
We might not have the back east taxes, but we have problems too.
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