There used to be...
Posted on 09/08/2005 6:07:43 AM PDT by OESY
...The CBO projects that the federal government will collect $2.14 trillion this year. That's a hefty 58% increase from a decade ago. Washington may have many problems, but a shortage of money is not among them.
All those dollars have not just gone to Iraq. The $286.5 billion highway bill is evidence that Washington is spending record amounts on infrastructure. And there's lots being lavished on all types of capital expenditures. The budget of the Army Corps of Engineers -- the federal agency tasked to help waterproof New Orleans -- is 31% higher today than it was 10 years ago.... In Louisiana, real per capita spending rose by 59% from 1991 to 2002....
The highway bill is a case study in spending money based on political prioritization, not economic or social need. Amid the 6,500 earmarks in that bill, Louisiana pols managed to sneak in $400,000 for the Mississippi River Trail and Bikepath and $3,200,000 for bike and pedestrian crossings of the Washington-Palmetto Canal. While the bill could be stretched to include bike paths for Louisiana, it apparently couldn't to include funding for levee construction.
Even more broadly, this is a good time for us to rethink the locus of infrastructure spending. If a lot of officials in New Orleans knew this was a disaster waiting to happen, perhaps the problem could have been better addressed if the tax dollars city residents pay for infrastructure of all sorts stayed in the city, rather than being cycled through the expensive Washington bureaucracy.
There are many public policy questions to be asked in the wake of Katrina. But we don't need to ask whether there are sufficient dollars to perform the basic functions of government. There are -- and let no one tell you otherwise.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The only problem is that there is no STRICT ACCOUNTABILITY of how the porkers spend our cash.
CBO Ping.
FAIRTAX TIME..................
The only problem is that there is no STRICT ACCOUNTABILITY of how the porkers spend our cash.
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That is an understatement. They WASTE so much of OUR MONEY on "pork" for the sake of political power, the question remains as to what is really being used appropriately. If we knew, we would be astounded and outraged, I am sure. But the public just keeps paying it in -- with no insistence on accountability...
There used to be...
And the fairtax would do what, make the government more efficient at taking our money?
We have GOT to keep this bumped and saved.
Hillary and Bill Clinton have been all over the airwaves saying that the crisis in the Gulf should require that the tax cuts be repealed and that the Republicans should forget about passing the Estate Tax Bill.
This is proof positive that the Clinton's are wrong. Again.
No it would let you keep ALL your paycheck! You would pay taxes only IF you wanted to buy something. The richer you are the MORE you buy, the more Tax you pay!
No, the more money you spend on items that are taxed, the more you pay. I can buy a $5 million exisitng home in Malibu and pay zero taxes. Or I can go to Aruba and buy a vaction home and yahct and pay zero taxes. Or I can buy my wife a $100,000 diamond ring with cash overseas. How will anyone know? Or I can buy a new Mercedes for my business and drive it around tax free. There will be PLENTY of ways for the rich to avoid paying taxes under the fairtax, legally and illegally.
Wow your one rich guy, why don't you want to pay taxes?
More efficient meaning less wasted time and effort in complying with volumes of tax code, sure.
But besides that, when the actual "bite" of government is visible on every purchase, it will provide a vehicle for popular support to cut government. It would be possible to campaign with slogans like "vote for me, and I'll cut program XYZ which will cut the tax rate by X%". You just can't do that with an income tax of any sort.
There is - it's the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
It would be possible to campaign with slogans like "vote for me, and I'll cut program XYZ which...LOL! Slogans like vote for me, and I'll cut program XYZ aren't possible now because?
which will cut the tax rate by X%".Cut the tax rate from 30% to 29.5%...Oh but wait, Congressmen put themselves out of the picture for determining tax rates. If Congress lowers the tax rate there might not be enough money to satisfy the bureaucrats at SS...they'd have to re-raise the rates.
The old-age, survivors and disability insurance rate shall be determined by the Social Security Administration. The old-age, survivors and disability insurance rate shall be that sales tax rate which is necessary to raise the same amount of revenue that would have been raised by imposing a 12.4 percent tax on the Social Security wage base (including self-employment income) as determined in accordance with chapter 21 of the Internal Revenue Code most recently in effect prior to the enactment of this Act...The hospital insurance rate shall be determined by the Social Security Administration. The hospital insurance rate shall be that sales tax rate which is necessary to raise the same amount of revenue that would have been raised by imposing a 2.9 percent tax on the Medicare wage base (including self-employment income) as determined in accordance with chapter 21 of the Internal Revenue Code most recently in effect prior to the enactment of this Act.
Because the current system fools people into believing that someone else is paying for it. When people see that it will affect their bottom line directly, they'll have more of a vested interest in paying attention and deciding if program XYZ is really worth it.
Oh but wait, Congressmen put themselves out of the picture for determining tax rates. If Congress lowers the tax rate there might not be enough money to satisfy the bureaucrats at SS...they'd have to re-raise the rates.
The FICA replacement taxes are barely more than a thrid of the total NRST rate. There's plenty of room to cut without affecting the FICA replacement (which is calculated indepently of the general revenue rate, which in turn means that "Congressmen put themselves out of the picture for determining tax rates" is yet another one of you lies).
Or I can buy a three year old mini-van and not pay taxes, or buy a home built a few years ago and not pay taxes, or buy almost all my clothes at yard sales and not pay taxes. There will be PLENTY of ways for everyone to avoid paying taxes under the fairtax, legally and illegally
That's the whole purpose of it.
There's this little thing called "US Customs" you might want to look into.
The actual bite of government is already visible enough. People are just too lazy to take note of it or they accept it as a certainty of life (...death and taxes).
Nope. It'd just create more government intrusion in your life as you'd have to start showing government-approved receipts for everything you purchase. This will ultimately occur, along with a higher percentage than the Koolaid drinkers care to mention, to offset the burgeoning, tax-free black market that will inevitably occur as a result of this insanity masquerading as tax reform.
Ultimately, the Nazi-esque "Papers please," will soon be supplanted by the phrase, "Receipt please."
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