Posted on 08/28/2007 4:39:18 PM PDT by Bigun
The People Must Demand The Fair Tax
By Doug Patton
August 28, 2007
Last year, during the United States Senate race in Nebraska, Republican challenger Pete Ricketts suggested that every option must be considered when looking at ways to reform our federal tax system. Among the list of alternatives Ricketts said should be on the table was a national sales tax known simply as the "Fair Tax."
The Democrat incumbent, U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, launched an attack on his opponent that was, at best, distorted and condescending, at worst, irrational demagoguery. One would have thought that Ricketts had suggested stealing all the assets of the poor and handing them over to Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.
Recently, the panel of pundits on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," discussing the apparent rise in popularity of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign message, scoffed at Huckabee's unabashed promotion of the Fair Tax.
George Will, the token "conservative" on the panel, brushed it aside with the disbelief of an elitist who cannot understand the burden of the average worker who would love to take home his or her entire paycheck, as the Fair Tax would allow him or her to do. Will opined that Huckabee's second place showing in the Iowa straw poll was even more amazing given the fact that "he supported a national sales tax of thirty percent, which means that if you buy a one million dollar house, you'll be writing a check to the government for three hundred thousand dollars." Of course, the others on the panel readily agreed.
The elites of this country, who buy those million-dollar homes, are not enamored with the Fair Tax. They would be if they took the time to understand its appeal.
The Fair Tax would replace all federal income taxes. No more federal withholding. No more Social Security withholding. No more Medicare withholding. No more stealing from the paychecks of American workers before they even see it and then pretending to give them a refund, without interest, at the end of the year. No more saving receipts for tax deductions. No more IRS audits. No more April 15th.
Instead, the Fair Tax would put us in control. All consumer items would be taxed. Business purchases would not. By allowing us to make the determination about what we buy and when we buy it, the ability of our legislators to manipulate our behavior is eliminated. That is why the elites don't like it. They can't control the public's spending habits under such a system.
The current federal tax system is broken. It cannot be fixed. Since the inception of the federal income tax with the passage of the 16th Amendment in 1913, federal corruption and control have turned it into a Frankenstein monster that torments the people and serves the special interests. A tax on a person's income is a tax on production, and as Ronald Reagan once said, "Whatever you tax, you get less of."
Because the poor are forced to spend a disproportionate percentage of their resources to cover the tax on necessities, the Fair Tax hits them the hardest. That issue can be addressed by simply issuing a "prebate" check each month to every household in the country. Unlike disingenuous tax credits, deductions, exemptions and other loopholes in the current income tax code, a prebate check is a clean, honest method of covering the sales tax on food, clothing and shelter - up to the poverty level.
Of course, removing the income tax on corporations will reduce the cost of everything we buy, since corporations don't pay taxes. They simply pass them along to consumers. The Fair Tax plan calculates that removing the corporate income tax will result in a reduction in the cost of virtually every consumer item on the market. In fact, it will just about offset the tax on those products. Imagine paying the same price for something but having your entire paycheck to buy it.
And then there are the billions of dollars that flow untaxed through our economy today: drug dealers, prostitutes, pornographers, foreign tourists. Imagine how much revenue could be raised simply by taxing the things those people consume.
There would be no more audits, no more justifying deductions, and April 15th would become just another spring day. But only if the people stand up to the elites and demand it.
PING!
Thanks for the ping Bigun!
I see a government office bigger than the IRS due to the prebates outlined in the Fair Tax. The government is going to determine eligibility for monthly prebate checks? What will that cost and how many errors will there be? SSA has some 9 million errors annually passing out social security checks. The Fair tax will have many more “eligible” families than SSA to distribute monthly checks to. This will invite corruption and many more errors. I support a consumption tax to bring home ALL taxpayers, but have trouble supporting the Fair Tax for these reasons.
In a Socialist country (which we will be soon), only those with cash businesses and those "off the books" or on "tips" will be able to live half way decently. The FAIR tax will be excellent if Congress gets rid of the income tax LOL. How will they be able to resist continuing to tax the W-2 and 1099 tax payers?
No politician has ever met a tax they didn't like or couldn't subvert to keep themselves in office or their friends well heeled.
I also can’t support the fair tax as it stands. My reasons are that they won’t tie the repeal of the 16th amendment to the implementation of the tax and the “fair tax” actually double-taxes monies earned prior to implementation.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
They WILL NOT abolish the IRS, SSA, and then they will build a bureaucracy around sending out the “prebates”. Be carefull what you wish for, because the entire Fair Tax, which I cannot support due to the “prebates”, WILL NOT be implemented, and WILL NOT result in a “simple system”.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Actually, it’s fairly simple. Canada does a simular thing with GST tax rebates; they issue a quarterly rebate check to low income people based on their previous years earnings on a sliding scale based on income.
Now all they have to do is eliminate the federal income tax, and they could have a flat tax. But this is Canada we are talking about, that will never happen, although the GST was supposed to be a step towards that goal.
It gives the gov’t a stranglehold on us all
We have the best opportunity since 1913 to get the power out of the politicians hands and back into ours.
The FAIR TAX will bring a true freedom for us as individuals and put the power back where it belongs - in the hands of We The People.
But just damn - if WE aren’t willing to fight for it, we’ll never get the chance again.
And we wont deserve it.
`SEC. 304. REBATE MECHANISM.
`(a) General Rule- The Social Security Administration shall provide a monthly sales tax rebate to duly registered qualified families in an amount determined in accordance with section 301.
I agree on every point!
If you think this Fair Tax would remain fair with our corrupt politicians you haven’t learned much about our government.
The Fairtax has much going for it, but the supporters are fooling themselves if they think it could be implemented without exceptions. Religious organizations would have to be exempt to avoid state entanglement with religion. Primary housing would have to be exempt simply because nobody but the wealthy could afford to pay a 30% surtax up front on a house. Also, it seems unlikely that medical expenses would be taxed. This, of course, would open the door to other exemptions.
The prebate is a stroke of genius. It should not have many problems, because the rules a so simple.
And just what do you base these assuptions on? Why would they "build a bureaucracy" around sending out rebate checks to low income earners? It would be the same system that sends out your yearly tax rebate,(if you get one)or collects what you owe. The "Bureaucracy" is already in place.
It would still be the same yearly IRS collecting of your income information and determining what, if any rebate you would be eligable for based on income, dependents, and any other allowed exemptions.
It would be a much simpler system if you didn't have to file dozens of forms for all the tax exemptions, and other BS that we do now.
It would be simple- "What's your income, here's what your rebate will be". No muss no fuss.
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