Posted on 06/15/2009 12:22:56 PM PDT by Man50D
A daylong rally in support of replacing the federal income tax with a 23 percent retail sales tax drew thousands to the Boone County Fairgrounds yesterday.
In the style of a Southern revival meeting, a series of speakers took the stage to rail against a government they see as recklessly speeding toward socialism and mortgaging the wealth of future generations in the process.
Nearly all interviewed for this story believe it is high time to put the Internal Revenue Service out of business.
“Our tax code right now is a man-caused disaster,” said Neal Boortz, a nationally syndicated radio host who has advocated a “fair tax” over the income tax for more than 25 years. “It is in every respect an act of terror against the working people of this country.”
Another speaker, U.S. Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., is co-sponsor of a bill in Congress to institute the national sales tax and mused about what he would do with the approximately 105,000 employees of the IRS when they’re no longer needed. “I say put them on the Mexican border holding hands,” the congressman said to laughter from the crowd of about 2,000 inside the fairground arena.
Proponents contend the new tax would be revenue neutral, not taking money away from existing federal programs. It also would include a monthly rebate check for all taxpayers known as a “prebate,” which equal the average spending by someone living at the poverty level to ensure no one is taxed on necessities. They also contend the federal sales tax would not significantly increase the cost of goods because corporations already pass along federal taxes to consumers as “embedded costs” in everything from cans of Coca-Cola to new cars.
“If the fair tax was your reality, and somebody came along and tried to sell you on the income tax and withholding and the death tax, you’d laugh them out of town,” Boortz said in an interview. “Either that, or you’d string them up. It’s one of the two.”
Many in the crowd wore clothing emblazoned with the fair tax logo or the American flag and toted newly purchased books on the subject. One woman, Kerri Martin of Jefferson City, held a sign reading, “Who is John Galt?” — referring to a character from Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged.” Martin said the character embodies “the spirit and power of the individual.”
“We’ve got to remember, it’s our money we earn. It’s not someone else’s to spend,” said Martin, who with her husband runs a title company. “And this would give us some control. It’s a very ingenious plan.”
A booth run by Columbia gun-rights advocate Tim Oliver advertised introductory courses on owning and carrying concealed weapons. He was doing a brisk business.
“They’re sort of kindred spirits, if you will,” Oliver said of people who support the fair tax and the Second Amendment. Oliver then told a reporter to look around and asked who in the group of about 40 people near his booth did not have a concealed carry permit. “Almost all of them” do, he said. “And just like all polite people and all polite company, nobody’s ever going to know” they’re carrying weapons.
Glenn Chastonay of Moberly drove to the rally along with his wife and father. Chastonay intalls hood hinges for Dura Automotive Systems and recently had to endure a mandatory one-month furlough because of the economic slowdown. His wife, Joyce, recently lost her job, and both are angry that the government is using their tax dollars to bailout corporations. They’d rather keep all the money they earn.
“What about the billion dollars they gave to AIG, and those guys got bonuses? And I’m struggling to put food on the table and pay all my bills,” Chastonay said. “That’s our money. The tax money doesn’t come from the government; it comes from us.”
His father, Ruel Chastonay, a retired IBM employee from Jefferson City, said the tax system has become an overgrown monster. “I do my taxes every year and it’s an onerous task,” he said of the two days he spends tabulating his dues. “And they change it every year; not to help me, but to put in some loophole or to help some lobbyist.”
Advocates including Boortz said the choice for people is between being taxed on “33 percent of everything you earn or 23 percent of everything you spend.” The federal income tax rate he cited refers to the marginal tax rate on some of the top earners in the country. The median household income in Boone County, however, is about $45,000, meaning those families pay federal income tax of about 15 percent.
A study conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said the middle 20 percent of Missouri’s income distribution, those with an average income of $37,000, would see an average tax increase of $2,036 under the fair tax.
“A daylong rally in support of replacing the federal income tax with a 23 percent retail sales tax drew thousands to the Boone County Fairgrounds yesterday.”
23% is a shocking number.
Boy, I think FairTax people are suckers.
And 23% sales tax, on top of the rising State legislated sales taxes.
And why suckers? Because we’ll end up with a national VAT/Sales Tax on TOP of all the other taxes.
FairTaxers may o regret their ennabling actions to the tax crowd.
And is shockingly misleading. The real rate is 30%.
I still wonder why these guys hide that fact that it's a 30% tax, not 23% (29.87 actually). If you pay $1.00 for a item, and 23 cents are tax, the tax rate is 23/77 or .2987.
If it was such a good idea, why not be honest about how you calculate the rate? No other sales tax rate in this country is calculated the way the Fair Taxers do it.
If they got rid of the Income Tax, it might be reasonable to add a sales tax, but only if they don't make the same mistake. The second biggest Income Tax mistake was in not creating a 10% limit in the enabling amendment (right after the mistake of allowing it in the first place). Without such a limit on the Fair Tax, we'll have the same problem of rates creeping up on us.
And then there's the dishonesty of the prebate. For all the talk about Fairness, and ease of use, you still have government socialist intrusion into your life to figure out and give out the prebate.
Before being shocked, please take some time to review the plan in greater detail. That tax rate is said to represent the current level of embedded taxes in purchases of new goods in the US economy. Those embedded taxes include the taxes paid by the various businesses responsible for manufacturing, transporting, distributing, and retailing those goods and services. There is still a lot of misunderstanding about the Fair Tax, but it is certainly a better plan than the current mechanism we have in place.
Fine, it’s not a vat but a national sales tax.
My point remains, the fair tax will end up superimposed on the existing tax structure.
It’s a Trojan Horse for a national sales tax.
I do not believe our venerated legislators will give up any revenue stream. They will happily impose the FT on top of our current IRS structure.
Just not enough abuse for one day, eh?
Nine trillion dollars later, by the FT’s own claculations, the tax would have to be 57% (75% like Denmark if you add healthcare spending)
Yeah, that's just what I want.
Good one. Been through this stuff before, nothing new here. No matter what the bill **says**, if the 16th Amendment is not outright repealed, then we will end up with both an income tax PLUS a ‘fair tax’. That’s the way the assholes in DC work.
None of the problems mentioned are wrong.
Just the proposed solution. . . and really just parts of it.
What a great idea, that is, if everyone wants to live at THE POVERTY LEVEL!
That's where you come in. It's up to you and all other freedom-loving Americans to stand up and make sure it works out they way we want it to.
I have paid income tax my entire life, saved for retirement, and now that my income will stop, and I will spend my saving, you want to tax consumption.
Perfect
That's right. A 57% sales tax would smack most consumers right in the face. So would a 23% tax for that matter. Most taxpayers could use a big smak in the face though because most of them have no idea what they pay in taxes under the current system.
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