$7 Trillion National Debt Zeroed Out by Transaction Fee

Company Press Release ^ | 2-20-24 | Chaka Fattah

[Crossbow Eel]

11:00:21(CST) $7 Trillion National Debt Zeroed Out by Transaction Fee

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Treasury Department released new figures putting the national debt at a record level of $7 trillion. However, under a new proposal to transform the nation's tax system, America could be debt free in the next ten years.

As envisioned by H.R. 3759, the "Transform America Transaction Act of 2004" would eliminate all federal taxes including payroll, capital gains, corporate profits and income tax by charging a small fee on the trillions of cash and electronic transactions conducted by consumers. Analysts at the Congressional Research Service conclude monies generated from the transaction fee would exceed revenues currently generated from federal taxes. The additional funds would serve to eliminate the current national debt.

"A debt free nation would strengthen our national security, economic prosperity and empower our country to do more in providing for the health and education of our citizens," said Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), the prime sponsor of the proposal. "A transformed America is a goal worthy of a great nation."

For more information on the "Transform America Transaction Act of 2004," visit the Tax Corner at Tax Corner

Source: Company Press Release

[dirtboy]

As envisioned by H.R. 3759, the "Transform America Transaction Act of 2004" would eliminate all federal taxes including payroll, capital gains, corporate profits and income tax by charging a small fee on the trillions of cash and electronic transactions conducted by consumers.

Of course, they would implement this tax and never quite get around to eliminating all the other ones.

[BCrago66]

Is this guy related to Chaka Kahn?

http://www.chakakhan.com/

[Phantom Lord]

Any tax proposal from Fattah should be fought. This man is a nut ball.

[dirtboy]

Nah, Chaka Khan can sing, but Chaka Fattah just blows.

[alancarp]

Uh, 7 TRILLION dollars, divided by a population of 280 million, divided further by 120 months, suggests a "fee" of $208+ every month for every man, woman, and child in America.

Somebody needs a new slide rule if they want to be serious about this. Humor section? A posting from the Onion, perhaps?

[rovenstinez]

How much debt would that be per each US Citizen?

[Phantom Lord]

As envisioned by H.R. 3759, the "Transform America Transaction Act of 2004" would eliminate all federal taxes including payroll, capital gains, corporate profits and income tax by charging a small fee on the trillions of cash and electronic transactions conducted by consumers.

I assume these "cash and electronic transactions" would include ATM activity. You think people get pissed over paying $1.50, imagine what they would do if they also had to pay a tax on the transaction!

Would a cash transaction include depositing my paycheck into my checking account?

[agitator]

..........and obviously using cash would have to become illegal.

[reed_inthe_wind]

666

[proxy_user]

This is actually an idea I have been thinking about for a long time.

If you could tax ALL transactions where money changes hands, you could probably charge 1% and match our current revenues.

The beauty of it would be:

No forms to fill out.
No lawyers and accountants needed.
Would not distort the economy.

The downside:

The government could increase revenues by 10% by raising the rate to 1.1%, hoping no one would notice.
The lawyers and accountants will be hopping mad.

[fsorbello]

I can't imagine that the tax situation in this country could be be corrected by just instituting a "transaction fee" on all electronic transfers, but I'm not a well-read tax guy.

Anybody else know if this is baloney or not?

[Phantom Lord]

$208 a month?!?!? Thats it?!?!? I pay way more than that in taxes currently.

[coloradan]

$7 trillion / 290 million = $24,137.90

[So Cal Rocket]

About $25,000 for every man, woman and child in the US - whether they're a citizen, a resident alien or illegal alien.

[BCrago66]

Chaka Kahn is prettier too. I ain't no linguist, but I'd have thought that in the case of a man the name would take a masculine form, i.e., Chako.

But then again there's the world-acclaimed lady entertainer Charo, so I guess that rule isn't universal.

[coloradan]

But a lot of people pay a lot less. A lot of people pay negatively - they get more than they pay. These people would be pissed. Enough so as to ensure the defeat of any politician who voted to do this.

[So Cal Rocket]

That amount just retires the $7,000,000,000,000 debt - we still have to fund the expenses that are being incurred each year on top of that.

[alancarp]

That's on top of the $2 trillion ANNUAL federal budget. For my family of five, that's $1040 a month - every month.

And don't forget that about 30-40% pay little or nothing today.

Yes, this is total baloney.

[RightWhale]

Electronic transfer of funds is how it's done now. Even if a person writes a check, it still becomes an electronic transfer and some retail outlets do this immediately already if you want to write a check. Put a small fee on it, like the banks do, even a fraction of a percent. $50 billion is exchanged every night in NYC, and that was several years ago; it's probably a lot more now. 1/10% on fund transfers would amount to a lot of money without hitting the poor wage-earner all that hard. Not saying this is a good or will be a popular idea.