FairTax / flat tax debate, Northfield, MN

Americans For Fair Taxation ^

[Man50D]

St Olaf's College, Northfield, MN

A debate will be held in Buntrock Hall, St Olaf's College, Northfield, MN at 8:00 PM, Thursday April 10th. The event is sponsored by the St Olaf College Republicans, but it is open to all interested parties regardless of political affiliation. David Strom, a graduate and professor at neighboring Carlton College will argue for the flat tax. Mr Strom is now President of THE FAIR MARKET INSTITUTE after a term as President of THE MN TAXPAYERS LEAGUE. He can be heard weekly on The Patriot, radio station 1280 AM, Saturdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Dennis Madden will argue for the FAIR TAX. Dennis is the volunteer State Director for MN 4 FAIR TAX, an arm of AMERICANS FOR FAIR TAXATION, the grassroots organization working for the passage of HR 25 and S 1025, THE FAIR TAX ACT of 2007.

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2008

Time: 8:00 PM

[Man50D]

Fair Tax ping!

[utherdoul]

I’ll take a flat tax please, with a side of fries.

[Seven Minute Maniac]

With all due respect, its a waste of time.
St. Olaf is so ignorantly liberal. Save the effort for an audience that counts.

[Man50D]

I’ll take a flat tax please, with a side of fries.

The Fair Tax is a flat tax but on consumption instead of income. A flat tax on income was implemented in 1913 and has grown to the oppressive system consisting of more than 67,000+ pages so complex that even the IRS has difficulty correctly answering tax questions.

[Man50D]

With all due respect, its a waste of time. St. Olaf is so ignorantly liberal.
Save the effort for an audience that counts.

It's hardly a waste of time considering the number of grassroots Fair Tax supporters is growing.

[eraser2005]

Using the effective tax rates provided at fairtax.org and comparing them to the effective tax rates under the current tax code, you’ll find that the fair tax is not anywhere close to as flat of a tax as the current tax code.

[Seven Minute Maniac]

It sure is growing, just not at socialist St. Olaf.

[MplsSteve]

WELCOME TO FREE REPUBLIC’S MINNESOTA PING LIST!

93 MEMBERS AND GROWING...!

FREEPMAIL ME IF YOU WANT ON OR OFF THIS LIST!

[cherry]

I don't know about the "fair" tax......I do think that the current tax system favors certain groups....

almost all workers find it hard to get over that 2% misc deduction....yet business men can routinely write off lunches, and drinks, and sporting events, and golf outings, etc etc...

the most egregious to me is the frequent flier miles/hotels that business men accrue.....the business pays for all of their out of town expenses and their flights, yet the business man gets to get all those free rides and hotel stays for him and his family....THAT should be absolutely taxed as income.....as should all the other freebies...

[Man50D]

Using the effective tax rates provided at fairtax.org and comparing them to the effective tax rates under the current tax code, you’ll find that the fair tax is not anywhere close to as flat of a tax as the current tax code.

Have you bothered to look at the 2007 1040 booklet? The 2007 tax table is 12 pages long! People only pay one rate at the cash register for The Fair Tax.

[mnehring]

Ditto, in a realistic sense, flat tax seems the easiest to implement within a short time-frame. Fair could be a long term goal.

[MinnesotaLibertarian]

Maybe the St. Olaf Republicans should get together with the Carleton Republicans and the Macalester Republicans and they can form a baskeball team.

[stefanbatory]

I wonder if Minnesotans for Glabal Warming will be there too...

[stefanbatory]

this is why one ought to be a producer rather than a consumer...set up your own business and claim these same tax breaks! Anyone can do it with enough motivation...

[eraser2005]

“I don’t know about the “fair” tax......I do think that the current tax system favors certain groups....”

No doubt about that.

I think a better solution would be to just simplify the current code. Remove deductions and lower listed rates... it would be far less disruptive to the economy. I think people underestimate the broad effect a quick (less than 10 years) and massive change to the tax code would have.

[Man50D]

Ditto, in a realistic sense, flat tax seems the easiest to implement within a short time-frame.

The Fair Tax has a far better chance of passing than any flat tax. The Fair Tax alone has 74 cosponsors. The four flat tax related bills: Freedom Flat Tax, Tax Simplification Act Of 2007, Flat Tax Act Of 2007, and the Fair Tax Act Of 2007 have a total of 9 cosponsors. The latter two don't have any cosponsors.

[Man50D]

I think a better solution would be to just simplify the current code.

That was tried with the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The result is a tax code that has grow to more than 67,000 pages. The income tax code is beyond repair. It needs to be replaced.

[Seven Minute Maniac]

Thats good.

They might get a full roster, but I’m not sure they’d be tall enough.

[eraser2005]

“Have you bothered to look at the 2007 1040 booklet? The 2007 tax table is 12 pages long! People only pay one rate at the cash register for The Fair Tax.”

The 2007 tax table can be summarized in just a few lines (see p.87 of the 1040 instruction book). The table is 12 pages long because too many fools can’t do basic math.

But that doesn’t address the “flatness” of the tax. The length or brevity of a tax table has no direct relationship to the flatness of the tax structure.