The Second American Tax Revolt

Townhall.com ^ | January 28, 2010 | Michael Reagan

[phil_will1]

We are speeding toward an economic cliff because our government can't practice restraint.

We spend so much more than we take in because politicians at every level use the public treasury to win elections. The public mostly accepts lavish promises of more and more federal spending because the cost of government has been so effectively divorced from what actually comes out of our paychecks.

Ask almost anyone how they did on their taxes and you're likely to hear a happy exclamation that the taxpayer got a little money back! But ask the same person how much they paid the government over the year in withheld income and payroll taxes and you'll often see a blank look.

When the money that government spends seems so unconnected to the money we earn it is easy for many to see government expenditures as "free money." It's not, but the engineered divorce in perception between the fruits of our labors and spending by elected officials has resulted in a national debt that equals more than $500,000 per American household. If not for accounting sleights-of-hand the national debt would be seen as much higher than even the shocking figure of more than $12 trillion.

[phil_will1]

Glad to see Mr. Reagan weighing in on tax reform.

[henkster]

I have my own business. I pay quarterly estimates. I escrow 40 cents of every dollar my business brings in just to build up reserves to pay those quarterly estimates. It’s maddening to watch the money painstakingly grow in that account, knowing I can’t touch it, and every three months it vanishes.

If every American had to do that, we would never have allowed this monster to get out of control.

[goldstategop]

I agree with Michael Reagan - getting rid of the income tax is the way forward to a smaller government. A 23% national sales tax sounds right because people should know up front how much government really costs them every time they go out to buy something. The lesson is government is not free like everything else in life. Once the the money is spent, no refund. Its a good rule about the government you deserve.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[Pessimist]

” A 23% national sales tax sounds right because people should know up front how much government really costs them every time they go out to buy something.”

Which is precisely why the gvt would favor a VAT tax. That way it remains hidden.

[goldstategop]

I'm talking about an income tax free world. No more IRS, no more complicated tax code and no byzantine forms to fill out every year. Our energies wasted on tax compliance could be turned to more productive pursuits.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[Axeslinger]

I think we need to take the feds out of the tax collecting from private citizens business alltogether.

I think we should repeal the 16th Amendment and then have the feds collect their tax revenue from the individual states, rather than from the individual citizen. Two bonuses to this...a state could then have any tax system they want...fair, flat, sales...whatever. Also, the costs of the benefits reaped by a state would not be spread out over the entire nation. If North Carolina wants to get 100 billion from the Feds for bat guano research, the citizens of NC can get taxed more heavily by their own legislature and the state would then pay that money back.

[wbill]

If every American had to do that

I've said a million times over, that the easiest way to control spending and get real tax reform....is to do away with withholding.

If people needed to write a check for a substantial percentage of their income every April....or even every month.... The first pol to suggest a tax hike would get tarred and feathered.

[wbill]

I think we should repeal the 16th Amendment and then have the feds collect their tax revenue from the individual states

Interesting. This idea has a fair bit of merit, I think.

[abb]

Indeed. Withholding enables government to camouflage the bill, the same as gasoline taxes are camouflaged at the pump.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj14n3-1.html

EVOLUTION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING: THE MACHINERY OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Charlotte Twight

Taxes are the backbone of any politico-economic regime. Constraints on a government’s power to tax are constraints on its power to act. Focusing on the legalization of mandatory federal income tax withholding through the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943, this article examines forces that have eroded constraints on the U.S. government’s power to tax.

[taxcontrol]

It’s called “representative apportionment”

Take last year’s spending, divide into two “buckets”. One for the Senate and one for the House. Divide the Senate bucket by the number of Senators and divide the House bucket by the number of Congressmen.

Then to identify each state’s tax bill, multiply each state’s number of Senators by their per senator number and then multiply the state’s number of representatives by the number of congressmen/districts. Add those two bills and send to the treasure of each state. The treasury could then accept monthly payments from each state.

This would allow each state then to divide and tax as best fits their economy.

The enforcement arm would be to loose the privilege of voting or holding any committee memberships or offices of either body until the state was fully paid up. You could also restrict the state treasury from paying any state expenses until the tax bill was paid.

[taxcontrol]

Sorry for a bucket of cold water but the problem does not lie with the tax collection SYSTEM. As long as congress is able to spend / borrow AT WILL, no tax collection system will ever be a fix.

[taxcontrol]

See post #10

[Man50D]

In conducting research on the FairTax, I have become convinced of two things: the FairTax is the best way to create a new era of healthy American economic growth, and that my father would have been a strong proponent of the FairTax as a tax reform/replacement model had it existed during his time in government

Returning to the limited form of government Ronald Reagan espoused can be accomplished by eliminating the federal income tax code and the IRS with The Fair Tax Act! Fair Tax ping!

[Man50D]

Sorry for a bucket of cold water but the problem does not lie with the tax collection SYSTEM. As long as congress is able to spend / borrow AT WILL, no tax collection system will ever be a fix.

A national sales tax will prevent excessive spending. Excessive spending would result in corresponding amount of taxation. People will respond with less consumption under a national sales tax, resulting in a tax collection decrease. Congress can only maximize it's collection by keeping the tax rate within a reasonable boundary. This concept is illustrated in founding father and first Secretary of The Treasury Alexander Hamilton in his Federalist Paper #21. To quote:

It is a signal advantage of taxes on articles of consumption, that they contain in their own nature a security against excess. They prescribe their own limit; which cannot be exceeded without defeating the end proposed, that is, an extension of the revenue. When applied to this object, the saying is as just as it is witty, that, "in political arithmetic, two and two do not always make four." If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds. This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural limitation of the power of imposing them.

[listenhillary]

A constitutional amendment is needed to freeze spending at current dollars. Implement the FairTax and we will eventually grow out of our debt. It will take a while, but it can be done.

[taxcontrol]

Sorry, but a sales tax is just another tax collection system. It is foolish to think that it will some how control spending. As long as Congress can barrow on the full faith and credit of the United States, it can spend at will .... regardless of how much it brings in ... regardless of the method to collect.

[Axeslinger]

Actually, I think that’s a great solution for the “joint” benefits reaped by each state, e.g. the protection of the US military. But, I still think that benefits that go solely to one state ought to be paid solely by THAT state.

[Man50D]

As long as Congress can barrow on the full faith and credit of the United States, it can spend at will .

Congress can only spend what they collect through a consumption tax. They won't be collecting as much with a consumption tax if the people are not consuming enough to fund, via taxes, a particular level of spending.

[taxcontrol]

No, Congress can spend more than they collect through a consumption tax ... in exactly the same manner that they spend more than they collect in taxes right now - by borrowing.

True, tax REVENUE is constrained in a consumption tax system. However, Congress can spend more than the tax revenue by borrowing (issuing bonds) just like they do today.