“My problem with the prebate is that Congress would get to decide how it is determined and I don’t trust them with such a decision. It will become political, just like it is now.”
Congress could mess with anything, including a flat tax. “17% is not sufficiently funding the entitlement programs, we are raising it to 25%...no, make that 30%.”
“Obozo bitches that the rich fat cats take advantage of tax loop holes. Really? Who the hell does he think wrote the tax code? Congress put those holes there with full knowledge of the political gains to be made for themselves by their existence.”
It’s the Golden Rule - “Those who have the gold make the rules.” It’s pretty much the way things have always worked, and it’s highly unlikely to change.
“No, set a flat tax, teach the misinformed it’s not regressive, and mail your tax form in on a postcard.”
It is more regressive, in that poor people spend a much higher percentage of their income on necessities. They can much less afford sending a full 17% of their income to the government. What you’re proposing would instantly send millions of people into poverty, and will never fly. Sorry about that.
You’d better learn to love the Fair Tax, which has the added advantage of eliminating IRS snooping into anyone’s life. Your proposal doesn’t do that.
That's the attitude that got us into this mess. My message is start changing or lose your job.
That is likely true, but it has nothing to do with the regressivity of a tax. If you're unhappy with your income relative to what you can buy, do something to make yourself more productive and worth more in the market. When I hear someone bitch that they've been making minimum wage for 8 years, that says a lot less about their wage than it does about their motivation to improve themselves. We've tried the "give them a fish" for almost 50 years now and things are worse, not better. Can't afford to go to college or a trade school? Join the military...perhaps the best and most under-utilized educational institution in the world.
I lived on $190/month while I was in grad school and my high school friends were driving Corvettes. But, by investing in myself, my life style hop-scotched theirs after 5 years of grad school. Too many people make stupid decisions early in their life and then expect the rest of us to pay for that decision through our taxes. It's the wrong message to send to young kids.