Posted on 09/02/2015 9:06:47 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
Donald Trump's rhetoric on immigration has sparked his surge in the polls. But it is his economic critique of the GOP, and his attack on the financial corruption of the Republican donor class and leadership, that is a mortal threat to the party.
Over the weekend, Byron York reported on Donald Trump's efforts to form a "comprehensive" plan on tax reform. He has signaled an interest in raising taxes on the richest Americans, and he has set his targets on the carried-interest loophole favored by hedge fund managers. He has said repeatedly that hedge funds pay too little in taxes, and that he himself is willing to pay a larger share to "make America great again." Trump has essentially said that his preference is for middle-class tax cuts.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
zerohedge
Trump wants a top tax rate of 15%.
That is a tax CUT for the top wage earners.
He wants to eliminate a tax-loophole that applies to hedge-fund managers.
The threat has little to do with economics and everything to do with regaining control of our nation. They still don’t get it.
Firstly, a tax on assets would be a direct tax as the Supreme Court interprets that term, and so would have to be apportioned among the States.
Secondly:
“It was once said, in this country, that taxation without consent was robbery. And a seven years’ war was fought to maintain that principle. But if that principle were a true one in behalf of three millions of men, it is an equally true one in behalf of three men, or of one man.
Who are ever taxed? Individuals only. Who have property that can be taxed? Individuals only. Who can give their consent to be taxed? Individuals only. Who are ever taxed without their consent? Individuals only. Who, then, are robbed, if taxed without their consent? Individuals only.
If taxation without consent is robbery, the United States government has never had, has not now, and is never likely to have, a single honest dollar in its treasury.
*If taxation without consent is not robbery, then any band of robbers have only to declare themselves a government, and all their robberies are legalized.*
If any man’s money can be taken by a so-called government, without his own personal consent, all his other rights are taken with it; for with his money the government can, and will, hire soldiers to stand over him, compel him to submit to its arbitrary will, and kill him if he resists.
*That your whole claim of a right to any man’s money for the support of your government, without his consent, is the merest farce and fraud, is proved by the fact that you have no such evidence of your right to take it, as would be required of you, by one of your own courts, to prove a debt of five dollars, that might be honestly due you.”* ~ Lysander Spooner, _Letter To Grover Cleveland_ => http://lysanderspooner.org/LetterToGroverCleveland.htm
“No middle ground is possible on this subject. Either ‘taxation without consent is robbery,’ or it is not. If it is not, then any number of men, who choose, may at any time associate; call themselves a government; assume absolute authority over all weaker than themselves; plunder them at will; and kill them if they resist. If, on the other hand, taxation without consent is robbery, it necessarily follows that every man who has not consented to be taxed, has the same natural right to defend his property against a taxgatherer, that he has to defend it against a highwayman.” ~ Lysander Spooner
There is the other side of the equation - too much spending, too much national govt, too much revenue going in. Many depts in need of being shut down.
I don’t think Trump is as concerned about the national govt leviathan, as some other conservative candidates.
The beauty of Trump’s plan is that it pulls the rug out from Warren and Sanders.
GOP is the mortal threat to GOP.
Get rid of Boehner, McConnell, et al and they might have a chance. These sniveling backstabbing worms have caused tremendous damage... and then they made Boehner Speaker again.
If the loop hole completely negates the base rate then the end result of changing both would be the rich will pay more.
You could have a top tax rate of 90%, but if there is a loophole that allows you to pay zero... what does it matter.
(THIS is what liberals always miss when it comes to tax rates in the past)
Just to be clear, I didn't post this article because I support Trump. However, I do support the political instincts of the people that his campaign attracts. This includes people who may not care about deregulation of the financial services sector but who want something done about immigration and social collapse.
Fiscal conservatives should focus primarily on cutting back on the welfare state, because so many of our cultural problems are at least indirectly a consequence of welfare. Without a bloated welfare state, we wouldn't be as attractive to Third World immigrants, and our inner cities would not be the world of squalor and violence that we see now. Fighting to save every special interest tax loophole (Nordquist dishonestly tries to portray elimination of loopholes as "tax hikes," which they are not, they just force certain classes of individuals to pay the same taxes as everybody else) won't accomplish any of these things.
The Cheap Labor Express’ stranglehold on the GOP is a mortal threat to our Republic.
Unless we break that stranglehold we will be offered nothing but amnesty and more illegal alien inundation.
Trump represents what may be our last chance to retain the rule of law and our country.
That hedge fund tax loophole is currently higher than 15%.
I suspect Trump’s plan will end up with a higher top rate.
“They still don’t get it.”
Oh they get it just fine. They want no part of it.
Amen! Conservatives have been spoon fed the no tax raise pablum by Norquist and his cronies for years...and we've eaten it all. No More! This country is in serious trouble and needs fixing immediately!
The left...aided and abetted by a compliant and complicit Republican party has damn near destroyed this country. They've spent us into near bankruptcy...they've given a green light to Iran to go nuclear. They've allowed the rise of ISIS and have done absolutely nothing to stop their rampages...especially against Christians. Morality is passe in America. we celebrate homsexuality and transgenderism and persecute Christians who stand against this whenever they dare to speak out. And worst of all they have allowed our country to be overrun by illegal immigrants who steal jobs from Americans and send billions of dollars out of our economy every year. They have no desire to assimilate and become American, yet they insist on the right to squat here and squander our resources.
This sh#t needs to stop! Politicians have screwed up everything and they have no frigging idea how to stop the decline...let alone reverse it. It's time to send the government party in DC a very loud message!
Rove & Co ain’t sleepin too well these days.
ALL of those things are important.
If they are emphasizing economic “populism” (a terrible and wrong-headed term for grass roots sentiment), they miss it.
Great comments.
We have seen time and time again that cutting tax rates increases Federal revenues. It worked that way for Coolidge, JFK, Reagan, and W.
The founders fought against taxation without representation. Taxes are necessary and the concept of no taxation without individual consent is ridiculous.
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