Sounds horribly boring, I know. But stay with me for a second, and try
to imagine...
-The term 'take-home pay" loses all meaning since FICA, Social
Security, and Medicare are no longer withheld from your paycheck.
-We stop ranting about our companies moving overseas, and instead
swell with pride as foreign corporation after forgein corporation
moves here.
-The drug dealer down the street is paying every bit as much in taxes
as you are, probably more.
And that's just the start. I'm talking about the Fairtax, of course,
better known as HR 25. That's right, an actual bill before congress,
and the same plan you see flying off bookstore shelves as written by
Neil Boortz and Congressman Lender. The national sales tax.
Now that last phrase is worrisome. A new tax, just what we need,
right? Well, YES. The key being that this single tax replaces Federal
Income Taxes, Social Security Taxes, Medicare Taxes, Corporate and
Business Taxes, Estate Taxes, Capital Gains Taxes and so on and so on
and so on. REPLACES! All current Federal taxes would be stripped away and replaced with a single, simple 23% inclusive tax on new, retail goods.
Does that sound like alot? Its not. You are already paying on average,
22% in retail good on everything you buy. These are embedded costs
from corporate and business taxes currently paid at EVERY level of
manufacturing. Remove those and allow competition to drive down prices
and sudedenly, you are paying roughly the same total amount with the
Fairtax as you pay now without it.
This is not a Republican vs. Democrat plan. The Fairtax is revenue
neutral. We can talk about cutting taxes and spending later. For now,
its about getting a better plan. A better way to pay taxes. And the Fairtax is that.
Our current system is corrupt. Send your tax information to 50
accountants this coming year and you'll get 50 different returns. And
chances are, none of them would be right. Right enough to get by?
Probably. But that's how ridiculous our current system is.
Further, it lends itself to political exploitation. Its based on the
concept of buying votes for tax credits, cuts, or manipulation.And thinkf or a second what our current tax system does. It punishes those that achieve. Those that work to better themselves. At the same time, it rewards those who embrace failure and poverty. Meanwhile the Fairtax neither rewards or punishes behavior. Its simple across the board, buy something new, pay the tax.
Okay, I need to get back to work now, but more to come. In the
meantime, I urge you to visit fairtax.org and see how the experts lay
it out.
6 comments:
Are you implying that those who live in poverty in this country do so because they "embrace poverty and failure?"
Surely not...
This is a seperate discussion really, but yes. While certainly one could find a handful of cases of sheer dumb luck, for the vast majority of us, success or failure are learned behaviors. Patterns and cycles of choices in our lives.
The point in relation to our tax code, is that this code works counter-intuitively to those choices.
Bill Gates made choies throughout his life which allowed him to succeed in business. A single mother with 4 children and a minimum wage job, made choices that led her to that path.
Understand, I'm not making a judgement about either of these people. I neither admire nor dislike either. My point is that we must recognize that such situations are the result of personal choices. And that our current tax code discourages success and growth. Meanwhile it rewards those in poverty to the point of further entrapping them in that cycle and discouraging class movement.
So if this year, that mother is in a bad situation, but next yeear she gets a raise and does a good bit better, her tax liability will increase disproportionately. The tax code punishes her for such success.
Meanwhile, should Gates have a bad year, make bad business decisions, end up laying off a few hundred workers and losing value for his shareholders, his tax liability would likely go down. Here, the tax code rewards his failure.
In short, its not doing anyone any favors. And it works counter to positive American values.
Meanwhile the Fairtax works without regard to sucess or failure of an individual in business. It is based entirely on the spending habits of individual Americans. Further, with the prebate program (I'll discuss this later) and the higher likelihood of low-income Americans to make their own goods where possible, and purchased used good (which are NOT taxed) the Fairtax program actually promotes class mobility.
And you find it morally acceptable to take a person who is in a vulnerable financial state and tax them the same as as a person with millions of dollars to spare? Don't you think that could also create a downward spiral of the poor getting poorer while the rich are getting richer?
Ah, Courtney, I do love ya. I can always count on your assumptions and prejudgements to set up my next arguement perfectly. THIS is why I suggested you go to Fairtax.org to look at the plan itself. I didn't have time this morning to go into detail, but let me lay it out briefly for you here and then tonight I'll try to post a worthy entry expalining the prebate and how the Fairtax will affect the poor in our society.
The Fairtax assures that the poorest amoung us does NOT pay taxes. We could debate the morality of this action, as some could argue that poor decision making on an individuals part should not guarantee them a free ride, but under the Fairtax, it does.
There are several methods built into the system to guarantee this. The most important is the Prebate.
Currently, the government withholds income and payroll taxes from our paychecks. At the end of the year, if the government decides you've paid more than necessary, they'll refund some of those funds, of course none of the interest (traditional or opportunity) that you could have used such funds for.
Under the Fairtax, at the begining of each month, every American household will receive a check from the government to reemburse that household to the level of taxation at the poverty line. Let me explain it another way...
That single mother of 4 HAS to spend a certain amount of money in order to live and support here children. The minimum amount is called the poverty line. The level of subsistance. In 2005, that amount is $19,350 for a single parent, with three children. For a married couple such as yourself and Kevin the number is $19,140. For a single individual such as myself, $9,570.
The amount of tax you'd be paying to that amount is : single with 3 = $4,451, Married with 0 = $4,402, Single = $2,201. Divide by 12, and we be getting these checks in the mail: S+3 = $371, M = $367, S = $183.
And that is BEFORE you pay the tax. In otherwords, this check offsets any taxes you might pay. And if you spend less by growing your own food or making your owe clothes or being energy effiencient as possible, then you can bank the money or otherwise spend it how you like.
Further, keep in mind you paycheck no longer includes withholding. So you are bringing home MORE money.
And finally, prices, will remain the same. WIth embedded cost removed from products and competition driving prices back down to current profit margins, the added tax should leave prices AT current levels.
So how can you say that a impoverished American will be hurt by a plan that lets them buy good at the same price, but using their entire paycheck PLUS a monthly check from the government.
The fact is, THIS plan does more for the poorest of us than anyone else. And if you care for this section of our society, truly care, starting writingletters to your congressonal representatives TODAY.
I wasn't assuming anything about the FairTax plan. As you stated, this really is a separate discussion and I was simply wanting you to clarify your point of view about tax policies. Your original post seemed to imply that you feel the rich are treated unfairly with our current tax policy, and I was wanting to make sure that I wasn't taking your comments out of context. I'll state truthfully that I haven't read up on the FairTax plan, but I'll look into it...
Thanks for the link though. I'm always willing to expand my political knowledge...
The current tax plan is unfair to the rich...and the poor...and especially the middle class. But to break it down more correctly, the current tax system greatly favors the unethical, illegal, and immoral. Those of us that are law-abiding and well-intentioned are the ones most screwed regardless of income.
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