For years I have argued that there needs to be a flat tax in the US….of say 10-15% with NO deductions or loopholes for the wealthy to take advantage of in the year end accounting…..well it has been a long uphill climb to say the least. I also like a land value tax, first put forth by economist Henry George, yet another uphill stumble….that is for another day though…(if one wants more info in the LVT go to my page on the subject)
For now let us talk about the flat tax, the Conservative Party candidate for the state of New York, Hoffman has thrown it into the campaign in the state election:
The U.S. currently uses a progressive tax system, under which people who earn more money pay a greater percentage of their total income in taxes. A flat tax would have every wage earner pay the same percentage of their income in taxes – no matter how much or how little they earn. The flat tax would also eliminate deductions that are allowed under the current laws.
Supporters of a flat tax argue that such a tax is fairer to everyone and would result in many people actually paying less in taxes than they do now. Because a flat tax is simple, more people would pay their taxes and the cost of overseeing the income tax system would decrease, they claim.
Opponents argue that a flat tax places a disproportionate burden on lower- and middle-income wage earners.
Flat tax plans have been brought forth periodically in recent years, with little success. Democrat Jerry Brown included a flat tax proposal in his platform during his 1992 presidential bid. Republican Steve Forbes proposed a similar plan during his presidential bid four years later. Republican Richard Armey, who served as majority leader in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, championed the idea in the House and has continued to press the proposal since leaving office.
Now there is an idea, but the is one thing that immediately turned me off the plan……and that thing is Richard Armey (Dick)…..one of the sponsors of the Tea Party theater….and a lobbyist that is too far right for the common good….
Dick Armey and I have had little consensus on the subject of governance and now that he thinks it is a good idea…makes me re-think my acceptance of the idea…..
Simple is ALWAYS better than some complicated drivel that never works, but provides endless opportunities for those who can afford fancy lawyers and accountants to work around it. 👿
If they did simplify the tax thing in the US….just think of the unemployment in the IRS……better them than anyone else…
Oh absolutely!
I have a theory that, if you sack half of the IRS (or any other group of bureaucrats) half of those left were only there to pay and support the other half that you just got rid of.
Accordingly, if you keep the process going, you eventually get down to one guy (or gal). The only snag is he (or she) will have to be unpaid. Still, life’s a bitch, eh? So who cares if the one tax collector left has to work for nothing.
Works for me 😈
And for me also….on a side note…did you knopw that there is a $90,000 a year job in Washington…..as a raisin sizer? Cool huh?
Every so often, evil turds do get it right. The question about his support of flat tax is whether or not corporations are taxed as well. At lot of times when the conservatives propose a flat tax or consumption tax, it is veiled attempt at eliminating taxes on corporations.
Then you have the whole sticking point as to how you define income. If you define it as money that is paid as compensation, you will have the wealthy giving themselves benefits such as use of the corporate mansion and use of the corporate car. That is not as easy of a question as one would think.
Yep I agree…..it should be across the board…no decuctions…no loopholes…everyone pays…..then there would be money for all programs with some left over…..
You could try doing away with government altogether and nobody pays any tax at all?
I mean – what do most of us get in return for it that we actually want?
😈
Good one…but be careful…there are anarchist haters lurking in the shadows…LOL
Funny you should mention that – http://quintavoc.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/why-government/
Interesting piece…….I like it……
Incidentally, in case you don’t already know, I thought you might be interested in this piece of info on who to blame for the existence of Income Tax:
A precursor to the modern income tax we know today was invented by the British in 1800 to finance their engagement in the war with Napoleon. The tax was repealed in 1816 and opponents of the tax, who thought it should only be used to finance wars, wanted all records of the tax destroyed along with its repeal. Records were publicly burned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer but copies were retained in the basement of the tax court.
God! Us Brits have been a pain in everyone’s ass for a very long time, haven’t we? 😈
HA HA HA…..I knew it had to be Brit idea….(joking)….and all this time I was gonna blame Woodrow Wilson…..do I owe his estate an apology?
Of course it was us – you know as well as I do that America was born out of the desire of assholes from Britain to make even more money than they already were.
The only “founding father” that was not a 3rd or 4th generation colonialist was Hamilton. he was originally from the island of Nevis (I believe) and you are right…..it was all about economics and breaking the bonds of mercantilism……
Hmmm… I thought the first income tax in the US was done to finance the civil war. Which, if I remember correctly, was a republican administration that introduced it.
I dare say, but the Brits thought of the iniquitous idea first. What a shower we are, eh?
And we thank you for your thoughtfulness…LOL