I dont have any faith that it would be solved. It seems to me that the people who want it think it is fairer because *they* pay less tax. And so what if poorer people pay more. That's fine, but it's not good social policy imho.
On Feb 4, 2008 5:51 PM, Cameron Childress <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So then I am back to the fact that I think that type of problem (sending > out checks) is so mundane and easy to solve that I don't care if it's > been considered. > > As for the question about it being fair - is it fair that we give the > government less money? Fairtax is designed to reduce the total amount > of taxes that citizens of the USA pay into the system. This means that > the total tax burden goes down. It goes down for a few reasons... 1) > Less money is required to run the government because you have eliminated > a certain portion of it (the IRS). Is this fair? Hell yes. 2) Less > money is required from US residents because visitors from overseas are > also "paying taxes" when they buy things in the US and are paying some > of the burden. Is this fair? I think so. It's fair that our taxes go > down as a whole. It's also good for the country and the economy as a > whole, improving many more incomes simply as a side effect of improved > economy. > > But I don't think you are focused on the reduction, only the potential > increase for certain individuals. So yes, some individuals will see > their taxes go up as a result. The most severe increases will be seen > in industries where income currently isn't reported. These are folks > such as criminals, drug dealers, illegal aliens. Now, I'm not saying > that the tax system is passing judgement on them. On the contrary, it > doesn't even attempt to identify them - they simply get taxed at the > same rate as the rest of us when they buy the same things as the rest of > us. Many of these folks will not get their prebates either, because > they are not here legally or don't want to be identified, which I guess > makes it even worse for those folks. Maybe you think that's not fair, > but I think it's fair. > > So that really leaves one other biggish group - who get alot of tax > exemptions, tax rules created for certain special interests. These are > mostly tax credits introduced as a tool to influence behavior and > encourage people to do certain things. Buy a house? Get a credit. Go > to school? Get a credit. Have a kid? Get a credit. I don't really > have any objections to the motivations behind these exceptions. They > are a noble attempt to control people and make them do things that are > good for them. However, this is also one of the biggest problems with > the current tax code. There are so many exemptions and special > interests involved that it's really become a huge mess. Those things > need to go. You may enjoy getting these exceptions, but they are > wrecking the system and making it more and more complex every year. > These are a problem? Yes these are a HUGE part of the problem. Is it > fair that they are tossed? Yes it is. It is fair that some people get > a tax credit because they did something the government wants to reward a > specific group for? No, not fair. > > -Cameron > > Dana wrote: > > My objection isn't the effort -- it's more that this sort of detail > > seems not to have been considered. So will it really be fair? The main > > support I see for this model is from people who like the tax cut they > > will get. Works great for you and I. But the tax cuts will be financed > > by poor people paying more, and the US has seen enough regressive > > taxes lately imho. > > > > On Feb 4, 2008 4:36 PM, Cameron Childress <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> No, I think fairtax is actually a solution for 1 and a partial solution > >> to 2. Eliminating the IRS is a GREAT step forward in eliminating > >> bureaucracy. Are you saying you think fairtax will have more > >> bureaucracy than the current system? > >> > >> If your biggest objections are now that is takes alot of effort to send > >> everyone checks, then the argument's really over because I will agree > >> that it will take some amount of effort to track that, but nothing that > >> even approaches the expense of running the IRS. > >> > >> -Cameron > >> > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:253235 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
