I would much rather see spending cuts than tax reform and/or cuts. Rearranging who pays taxes does not stop the real problem.
On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 10:06:42 -0800, Jay P Hailey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Anyone want to comment? > > GOP Discusses National Sales Tax > > Wednesday, December 01, 2004 > > WASHINGTON - While Republican leaders of the House and Senate are huddling > for the next two days in Norfolk, Va., to chart the agenda for the upcoming > Congress, White House officials meeting with them on tax reform are likely > to debate the idea of a national sales tax. > > President Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (search) have both said the > idea of a national sales tax deserves a serious look. For many, the idea of > a world without the Internal Revenue Service is very seductive. > > "We spend about $400 billion a year complying with the tax code. We spend > $200 billion a year just filling out IRS paperwork," said Rep. John Linder, > R-Ga., who has proposed a bill that would create a national sales tax. > > Proponents have spent millions on research and have concluded that a > national sales tax can replace the income tax, payroll tax, estate tax and > corporate tax. Advocates say the new tax would lower the cost of > manufacturing and job creation and attract foreign investments, among other > things. > > "If we were to get rid of the sales or the income tax and the payroll tax > and all compliance costs, we would be so ferociously competitive in a world > economy that corporate America would not be competed with unless foreign > corporations started building their plants in America," Linder said. > > Proponents seek a 23-cent national sales tax on all retail goods, everything > from groceries to clothes, cars to electronics. Everyone would pay the same > rate, which critics argue is part of the problem. > > "If you consume $40,000 a year and you make $50,000 a year, would you feel > it is fair if a guy who made a half a million dollars a year but spent > $40,000 a year paid the same tax you do? I think you wouldn't feel it's > fair," said Buck Chapoton, former assistant treasury secretary. > > Sales tax advocates say the rich will always consume more than people in the > lower and middle classes, and will pay wealth that is untaxed now. > > "The current tax only taxes income. This tax taxes wealth. There are a lot > of people who have inherited huge sums who are paying no income tax > whatever, they will pay taxes when they spend it," Linder said. > > Critics contend that the sales tax would have to be higher than advocates > advertise. > > "It would require at least a 30 percent rate, that's a very high rate and > may create tax evasion on its own," said Chris Edwards, a tax analyst with > the Cato Institute. "The highest state sales tax we've got right now is only > 11 percent. So there's a great unknown here, would the government be able to > actually collect a 30-percent sales tax?" > > Sales tax backers say their tax is relatively easy to collect - forty-five > states already do it - and the tax would collect revenue from the vast, > underground economy. > > "About a trillion dollars now is in the underground economy, untaxed. That's > just three items - pornography, illicit drugs and illegal labor. We wouldn't > make them more legal if we had a sales tax, but what we would do is tax them > when they spent it for personal consumption," Linder said. > > Critics say two categories of Americans won't like the sales tax: millions > who don't pay federal income taxes and workers about to retire who could see > their nest eggs devoured by a large and unexpected sales tax. > > -- > Jay P Hailey ~Meow!~ > MSNIM - jayphailey ; > AIM -jayphailey03; > ICQ - 37959005 > HTTP://jayphailey.8m.com > > No more secrets, no more lies > > _______________________________________________ > Libnw mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw > Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw > _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
