Flat Tax - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Honus · #1 01-10-2008, 11:24 PM

I get the sense that maybe Kevin Drum doesn't really like the flat tax:

Quote:

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE BIGGEST PANDERER OF ALL?....Mike Huckabee currently has the looniest tax proposal on the table, a 30% national sales tax that he supports because he read a book about it once and thought it sounded kinda neat. It's unworkable, hugely regressive, wouldn't raise half the money Huckabee thinks it would, and would create an underground economy so massive it would make the old Soviet Union look efficient.

But it would cut taxes on the rich, which means it's perfect for the modern Republican Party. So how do you top it? Rudy Giuliani, never a man to let himself be upstaged in a panderfest, provided his answer yesterday (numbers added to original Reuters dispatch for easy reference):

"Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has proposed what he called a multitrillion-dollar tax cut that would (1) lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent....(2) reduce the capital gains tax from 15 percent to 10 percent....(3) preserve the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush....(4) eliminate the estate tax....(5) give taxpayers the option of choosing a simplified tax form with three tax brackets with a maximum bracket of 30 percent....(6) index the alternative minimum tax to inflation and eventually repeal it."

Take that, Huckabee! You say your plan is big? Well, according to an expert that Townhall blogger Matt Lewis talked to, "This plan would be huge." How huge? "It would be 4% of GDP. By comparison, GWB tax cut was 1.3% of GDP. Reagan's was 1.9% of GDP."

Twice the size of Reagan's! Three times the size of Bush's! And deficits? No worries. These babies will pay for themselves!

Oh, and just in case you haven't figured this out yet, all six of Giuliani's tax cuts are aimed at people who already have lots and lots of money. But you knew that, right?

http://washingtonmonthly.com/

I wouldn't know a flat tax if it bit me, but Drum's summary has the ring of truth. He does a nice job of nailing Rudy, as well.

Brian Carlton · #2 01-10-2008, 11:29 PM

All you need to know about Guliani is found in the following statement:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Biden

There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11.

Emmerich · #3 01-10-2008, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

All you need to know about Guliani is found in the following statement:

I thought the 3 things would be his wives

MBlovr · #4 01-10-2008, 11:50 PM

Huckabee will be yet another IQ test for the American electorate.

Brian Carlton · #5 01-10-2008, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmerich

I thought the 3 things would be his wives

Nothing beats it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6rh-u7FBjc

I wish Biden was more recognized............

mwood · #6 01-11-2008, 01:13 AM

To be clear his proposed "fair tax" rate is 22% not 30. If this came to pass I wonder how much would be saved by shutting down the IRS. Anyone have any idea how much it costs to run the IRS each year?

Pete Geither · #7 01-11-2008, 05:48 AM

Here it is,
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer

Botnst · #8 01-11-2008, 07:39 AM

And the tax preparers who'd go on unemployment. And think of all the struggling tax lawyers, facing an uncertain future.

Tragic.

B

dannym · #9 01-11-2008, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

And the tax preparers who'd go on unemployment. And think of all the struggling tax lawyers, facing an uncertain future.

Tragic.

B

That thought makes me really sad...........................NOT!!!

Medmech · #10 01-11-2008, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

And the tax preparers who'd go on unemployment. And think of all the struggling tax lawyers, facing an uncertain future.

Tragic.

B

Warren Buffett commented that his tax rate was 18% last year while his secretary's rate is 36%.

LaRondo · #11 01-11-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBlovr

Huckabee will be yet another IQ test for the American electorate.

I don't think there will be enough time to conduct that test ....

LaRondo · #12 01-11-2008, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howitzer

Warren Buffett commented that his tax rate was 18% last year while his secretary's rate is 36%.

I am @ 25% average. Bonuses are usually taxed higher, more in the neighborhood of 30%. Depending on how much bonuses accumulate throughout, my average may increase by a couple of points.

It's mostly Fed, the State usually is asking for more when I turn in the numbers, while the Fed likes to give me back a handful of peanuts ...

LaRondo · #13 01-11-2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Nothing beats it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6rh-u7FBjc

I wish Biden was more recognized............

So true ... I mean the quote on Rudy G.

Dee8go · #14 01-11-2008, 09:36 AM

I've always thought that a flat tax made sense. It would be easy to determine what one's taxes were. It would be fair, both the rich and the poor as well as the middle class would be taxed the same per centage. It would eliminate all the loop holes and shenanigans that CPAs and lawyers come up with. It would eliminate the need for the massive bureaucracy that is the IRS. It would make all our lives much less stressful during the first three months of each year.

Honus · #15 01-11-2008, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwood

To be clear his proposed "fair tax" rate is 22% not 30. ..

That's what he says, but I think that is a misleading way to say it. For one thing, the way I calculate his rate, it is closer to 23%, but that is not the real problem with Huckabee's claim. The way I understand his proposal, for an item that sells for $1, the consumer will pay $1.30. That 30 cent tax is 23% of $1.30, so I suppose Huckabee can claim that his proposed rate is 23%, but he should admit that people will be taxed not only on the purchase price, but also on the tax itself. Whether that tax rate is fair is beyond my ability to say, but Huckabee loses credibility when he tries to describe his tax rate as being 22%.