The FairTax, Join in!

[Final-Fan]

Kasz216 said:

senseinobaka said:

Final-Fan said:

Eomund said:
The biggest reason I feel that the FairTax is the best system to replace the current tax system, is something that only one person so far has mentioned. Look at senseinobaka (I like that name by the way) for that on page 4 of this thread.

I will reiterate it here. The FairTax is the largest shift in federal power of any tax system short of removing all taxes. It takes the power of the Federal government and gives it back to the people. There are armies of lobbyist firms in DC that try to get Congress to insert a loophole for their client, or tweak the system in favor of one group. With the FairTax, it is not impossible, but the lobbyist firms cannot as easily screw with the FairTax. Expect big resistance from these firms when the FairTax is being seriously discussed as future policy.

This is perhaps the biggest reason that I support the FairTax, less Federal power over my life. They have power through the tax code, giving exemptions here, raising taxes there, and trying to dictate what size of a house I can own! A democrat senator, a fairly well known one, proposed that the Home Mortgage Deduction be removed for people that own a home larger than 3500 sq. feet. Thankfully it was shot down early. This just goes to prove my point that there is power in the Tax Code and when it becomes much harder to change that code, the people have less to fear.

There are all kinds of "special" sales tax rates today. Food & clothing are not taxed but sometimes they are but at a discount; some things get taxed more; etc. etc. IMO it is foolish to believe that manufacturers, sellers, and major users of various products would not push for special tax rates on retail items related to whatever their area of interest is. I'm positive, in fact, that there are sales-tax-related schemes the human mind has not yet dreamt of that would be proposed not five minutes after people see huge consequences or advantages to their pocketbooks. IMO the FairTax would actually worsen these problems as businesses are (quite naturally) the best at coldly doing what is best for their own finances ... including lobbying for special-interest tax cuts. Average Joe isn't out there bugging Senator Spendsalot for a tax break on beer guts.

HR 25, which is the Fair Tax bill, isn’t written like that. There is no flexibility and amendment process to add a loophole. In other words, and I will state this in all caps that way I don’t run the risk of understating it, TAX LOBBYIST WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS. It all comes down to one number, the effective tax rate, and currently HR 25 has it at 23%, and that effective tax rate is the only thing that can be changed, but I'd like to see how congress could do that without pissing off the American public.

This is the reason that the prebate exists. Food, cloths, shelter, and medicine will be taxed at the effective rate. The prebate is to give everyone that tax money up to the poverty line. So all basic needs will go untaxed, up to the poverty line. If you get more than you need then you will be taxed.

@Final-Fan:

You seem to doubt the numbers pretty strongly. Remember this bill has already been written by mathematicians, economist, and statisticians (note: Notice how this list excludes corrupt congressmen, senators, and politicians) who were given a lot of money and resources for research. The numbers work and are proven to be sound in theory. Debating the revenue neutrality is a weak position since you will have to do millions of dollars of research before you can even offer an educated opinion.

 Also note many mathematicians, economists and staticians disagree with the plan as well.

Last I heard, the FairTax projections were assuming tax evasion rates of zero percent. That is a very stupid combination of economics, statistics, and mathematics. Now, I haven't read the FairTax bill itself. Does it specifically prohibit special tax rates aside from the general sales tax rate? (Don't you dare give a bullshit answer on this: don't say yes unless you know for a FACT.) Otherwise, you can bet your ass those lobbyists will not be losing their jobs ... and even if there is, they'll lobby to take out the prohibition. Sure, the first thing they'll argue for will sound good and you'd have to be heartless to deny the (whoever the beneficiaries will be) but that's EXACTLY what happens to the income tax. There's nothing particularly complex about the basic income tax bracket system, and you could just as easily argue, "well there's no way they'll put in special tax brackets for ___"! And they didn't. They added writeoffs, deductions, etc. And there was no public outcry, or not nearly enough of one. I'm 100% sure that someone will think of something when the FairTax is almost the ONLY tax around. "Debating the revenue neutrality is a weak position since you will have to do millions of dollars of research before you can even offer an educated opinion." AHAHAHAHA. We're not even talking about the revenue neutrality per se right now, but tell you what. You go do your own millions of dollars of research and then tell me I need to do the same -- or we can both look at the studies that other organizations have done.