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Dan the propagandist, posting propaganda again.
The Mother of All Dumb Ideas
By David Glenn Cox
We’ve all had dumb ideas in our past and I don’t exempt myself from this. I once threw Gunk engine degreaser on the floor to degrease it. Just one thing, I forgot to turn off the pilot light on the water heater first. Dumb? Man, that was dumb. After I got the fire put out my boss asked me, "Did you learn anything today?" I slowly shook my head and humbly answered, "Yes, yes I did."
But my mistake was an error, not of comprehension but of not planning before acting. These are simple mistakes and we’ve all made them and usually they don’t require the fire department to correct them. We lock our keys in the car or give our keys to the spouse and forget to get them back.
On a grander scope are the errors that our mothers once advised about, "Look before you leap" and "All that glitters is not gold." I pointed out my own errors here because I’m going to point out the error of others. There’s errors and then there are mistakes and then there’s just plain stupid.
I speak of none other than the so-called "Fair Tax." The mother of all dumb ideas, there are no errors of any consequence in the world today compared to the "Fair Tax." George W. Bush has the intellect of Chomsky and the oratory skills of Churchill when compared to the "Fair Tax." But, don’t you see? It’s fair! No, it’s not, it’s a farce!
A tax plan where you pay a 27% federal sales tax on all retail purchases. Your paycheck will be free of all deductions except for health insurance and, of course, your state withholding but this bull bamboozle is a bait and switch scam.
Proponents lead you to believe your paycheck will be all yours, free and clear, but it’s a lie and no, it won’t. Nor will the 27% federal sales tax free you from any city, county or state sales taxes, which, here in Cobb County, Georgia, is 7% so we are up to 34% right off the bat.
$100.00 worth of groceries will cost $134.00, times 52 = $1768 in sales tax per year. Now, if you have a family, it’s hard to get by on less than $150.00 a week so your, "Fair Tax" is $2,652 per year, when most American’s only pay around $3,000 per year in federal tax now and that is deducted from your pay check. The "Fair Tax" will be deducted from your children, as well; you'll pay tax on the food they eat, not dollars you earn. The "Fair Tax" will not free you from property taxes, state taxes, liquor taxes and cigarette taxes, occupational taxes, license taxes, automobile taxes, ad nauseum.
Want to buy a new car? A $30,000 vehicle will be an additional $8,100 dollars, will that be cash or check? Or, would you like to finance the balance for five years, if so that will add another $400.00 a year in interest on the sales tax alone! Or ten grand for sales tax in five years. Yessiree sir, that’s gonna create lots of automotive jobs. So, you take your new car to gas it up at the pump and, although we’ve deducted the Federal excise tax and replaced it with the "Fair Tax", we’ve also left in place the state tax and you’re right, at $4.00 dollars a gallon, that’s bad. But its "Fair." Remember, every time that the price of gasoline goes up so does your tax bill because that’s "Fair."
Now, with the current Real Estate slump as it is, maybe the "Fair Tax" can help us out! A $200,000 house note balloons to $254,000. Just think, you get to finance $54,000 in sales tax for 30 years at say 7% or over $100,000 in interest over the life of the loan and that’s just on the sales tax. "Honey, call the movers!"
The "Fair Tax" scheme was instigated by Representative John Linder of Georgia, a man who listed his own net assets at $33 million dollars. So when a man with $33 million dollars tells you he has a "Fair Tax " plan, who do you think that fairness applies to? You? Or him? Linder first proposed his plan as "income tax reform" but it never caught on with the public so they took it back into the shop and retooled it as, "Fair." Everybody likes "Fair." How can you be against "Fair?"
Everybody likes hot showers, too, that’s why the Nazis led their victims to showers. If the sign on the door had said "gas chamber", no one would go in! So they bill the rape of the working public as "Fair." If enacted, the "Fair Tax" would be the largest tax increase on working people in recorded human history. Mr. Linder believes that there shouldn’t be any capital gains taxes because that’s not "Fair." Or taxes on foreign investments, no taxes of any kind on investments as, you see, that’s not "Fair."
What is "Fair" is you paying the taxes on every morsel of food that you put in your mouth or stick of gum or every pair of kid's shoes that you buy. Every dollar you earn goes down in value by 27% but the good news is! The "Fair Tax" will eliminate the IRS. That’s right! According to Linder, the billions in federal revenue collected by the "Fair Tax " will magically find its way into the appropriate coffers. How that will work, Mr. Linder is a little sketchy about, but with his giant brain working like it is, I suppose we should just trust him, right?
But, what about the poor? How will those unable to make ends meet now handle a 27% sales tax? Why, we’ll just issue rebates to the poor, Linder says confidently. But Mr. Linder? Isn’t that what the IRS does now? Are we to turn the world on its head just to get right back to where we started?
I should confess, I used to live in Linder’s district when he was a state Senator and first hatched this colossal humbug. My computer was new and I was reveling in the novelty of the Internet. I would ask questions to stymie him because I didn’t think that he could answer them. I asked, "If you add 27% to the purchase price of house and the home owner defaults on the loan, who takes the hit? Is the Mortgage Company liable for the unpaid taxes on the transaction? Are the taxes paid in a lump sum or is it handled in the escrow? Would the debtor still be liable for the tax debt? How would the banks resell a $200,000 house with a $54,000 tax loss on top of the purchase price? Would it then be $254,000 plus 27%?" I don't think Realtors would like this plan.
What will happen to the bond market when every Real Estate purchase is escalated by 27% in price? I don’t think the bond market is going to like that very much. What will happen to interest rates when 27% of all available Real Estate capital is sucked out of the market to be paid in, "Fair" taxes? I don’t think the stock market would like that very much, either. When the economy slows down, tax collection will slow as well, many states are facing this problem with sales taxes now. How will the "Fair Tax" address that, as costs will remain constant?
We all make mistakes but when some conspire to cheat you, that’s no error, that’s a con. When a man with $33 million in net assets devises a system where he pays less and you pay more, it’s a scam, bunko, a crime. Not only does he not belong in Congress, I’m not so sure he should be allowed to run loose on the streets. Point blank, for those of you who use 100% of your income to just keep the wolf from the door, you will pay 27% tax on 100% of your income. We will then magically reimburse those of you who didn’t have the money in the first place.
Now, if you’ve got 33 million in net assets, you probably live on 5% percent of your income. So 5% of your income will be taxed at 27% and 95% of your income will be tax-free, and that’s called "Fair." That’s what is called the "Fair Tax" but it''s a patent, medicine show huckster making fantastic promises that they could never keep and dodging any questions or responsibility for the societal side-effects. A snake oil promise and a tent revival sales pitch, a modern day rainmaker.
Instead, we should offer Mr. Linder first class accommodations on the classic split timber transport. Where his body will be gently massaged with a specially heated petroleum-based sealant and his skin covered in a soft and fluffy, all natural, poultry down. And, arriving at journeys end, he should receive an all- over, full body massage with our specially made Louisville massaging wands.
That’s the way you deal with a fraud that’s called "Fair!"
Dan the propagandist, posting propaganda again.
if you can't argue a well made point why post?
My God man... You posted other people lies. Complete propaganda or the worse kind since it is outright lies. The prices of those are incorrect because under the fair tax, the cost would come down as the embedded taxes are removed, then when the 23% is added, the prices are very close to the same as before.
I will not address such foolishness line by line. It a waste of time. These facts this has been stated over and over in these forums, yet you post such nonesense without any fact checking. This is a complete waste of cyberspace.
So you still pay 23% + city/state taxes.....+ fees, tolls etc. etc. etc.....what does a family of 4 making less than $35k pay in FED taxes now...and what percentage of their income would they pay with the so-called fair-tax.....how much in tax would a person who only uses 5% of his annual income pay in 'fair tax'....The prices of those are incorrect because under the fair tax, the cost would come down as the embedded taxes are removed, then when the 23% is added, the prices are very close to the same as before.
I'm with you on that one. the "Fair Tax" is idiotic.
Why don't you do the math and provide it, seeings you are so sure there is a huge difference?
I love the dig at the guy saying that the author of the plan is worth 33 million and it won't apply equally to him. Straight from the fair tax web site:
Consider, for example, your typical billionaire, of which America now has more than 400. These fortunate few are invested primarily in equities on which they pay taxes at a 15 percent rate, whether their income comes in the form of capital gains or dividends. In addition to having the income from their wealth taxed at a low rate, the principal of their wealth is completely untaxed either directly or indirectly. Assuming they and their heirs spend only the income earned on the wealth each year, the tax rate today is 15 percent. In contrast, under the FairTax, the effective tax rate is 23 percent.
And this doesn't even get into the fact that all the illegals who aren't paying into things like SS, Medicare, etc. right now would be paying in under this plan.
But that wouldn't be right, would it, Dan?
...and some of us pay several multiples of that.when most American’s only pay around $3,000 per year in federal tax
"Most" families, of course, think todays system is plenty fair.
This is a non-starter. DeToqueville knew it.
Yeah, so...
My wife routinely has to write a check to the Federal government every year in excess of $30k in taxes.
the government.
DR used to be a pretty mild-mannered dude; now he's getting punchy. Next thing you know? Living in an outhouse on the side of a mountain writing manifestos.
Who told you?!
A lot of families don't gross $30K.
But still, in the top percentile with the largest reductions, you're in.
So to sum up your post. Prices will come down by approx 23% so we can pay the 23% taxes on these items?
All product prices will be reduced because of the fair tax? Am I understanding the smartest guy in world on this one? does this make any sense to anyone?
I wish people arguing against the Fair Tax would argue this point more, instead of wasting so much time reminding us that the costs of goods and services will increase if we increase sales tax.Point blank, for those of you who use 100% of your income to just keep the wolf from the door, you will pay 27% tax on 100% of your income. We will then magically reimburse those of you who didn’t have the money in the first place.
Now, if you’ve got 33 million in net assets, you probably live on 5% percent of your income. So 5% of your income will be taxed at 27% and 95% of your income will be tax-free, and that’s called "Fair."
No ? My net income will go up but my grocery bill will go up too? You don't say!
Come to Argentina . . . we have the "fair tax". It is called VAT. 21%
And we also get 20 - 35% witheld from our salary.
And we pay taxes every time we use our checking account.
We also pay a monthly tax if we own a car.
We pay taxes on our assets.
We pay property taxes.
We pay municipal taxes.
So please, quit ing . . .
By the way, fair tax = stupid idea.
Answer: I would move. Especially if I were someone like you who had first-hand experience in another country.
Argentina is a very beautiful, as well as a very frustrating place to live in. Not a hole, as many gringos think, but certainly well enthrusted in the Third World.
The problem in many Argentines are happy with mediocrety and do little to change the status quo.
Frustrating.
Oh, we're getting there.
We have sale's taxes, property taxes, municipal taxes, licensing fees for autos...
and, oh yeah, most income taxes paid in this country are above 35%.
Hey B.
How many paychecks did you SIGN today?
How about the 'No Tax'? Well, not absolute. Still, why must we ship our $ to Washington so that it can come back to us (outside of defense and the other necessary expenditures for the government to provide a legal system and enforce laws)?
hey 101 what does it matter?
Because Boutons likes to cast stones.
Easy to solve problems with other people's money.
You sign paychecks, so you want a medal?
Are you making a money from the production of your employees?
Do you also about having to pay your employees and their overheads as well as the IRS?
We're talking about PERSONAL income tax rates, not business.
So businesses don't pay federal income taxes as well as social insurance program "contributions"?
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