Tax Talk on the Campaign Trail

The campaign trail is already rife with tax talk as the candidates in both Parties gear up for their major push leading to the early 2008 primary season. Unannounced GOP contender Fred Thompson created somewhat of a stir last week by suggesting he may support the 'fair tax.'

Simply stated, the fair tax is like a national sales tax, except no sales tax would be assessed on food or medicine. This would greatly help the poorest among us.

However, the fair tax proposal has already generated opposition on the part of those with a vested interest in keeping the present system of taxation. Tax lawyers and accountants in particular are vehemently opposed to the plan, as are the tax preparation services.

The IRS is opposed to the plan. The reason, of course, is not far to find. With the fair tax in place, there would be no need for the IRS.

Liberal politicians, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are against the plan. The current system allows the socialistic notion of 'redistribution of wealth' to flourish. Plus, it is too easy to score political points by creating class warfare when a politician can always point to how 'rich people and corporations do not pay their fair share' under the current system, leading to their proposals for hefty tax increases for upper income brackets and U.S. businesses.

Curiously, however, the fair tax proposal is finding some opposition among the middle class that has greatly benefited from deductions for mortgages and charitable contributions.

Perhaps this is the one negative consequence of implementing the fair tax. The middle class would no longer have those deductions.

However, there is too much in favor of a system of taxation based upon the fair tax to dismiss it outright for failing to include provisions to which Americans have been accustomed.

For one, you get to keep your own money. No federal tax assessments will be withheld from your paycheck. With more money in your pocket, you have more choices at your disposal, such as buying a home or making provision for medical care.

In addition, when you make a purchase of food or medicine, you pay no federal tax whatsoever. Many states have already implemented this policy on the local level, meaning that food and medicine are much more affordable to the lower and middle classes.

Perhaps the most enticing advantage of all with the fair tax is that at the end of the year there are no lengthy and confusing tax forms to fill out. April 15 will no longer be known as the black day when the tax man cometh. You will no longer need to fear the heavy hand of the IRS pouring over your records for mistakes, or being told that you underpaid and owe more money.

Some critics have argued that the U.S. government could not survive under such a system. Such an alarmist point of view is a scare tactic alone. Not only would government survive but it would thrive.

For the first time in memory, corporations would pay their fair share like everyone else. So would the super-rich. With the demise of the system that makes corporate welfare possible, along with loopholes that allow some of the super-rich to escape large tax liabilities, government will actually begin to collect more money from some sectors of society.

Every person and every entity in America will owe the very same percentage on purchases except for food and medicine. This is actually a good thing. Everyone pays their 'fair share.'

For some mega-corporations this will mean millions of extra dollars flowing into the federal government.

At the other end of the spectrum government would actually lose money from those who can ill afford to make many purchases of consumer goods.

Any shortfall of funds from the fair tax would lead to a thorough consideration of the age-old question--does government live within its means? Clearly it does not. With multi-billion-dollar bridges built to nowhere by pork-barrel politicians, the Pentagon paying millions to ship 19-cent bolts, and unnecessary programs such as the BATFE and the Department of Education, the government is long overdue for some belt-tightening.

The abolition of the IRS alone would save American taxpayers billions of dollars per year.

So far, at least five of the GOP Presidential candidates are on record as either supporting or considering supporting the fair tax--Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson.

The Liberty Sphere is glad to see this issue taking center stage in the various campaigns. We feel that the nation's broken system of taxation should be an easy one with which to hammer the Democrats.

ELDERLY COUPLE TELLS IRS TO GO JUMP!

Washington, DC (TLS). An elderly couple in the state of New Hampshire is telling the IRS to go jump into the nearest lake. Presently the couple is holed up in their home as IRS agents storm the property for their arrest.

Apparently the scenario all started when several years ago the couple wrote the IRS a detailed letter explaining why the Income Tax is illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional. At that point they stopped paying taxes.

Of course, in modern times the Income Tax is certainly legal and one disregards the paying of taxes to their own peril. However, the elderly couple has a good point.

When the Constitutional was first put together, it specifically forbade a national Income Tax!

Of course, for years I have been calling for abolishing the IRS, a move that is long overdue, and implementing some version of a flat tax, national sales tax, or the more recent rendition, the 'fair tax.'

I would love to see the IRS told, legally of course, to go to hell...by simply abolishing it. The Income Tax would be NO MORE.

You know, I don't even know the couple in New Hampshire, but I like them already.

Read their full story here:
http://girlinshortshorts.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-hampshire-couple-tells-irs-to-screw.html

Away with the IRS!

Washington, DC (TLS). Have you filed yet? The deadline is near, that dreaded time of year we all loathe and wish would go away, yet nobody seems to have the guts to do anything about.

Filing taxes in the United States of America is a colossal headache. There is no rational sense to it. Laws are complicated and contradict each other. Even IRS personnel are known to give out erroneous information due to the extremely complicated nature of the U.S. Tax Code.

I am convinced to this day that the primary reason the government keeps this dysfunctional system is so that IRS personnel, tax attorneys, and accountants can keep their jobs.

Other than that, there is no single useful and beneficial purpose of IRS and the present tax code.

The Liberty Sphere has called for the abolition of the IRS many times in the past. It is a concept whose time is due. There are better ways for the government to collect the money it needs to rule over us.

We have heard most of the proposals before--the flat tax, a national sales tax, the fair tax, etc.

These are all worthy proposals that sorely need to be carefully examined.

The fair tax in particular is interesting because it is similar to a national sales tax, with the exception that food and drugs are not taxed at all. This would greatly benefit the poorest among us. The government would be funded by the goods we purchase, excluding food and drugs.

No keeping of records. No filing deadlines. No browbeating by an unelected government agency that has its own police force. No penalties and interest. No tax accountants and attorneys.

In fact, the concept and implementation of such a plan is so simple that complicated minds that thrive off of the present system and its dysfunction are totally baffled by it.

Unfortunately, many of the candidates who ran in the 2006 election cycle on a platform of abolishing the IRS and the U.S. Tax Code lost. We are now dominated in Congress by a Party that loves the IRS and its heavy-handed tactics. After all, when your entire philosophy rests upon growing big government even larger, the IRS is an absolute necessity.

Oh, the horror of life without it! Why, the government could go broke!

The government will never go broke under a fair tax that is attached to buying habits. Under such a system, government will probably have to begin to live within its means, but after all, that's what you and I have to do.

It's time government had to do the same thing.

So, to the IRS--begone! Away with you!