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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JDN who wrote (694100)	7/27/2005 7:09:41 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769667

"Forbes has been on this flat tax thing longer then anyone I know." More power to him!!!!!! "He says with GENEROUS allowances (family of four would pay NO TAX up to 46,000 of annual income) we could get by with 17%!!" We could EASILY have a 15% flat tax rate (matching capital gains rate... and helping to promote the concept of 'all income taxed the same, regardless of source') if a few more loopholes were removed. Russia, for example, has seen their tax revenue soar with a 13% rate.

To: JDN who wrote (694100)	7/27/2005 3:19:00 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

"Forbes has been on this flat tax thing longer then anyone I know. He says with GENEROUS allowances (family of four would pay NO TAX up to 46,000 of annual income) we could get by with 17%!! My personal preference is a VAT tax cause I would like to capture the underground economy in tax revenue, but I would prefer the flat tax similar to Forbes comments over what we have today. jdn" The big problem is that there is now an entrenched tax preparation industry that lobbies to make the law more complex. They would poor heavy resources into efforts to make the tax code comprehensible. No Taxation Without Respiration.

To: JDN who wrote (694100)	8/11/2005 1:02:02 AM
From: DavesM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

I don't see why we should emulate Western Europe's tax structure. Why copy a tax system developed by the French? The French have had the VAT since the 50's. Are they considered an example of Economic success that others should imitate? Is their unemployment lower than the USA? Is their GDP growth higher than the USA? Is the median household income higher in France than the USA? Is per capita GDP greater in France than the USA? Is their budget deficit all that much smaller a percentage of GDP than the USA? And from what I've read about the VAT, it is no simpler than our income tax system. In fact, from what I could tell, the VAT is very similar to the Stamp Act (that the British) imposed on the American Colonies - sparking the Revolutionary War! Wouldn't a VAT would encourage consumers to purchase manufactured goods from cheap labor countries over American manufactured goods? p.s. It's not as though the EU (with their historic protectionism and labor laws) has been all that much more successful with their trade deficit with China than the U.S.