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

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (701116)	9/10/2005 8:35:31 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

[I SUPPORT comprehensive tax reform (elimination of nearly all loopholes and 'special tax preference items' and lowering of rates) BECAUSE of the beneficial effects such changes would have on the nation's long-term growth rate... NOT just because of any (speculative) potential 'gains' in revenue.] "Please accept my apology if I misunderstood your position." Of course! "I support a tax code that does not discriminate against some taxpayers while exempting others. An example of this is the tax exemption for personal home gains. It which does not apply to negotiable securities. This is discrimination and should be abolished. Either give every investor the exemption regardless of asset class or eliminate it." I too support a flat tax rate, taxing ALL SOURCES of income at the same rate, and the elimination of all (or as many as we can) loopholes. The same goes for CORPORATE income taxes. Since corporations in the US are legally considered to be INDIVIDUALS (with 'infinite life') I see no reason for a complicated system of 'special tax preference items' and exemptions to apply to them. I believe the single individual AND the corporate tax rate should be exactly the same --- if corporations desire a lower rate then applied to individuals, they can voluntarily give up the legal protections afforded to them by their status as 'individuals with infinite life'... of course, they will never do that. As to the treatment of debt, mortgage debt for individuals or corporations, tax deductions for interest payments on borrowed money, etc., I see NO GOOD REASON to discriminate against other forms of financing (retained earnings, equity issuance, etc.) by giving a special tax write-off only to DEBT. This seems to me to be bad economic policy --- encouraging debt and borrowing to capture tax deductions. All forms of financing should be on a level playing field, individuals and corporations should not be incented to modify their economic actions in favor of debt. So, you see that I agree with your position as to these loopholes: "...An example of this is the tax exemption for personal home gains. It which does not apply to negotiable securities. This is discrimination and should be abolished. Either give every investor the exemption regardless of asset class or eliminate it." As to Cap. Gains, I believe that income to the security owner should be taxed at the same, single rate for ALL income (remember: all income, regardless of source, taxed at the same rate)... but that the corporation that pays out dividends (or realized capital profits) should be able to write that payout off dollar-for-dollar against earnings. Thus, the tax deduction for Cap. Gains (taxed at the new single income tax rate) belongs to corporation who pays the cash out... not he who receives it. Bush's advisors recommended this approach to him, but he wimped out (because he feared the cost) and went with his wrong-headed and needlessly convoluted plan instead. Dividends would SOAR if these appropriate tax policies were put in place.