I plan on attending. Any other supporters turning up? If its anything like last time, the place should be SLAMMED by 1:30pm. I got shutout last time. http://www.fairtax.org/site/Calenda...ogin=true&JServSessionIdr001=e73uh87pv5.app2a
as much as i like this plan i just dont see this happening. too many people making a living off on dealing with taxes... not to mention all the lawyers on tax division. i dont see lawyers passing a law where they gonna lose their job
I am a fairtax supporter but that is a good point Bomjoon. It's like eradicating cancer it would be miraculous but billions of dollars would be lost, and millions of jobs and careers would be gone, sad but a true hard fact!
it has to happen from the ground up. That means plebeian support overwhelms those with limited self-serving interests. You're wrong in those who fight this the most, tho. It isn't accountants, its lobbyists.
You are correct. I think a lot of people don't realize that even with fairtax - we will still be in need to tax professionals. There is the "pre-bate" to manage, and there is collection of taxes to manage as well. Now let me say, that I like the idea of a national sales tax to REPLACE national income tax. I would be totally down with that. However, I think the idea is pitched as being very simple, when in reality it wouldn't work that way. Our current tax system is incredibly complex, but it was not created that way. Over the several decades since the creation of income tax, special interest groups and lobbyists have persuaded our government to make cuts here and there until we have this incredibly complex system of exclusions and special circumstances. The national sales tax will start out as a very simple, well-intentioned plan, but there is NO WAY that it will be immune to the same forces from special interest groups. This will be a reset for the tax system and allow NEW special interest groups to rise to power where they might now have before. Decades later we end up with a system just as complicated as our current one. Maybe it would be better, but it will still become complex. Also, the idea that the IRS will disappear is slightly misleading. Somebody has to collect the sales tax. Maybe a new federal department will be created to collect this tax, but that department will still be a group of professional tax collectors - just like the IRS is now. Again, I would LOVE to only pay taxes on what I BUY and not on what I EARN. I have a very big fear that once we open up the doors to a national sales tax that will set the precedent allowing the federal government to create both income and sales tax. Remember that income tax was only allowed after passing the 16th Ammendment: that means income tax is IN OUR CONSTITUITON and is therefore not as easily removed as passing a new law. Not only would a national sales tax law have to be created, but a new AMENDMENT would have to be created to nullify the income tax. If we don't do that, then we leave the federal government with the power to tax BOTH sales and income, and we would end up just like Britian, taxing the hell out of our citizens.
I do support it. But it's like legalizing marijuana. It is not going to happen for a very loong time (if at all). Besides I have better things to do than to stand around in a packed arena listening to the same shit I have heard for the past few years and can watch from the comfort of my office chair in my own home. Now if Gwar was making a special appearance I would be there!
Collection is managed by state governments in the bill. The lack of transparency inherant in the witholding system of federal income tax is unavoidable. The inoculation against special interest is transparency, the more we have, the more the general public can understand whats going on, and the more people the special interest groups have to actually flimflam. I think you may not have read the bill. Check it out, it addresses this. you don't seem to realise, legally, and constitutionally, there's nothing stopping that from happening now. :/
1. The collection of a federal tax cannot be 100% managed by states, somehow the money will have to get to a federal organization, and that means SOME federal agency will have to be involved. Granted, the IRS may be replaced by a MUCH smaller organization, but it will have to be replaced by SOME federal agency. 2 & 3. I like your optimism, but I sincerely doubt that anything in our government remains very transparent for long. In ANY money handling agency, from wall street to charities, there is corruption. 4. It does not matter what the bill says, in reality, the feds will not allow states to completely manage money for them. We need to realize the difference between de jure and de facto. There will have to be a de facto federal agency to manage this tax. 5. The allure of the national sales tax is that is would replace income tax. However, we would then be placing our trust in the federal government not to also continue to levy income tax. I think the fairtax law needs to be accompanied by strong legislation that forbids the feds from collecting income tax. I DO realize that the government CAN do ANYTHING that is not specifically prohibited by constitutional law. That is why we need to be very careful that we do not end up with both federal income and federal sales tax.
I'm kinda confused on what your position is. You don't seem to be making credible references, just impressions. And you're letting those impressions defeat your interest in the Fairtax? um... 90% of states currently collect sales taxes. In the bill, the states have the option to administrate it(the fairtax) themselves, and to cover the cost, the states get to keep .25% of the tax revenue. It will be in the state's interest to manage the federal tax because it will offset the state sales tax administration too. your skepticism is not a reason to not pursue this alternative. I wish you would look at it more closely, and if you find fault with the bill itself, then criticize that, instead of sit behind a defeatist impression of inevitability. :/ Its not that I doubt your sincerity, I just wish you'd use your energies. I don't know what facts you're using to validate this conclusion, but the larger problem is, I don't think I can really do anything else if you're not willing to read the bill for yourself which addresses these things. http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/HR25_2007.pdf Then if you have something to say about how they address it more than 'it just wont work' I'd love to discuss it some more. Maybe turn up tomorro for fun.
I'm purposely not taking an easily definable position, because BOTH sides are plagued with propaganda. The fact is, NO BILL IS EVER PERFECT, no bill ever was, and no bill ever will be. There are always loopholes, there are always unforseen problems, and there are always unintended consequences. I'm just speculating. Have fun at the rally!
as much as this is technically a socialist bill, i believe that socialism has a place in a successful democracy. if we could be run similar to a country like sweden everyone would stand to benefit in one way or another. sweden is just an example. i support fairtax and i am not a socialist. i may be more liberal than most republicans, but i definitely do not stand for all democratic ideals. life is a compromise, just like politics.
How bout a mini fair tax rally at the parking lot of the Masquerade before the Gwar show in december?