The last few days I have been contacted several times by good intentioned folks who want me to support HR25, the so-called Fair Tax Initiative. Well, I cannot do that.
Before somebody starts to climb on my back, let me preface by saying there is no fair tax when we are talking about personal income. Flat tax, fair tax, etc., all discuss different ways to get more money out of the American taxpayer. This in and of itself raises my hackles. Being a strict constitutionalist, I don't think that any tax that encroaches on the personal income of American citizens is fair. The founders specifically excluded this as a source of government income. This wasn't an oversight on their part. They understood that once Pandora's Box was opened, there would be no closing it back up. Once the government was allowed to get its hands on the personal wealth of the average citizen, its rapacious appetite for more, more, MORE would preclude us ever being able to stem the tide. And here we are. in 2011. There is constant pressure from the progressives and entitlement crowds to take yet more of our personal wealth and redistribute it to those of less fortunate means. NO, HECK NO and HELL NO! If I want to support charitable causes, I will see to it myself. I most emphatically don’t want Obama doing it for me.
As for the Fair Tax, the recommended starting point is 23%. Twenty-three percent! Doesn’t anyone but me see this as obscene? Since there is apparently no meaningful and enforceable cap on how high it could go, at what point does it creep to 25%, 30% or 100%. What’s to stop the government thugs from increasing it to 100%? Who is to say they will actually drop the income tax and shut down the IRS? All we have is the word of … politicians. Sorry, that’s a risk I don’t want to take. This isn’t a leap of faith; it’s a leap off of a very high cliff.
I cannot support ANY scheme to defraud the citizen of his or her hard earned wealth. Period. Return government to its constitutional means of income. Repeal the fraudulent, never ratified, 16th Amendment. Reduce government and its programs to those which are constitutional. Stop trying to be all things to all people. There are some who are just too damn lazy and shiftless to make an honest living. This is a fact of human nature. We are under no moral or legal obligation to see that they don’t starve. It is sad, but we cannot expect the taxpaying citizens to keep funding this bottomless hole forever. If this makes me heartless and mean spirited, so be it. My first obligation is to my own family. If there is anything left over I might feel compelled to help my fellow man or woman.
Comments
Carl I agree, as would anyone that has an understanding of the United States Constitution as well as history and the intentions of the founders when it came to the taxation of American people.
My point is simple, the current tax code and the IRS, is criminal and far more destructive to American and American interest than a fair tax ever would be.
We became independent of Brittan for a reason, only to return to the same but worse, millions of people in this country, have liens and levies, millions have been utterly destroyed. A fair tax dose not have that kind of power, and a fair tax would force government to be supportive of business, not against it. As for the math of Doug's??? Phil I know the side of the fence your on, and as for not talking tax, that's exactly what a good socialist would prefer, as we now see all the distractions, socialist have created to stop the Tea Parties original intent, You see the current tax code and the IRS is the main source for big government, and they have done such a good job at working their way into the American culture that many Americans laugh when they see people caught up in an audit. China will rule the world soon because they learned from our capitalistic freedom and we disregarded it and let the government destroy it. We have become like China (thanks to IRS) and China like we used to be.
Reply to Phil:
You put it a little stronger than I am inclined to do, but essentially you and I agree on most points.
I also don't trust either party. They have both lost all sense of republican (little r) ideals. This is why I went to the Constitution Party. We have an uphill battle but at least we are fighting the fight, not sitting around whining. I voted for Chuck Baldwin last election. I have no qualms about doing so. If my vote "helped" Obama, so be it. At least I didn't take the"lesser of two evils" path. The other guy was a bad joke. Texans screwed up by reelecting Slick Rick Perry. We could have been enjoying the good life under Debbie Medina instead. Oh well.
I would like to try to answer Paul, if I can. You are correct about all the"hidden" taxes we must silently support, but you fail to distinguish between the taxes by the federal government versus the taxes at state and local levels. There is a BIG difference.
I am advocating dropping ALL direct taxes at the federal level. They are unconstitutional. Without getting into a discussion over the legality of the 16th Amendment, if the federal government limited its activities to those enumerated powers, it would probably be able to support itself by way of the enumerated sources of federal income. The rampant growth of the nanny state under FDR required another source of income. What better way than to grab the wealth of the American citizens? The NEW Deal was not constitutional under the aforementioned enumerated powers. So, the need for direct taxation was a farce to begin with. It was and is simply a way for government to keep growing at our expense. ANY federal tax, no matter how "transparent" is inherently unconstitutional. The founders never intended the federal government to fleece its masters.
The other taxes you mention, property tax, sales tax, etc are generally local in nature. As such they are closer to home and more responsive to the citizen. The same basic problem drives these taxes as well. The need for government to grow beyond its necessary level. All politicians need to "bring home the bacon". The lunacy behind this thinking is they are making us a gift of that which we already own, our money. I liken this to the bottled water scam. Why pay for filtered water when you can buy an inexpensive filter for your sink and get the same thing for pennies? Yet we pay Nestle and Ozarka and others high dollar for that which we can get out of our kitchen tap. The real problem is the American citizen themselves. We have grown so dependent and lazy that we now refuse to take care of ourselves. We want our nanny to do everything for us. We also expect the nanny to protect our delicate sensitivities from offense. But, this is for another topic and time.
In a nutshell, we need to eliminate all direct federal taxes on personal wealth. Period. The local taxes we can control by GETTING INVOLVED in local politics. Sounds like it might require a little effort on our part though, so it's not very likely it will happen. As for me, I am involved. I make every effort to contact my federal politicians at least once a week on one issue or another. We are on a first name basis. I also rattle the cages of my state representative and senator regularly. And, I am county coordinator for the Constitution Party of Texas. I have found that in order to bitch, you have to participate. Nuff said.
I share your sentiments entirely.
By the way, the Fair Tax actually Does start our at about 30%. Consider 23 cents of each dollar spent is tax. 23 cents X 3 = 69 cents. that is only 8 cents shot of the remaining 77 cents that actually goes toward the purchase of the product.
So, even though they explain this themselves, the Fair Tax crowd is practicing their own brand of subtle deception when they peg the tax at what appears to be 23%.
By the way. You say the 16th was never ratified. Have you any documentation to support this? I would love to see it.
Hi, Carl I have read your decision on why you would not support a far more transparent means of taxation on the American people, based not on income. Yet it appears that you are paying little attention to the current taxation code of this country (which strongly resembles the taxation out founders fought a war against and declared independence from.
You state unrealistic objections, such as no cap on tax rate, as if there is now! do you realize how many taxes are now created to take from the American people, at the will of the IRS? (no) you must not, and therefore if you don't how many Americans realize all the forms of taxation? and how do they stop the government from increasing them when they are not even aware of them? The Fair tax is simple and transparent and can much easier be rejected by American people and businesses if it is to aggressive. Right now we are taxed beyond what most Americans even know, and business is being crippled. I am not jumping on you but 23% of what you spend is a lot better that income tax, property tax, capital gains tax, death tax, and so on. By your analogy what stops the government from raising those taxes??????? Fair Tax is simple enough to be openly rejected, the current tax code with thousands of pages is not.