First, in all honesty, I was working late and did not watch the President's speech. I asked a co-worker this morning (an ardent Obama supporter) what she thought about it and she stated it was a very good speech. She further states the long & short of the speech is that we need, as individuals, to batten down the hatches at home and he & the government will take care of everything as he has a plan. OK, I'm fine with that. So far, Obama seems like a President who's willing to work with both sides in order to do what he can and he operates with a lot of personal conviction. I'm willing to give him a fair shot. However, that got me wondering, if I were President, what would I try and do to solve this financial mess we're in. I came up with my plan- open for debate as well as wanting to know what you would do. So, without further mindless chit-chat: 1) No more deficit spending. Period. We will cut whatever we have to cut, but no more over spending. 2) No more bailouts. Period. 3) Find new and creative ways of adding revenue. For example, a $25 per car yearly federal tax with the money 100% dedicated to interstate roads & bridges. A luxury tax on vehicles, boats & trailers above a certain amount and on vehicles getting less than an "X" amount of gas miles per gallon- that will be used for various dedicated areas as well. 4) Massive Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid overhauls to both trim them up and to aggressively fight fraud. 5) A 3% national sales tax with the money 100% dedicated to paying off the national debt. This would be different from the current intrest payments we make from the general budget. The national debt would be paid off in 12-15 years. Then, the money we current;y pay to the interest will be divided- 50% in a tax break back to all citizens and 50% will stay in the general budget to expand social spending for the citizens. 6) Change our current tax system to a 7% flat tax with no deductions at all. Whatever money comes in your front door, regardless of overall income, 7% goes to Uncle Sam. There! I've fixed our economy!
I would love your plan... would have taken home $1500 more just on my last check with just 7% taxes. As far as stopping deficit spending... that would be a disaster. The concept is OK... but imagine a store saying they are not going to buy more inventory if they are not making a profit. They go out of business before they could right the ship. Now.. don't we have a balanaced budget act or something like that? Which the past administration just got around by not putting a lot of this in the budget. =) Overhauls cost a lot of money too. Being an Oregonian... I don't like the sales tax. That is our job here... to poo-poo all sales taxes.
I'm in agreement with most of your points, overall. Well, except #3 as I don't think there should be a luxury tax. There's no good reason other than to punish people who have the means to spend more on what they buy. Flat tax is also going to have to be higher than 7%, more like 23%. www.fairtax.org
If flat tax also eliminates payroll tax (SS/Med) I'd be for it. I don't think you should be taxed at a higher rate for actively earning income.
the current system is broken. the guy running the treasury dept. can't even do his own taxes properly. eliminate it all. simplify. Change! http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_faq_answers#13
Nonsense. The flat tax scam just another scam for rich people to pay even less tax than they do now. Flat-tax is a non-starter.
its a fair tax since everyone is paying the same rate. Plus no more IRS...just the presence of Geithner and his problems as well as the others who obama nominated prove that even the most "upstart" of individuals try to cheat on their taxes. Its such a flimsy system, simplify it, man. and what is this "non-starter" shit you're talking aboot?
non·start·er (nn-stärtr) n. 1. One that fails to start. 2. An idea, proposal, or candidate with no chance of being accepted or successful http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nonstarter Tax policy is headed back in the more progressive direction. By the way, you know Barry Goldwater supported a 70% top income tax rate, don't you?
Well, I don't know who barry goldwater is. We should have a fair tax rate for all citizens, regardless of income.
Nonsense. The people who economically benefit most from being able to profit off the use of America's economic infrastructure should pay the most to maintain that economic infrastructure.
And they will in a flat tax system. They'll pay more in numbers of dollars versus a cascading taxation system filled with complex loopholes, rules and regulations not even the Treasury Secretary can keep track of.
I told you flat tax is a non-starter. It's a regressive tax that harms the poorest most. Our progressive tax system needs to be more progressive. Higher income tax rates on the top brackets. Like at least back to a 50% top bracket.
Whether or not it hurts the poorest the most is irrelevant to me. Tough shit. We give the poor more than enough handouts and breaks to begin with. I believe in a fair taxation system. I don't care if its a "non-starter" or not, I'm going to continue supporting it. I don't like the idea of a Robin Hood government in which success is penalized and the tax code requires you to hire professionals to do your taxes properly and worry about deductions and if you're single or married. Screw that man, tax everyone the same, its the only fair system.
and a 50% income tax bracket is ridiculous. For someone working, half the day, they're basically working for FREE. That's retarded.
AgentDrazenPetrovic, you apparently haven't had any discussions with WWBRoyD. It is useless. His reasoning is basically like this: """ You can't have a "fair tax" because it isn't progressive. We have to have a progressive tax because it isn't regressive. I'll throw out a random number of 50% for the top tax bracket. Seems like a nice round number. """
And it gets better. Add in payroll tax onto that, if you are self employed, you are bumped up to almost 65%. OUCH.
at least the lower tax brackets actually get to take more of the money they worked for home. progressive tax rates are lame, the more you make, the more of the day you're working and basically not getting paid for.
