corrupting the FairTax

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Permalink Reply by Pat Conroy on March 16, 2009 at 12:24am

Nothing will prevent politicians from corrupting the FairTax. However, it will be much more difficult to corrupt the FairTax than it is to corrupt the current system. The reason: The FairTax is more transparent than the income tax. For example, with the income tax, it is easy for a lobbyist to get a law passed to exempt some obscure special interst (e.g., add a qualified metal roof to your house and you get a tax credit).

There is nothing to keep the politicians from exempting qualified metal roofs from the FairTax, but it will be much more apparent. Also, if they pass too many exemptions, they will have to raise the rate. Think about how difficult it is to raise the sales tax rate in your state.

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Permalink Reply by Eric on March 16, 2009 at 12:29am

They can still change it over time, but with the transparency of the FT, everyone would notice. It's not like changing a tax break on page 9,485 of a 68,000 page tax code like under the current system. Plus, any income componet would not be on the table as the 16th ammendment would be abolished and there would be no structure to monitor income. All they could do would be to raise the rate, and then people would start asking questions as to why they are doing so. A transparent tax system is a politician's worst nightmare.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Adams McLean on March 17, 2009 at 4:23pm

Only through vigilance can we maintain a republic.

The Independence Caucus at www.ourcaucus.com is working to take seats away from politicians funded by lobbyists. They have a great strategy which I am also supporting to bring our country back to our constitution. Please view their videos and sign up. They support FairTax reform (altho' they currently call it a National Sales Tax, but describe the FairTax.)

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Permalink Reply by Carol Adams McLean on March 17, 2009 at 5:00pm

How bout a congress full are people who aren't funded 90% by lobbyist (both sides of the aisle).

FairTax is just the gateway legislation by reducing special interest money. The plan of the Independence caucus is to oust politicians who continue to accept it, as they did in UT.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Wenrich on March 18, 2009 at 4:49am

Our state had a couple of tax free days where you wouldn't pay sales tax on new computers. It really drove sales pretty high. It gave a boost to those stores for that short time span.

An enterprising lobbyist could get their goods or services exempted. They would enjoy a greater share of market, since their product would be lower in price. It could also be used for social engineering. Our state used the computer tax holiday as a means of getting more computers into homes.

I don't see anything to prevent this, unless they put it into the bill. I doubt they will. It would also be nice to tie an exemption to a reduction in the prebate. That would ice it right away.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Adams McLean on March 18, 2009 at 7:03am

This is exactly what happens in our current situation and why I'm supporting the Independence Caucus. You can't legislate morality and lobbyist work to benefit their clients thru tax loopholes and legislation. The Ind. Caucus' goal is to get money out of politics in a way that will have fewer loopholes. The FairTax makes taxation transparent so legislative abuse is less likely

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Permalink Reply by Randy Stone on March 18, 2009 at 7:26am

Remember, there will be NO TAX FILING, so where could they get any credits? I see the only way is to push for exemptions of items/services and that would be an obvious sign to all and would also be hard to pass. You pay tax right when you pay for your goods and services, again transparent of what is going on.
A major plus to the FAIR TAX is that the the deductions and credits go away. You are in control for once. If they try to raise the rate, it would be very hard since it is so obvious to all and not hidden like many things are now.
REMEMBER, there will be no more tax filing and therefore no way to give tax credits or deductions.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Adams McLean on March 18, 2009 at 8:08am

This is the initial draw for the individual, but I think when we promote the fact that FairTax will work to give us back our voice in govt, we appeal to an even broader base. I attended our county GOP convention a few weeks ago.... lots of flat taxers there and people who didn't know the difference (even tho' these plans are light years apart). Most rank and file prefer FairTax when they understand that the Flat Tax protects the status quo money relationship in DC by keeping the door open for lobbyist to regain entry.

Tax advantages are not the only loop hole I'm talking about. The McCann/Feingold Act was passed to "get the money out of politics" The reality is that the money in politics doubled as lobbyists found the loopholes in that act. All legislation, not just tax legislation is subject to loopholes.

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