Fairtax Speech Part 1

Comment

Comment by Steve Curtis on July 10, 2010 at 9:14am

Nice job. I can see the weather was "beating up on you" pretty good. Keep up the good work.

Comment by Daniel Lawson on July 7, 2010 at 7:58pm

Joe,
The current Income and payroll taxes are in fact a direct taxation which is exactly what the founding fathers warned us against. The FairTax is not elimination of taxes, it is a simple, easy, and fair method of "Collecting" the taxes needed for federal government operations. We are not talking about Tax Cuts or Spending Cuts here. Just a replacement of the method used to collect taxes.

It is a signal advantage of taxes on articles of consumption, that they contain in their own nature a security against excess. They prescribe their own limit; which cannot be exceeded without defeating the end proposed, that is, an extension of the revenue. When applied to this object, the saying is as just as it is witty, that, "in political arithmetic, two and two do not always make four." If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds. This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural limitation of the power of imposing them. Alexander Hamilton The Federalist No. 21

The FairTax would eliminate the Cost for individuals and businesses from complying with the 70,000+ pages of the income tax code.

The FairTax repeals all income taxes and payroll taxes, specifically:
• The individual income tax (including capital gains taxes and the alternative minimum tax)
• All individual and employer payroll taxes including Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes
• The corporate income tax
• The self-employment tax (a self-employed person pays both the individual and the employer portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes)
• The estate and gift tax

All goods produced in the US contain the cost of taxes embedded within those goods. If those costs are eliminated the prices will drop based on the market. No manufacturer would long survive in the market place if they tried to keep their prices at the same level prior to the elimination of those costs.

Right now, approximately 47% of the country does not pay Income Taxes. However, from dollar $1 up to $97,500 EVERYONE pays payroll taxes 7.65 Percent and the Employer pays 7.65 percent. Reports show that most federal taxes collected are payroll taxes.

By replacing the collection method with the FairTax, All federal taxes are collected when money is spent, not when it is earned. By "Broadening" the tax base to include everyone who spends money at the retail level on all NEW items and services, everyone (including the estimated 20 million illegal aliens, drug dealers, pimps & prostitutes, and 40 million tourists) will be paying their share of federal taxes.

Through the FairTax "Prebate" which is equivalent to the HHS poverty level EVERY Household will receive enough funds to cover the taxes on the necessities of life such as food, medical, clothing, etc. With this prebate in place even those that are making minimum wages will be able to live above the poverty level. In other-words, anyone with any job will no longer be in poverty.
And here is a side benefit of the prebate - illegal aliens do not get one unless they apply for citizenship. And if they don't properly become citizens they are helping to pay for the Federal and state benefits they are obtaining illegally.

Finally, here is the MONEY Point. Consider your own paycheck stub, Look at it carefully and consider how much is taken out in Federal taxes (keep in mind that you don't even see all of the taxes in your paycheck, a good portion is paid by your employer). By replacing the tax collection methods with the FairTax you now have control over when and where you pay your taxes, if you decide to purchase only used items from now on, the only taxes you will pay are for your Food and Utilities (and your prebate will cover those) When you purchase something at the store, you will see the full Tax amount right t

Comment by chiefcook on June 23, 2010 at 1:27pm

Joe,
Your comment "Your plan of a “Fair Tax” would actually be a double tax, since we’re already paying the corporate taxes indirectly as corporations include their taxes in the price structure of goods and services provided" is incorrect. The Fair Tax only applies to NEW GOODS and SERVICES at the RETAIL level. There is NO TAXES on business to business transactions. There will only be a one time tax on anything. When the 16th amendment is repealed there will be no corporate income tax.

There are no exemptions or loop holes in the Fair Tax (as written) for Congress to split open. The same rate of tax apples to everyone, therefore Congress would have to change the rate on all new goods and services.

If you look further into the Fair Tax, you will see that it already includes what you want in the Bill. We look forward to your support.

Comment by Joe Buonassissi on June 23, 2010 at 10:57am

The Fair Tax is not a good idea, nor is it what the Founding Fathers had in mind. We should not be giving Congress any authority to tax, apart from apportionment—all tax payers paying the same amount. If all citizens pay the same amount, it would eliminate class wars and will be very difficult to Congress to get approval for individual income taxes.

Congress also can generate income from tariffs and corporate taxes. Other than that, we are foolish if we give politicians any opportunity to tax directly. We should repeal the 16th Amendment and only allow corporate federal taxes (which all consumers pay in the form of higher prices). Your plan of a “Fair Tax” would actually be a double tax, since we’re already paying the corporate taxes indirectly as corporations include their taxes in the price structure of goods and services provided.

You know as well as I do that the minute you open up even a tiny opportunity for taxes, Congress will split it wide open. That’s how we got where we are. If we allow the government to place a tax on all items purchased (a form of a VAT tax), they will just keep ratcheting up the percentage until we’re right back in the same mess we’re currently in.

The only way to shrink the government is to shrink their spending power. Pass a constitutional amendment requiring an annual balanced budget and drastically reduce Congress’ ability to confiscate the income of its citizens.

If you move in this direction, you can count on my support.

Regards,

Joe