FairTax

Our current tax system in America is a bloated monstrosity laden down with bureaucracy. Most people would agree that something needs to be done. In my opinion, the plan that would work the best is the FairTax. For those who have not heard about it, it is a plan to eliminate all current federal taxes and replace them with an embedded 23% sales tax on everything we buy. For more information about the details, visit http://www.fairtax.org/. I am not going to get into all the details of the plan, mainly because of time concerns. I just want to hit on a few points about it.

Most politicians are not on board with the FairTax, mainly because it takes a lot of power away from them. In order for it to pass, people are going to have to push their elected officials into it. If you support the FairTax, let your congressman and senators know that you will not be voting for them if they do not support it. The FairTax would do great things for our economy.

Critics of the FairTax generally lie about it to keep people ignorant of the true terms of the bill. They will leave out details, such as the provision that ends all other taxes and simply state that supporters just want a 23% increase on everything you buy. They try to paint a picture that the cost of living will go up by 23%, when this is not true. If you are not paying anymore income or payroll taxes, you will have more money. Also, since corporations will not be paying taxes, their cost of doing business goes down. When their cost of doing business goes down, generally their prices go down or their employee's wages go up. Corporations do not hold wealth, individuals do, and you cannot tax an entity that does not hold wealth.

If the FairTax were to pass, companies that have gone overseas for more favorable tax rates would come back. America would be a mecca for companies looking to cut expenses, and this means more jobs for Americans. More products made in the USA, fewer products made in China.

The FairTax would also force people who do not pay taxes, to pay taxes. Illegal aliens, vacationers from other countries, drug dealers, prostitutes, all of these people would be paying taxes. Over the last year, here in Minnesota, many Canadians have been coming down here to buy stuff, such as cars, because of the strength of Canadian money. These people would all be paying into our tax system. Under the current system, they pay nothing to the federal treasury.

I know what you are saying, poor people cannot afford this. Under the bill, as written, there will be a prebate sent to everyone for the amount of the taxes they would pay on necessities, so poor people still would not be paying any taxes at all.

No tax plan is perfect, but the FairTax is as close as we are going to get. I firmly believe that this is the way to dig ourselves out of the current economic situation and get this great nation back on the right track. The bill faces a lot of hostility with the current political situation, but if the people scream loud enough, and the political hacks in Washington fear for their jobs enough, it could be a possibility.

Liberty Watchdog

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