Armey on Tax Relief
January 9th, 2008 by Peter SudermanFreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey has another article today, this one in USA Today. The topic? Why Americans need tax relief. Here’s a starter:
Americans today are still struggling with record levels of taxation. This year, the tax burden hit a 25-year high. Polls indicate that overwhelming majorities think taxes are too steep and the system by which we pay them too complex. Two-thirds believe that the death tax should be eliminated. Only 10% say they would be willing to accept a tax hike big enough to eliminate the deficit.
The plain and simple fact is that Americans need tax relief.
Needless to say, I concur. Politicians and pundits often fret about cutting taxes, arguing that the deficit makes tax cuts irresponsible. But the deficit has been in steep decline for years, and right now, even with the Bush tax cuts in place, the Congressional Budget Office projects that we’re on track to balance the budget and even see a surplus. I’ll let the CBO tell it themselves [PDF]:
Under the assumptions that govern CBO’s baseline projections, the budget would essentially be balanced in 2011 and then would show surpluses of about 1 percent of GDP each year through 2017 (the end of the current 10-year projection period).
January 9th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Re: Tax relief
While neither agreeing or disagreeing that taxes are too high, I strongly disagree with irresponsible solutiions to the “problem”!
1) During a time of deficit spending, it is irresponsible to advocate cutiing taxes without a corresponding or geater cut in spending.
2) It is irresponsible to cut specific taxes without recgard to the whole taxation system. If you include all taxes (property, sales, property, etc), Americans pay a flat tax now. (I’ll provide references if you wish.) It is wrong to eliminate a tax that is progressive (e.g. the estate tax) without reducing a regressive tax (e.g. sales or property).
Proposals for “tax reform” always seem to call for eliminating or modifying a single tax. I usually find that they don’t reduce the tax burden, but merely shift it to the less affluent.
I could accept a federal flat tax with no exemptions. but only if states and municipalities dropped sales and property taxes. and instead received a percentage of the federal tax.
How do find politicians that, instead of kowtowing to a few interest groups, will change the system?
January 10th, 2008 at 1:48 am
The “death tax” (estate tax)…just let the ultra-rich class keep hold of their overwhelming wealth and pass it on to a select few people…yea, that sounds fair to the rest of us. We’re going to again balance the federal budget by doing what was done in the 90s…raise taxes on the rich and cut wasteful spending…not on tax increases alone…no one is suggesting that except people that are against all taxes, period.
This anti-tax baloney is really just an end-run around trying to stifle govt. from getting the spending that it needs to exist. You “conservatives” can’t “reduce the size of govt.” openly…so you just try the back door. It never works…
“Supply side” ecomonics has failed twice now in the last 30 years…once under a Dem. Congress and once under a GOP Congress…the jig is up on that old, tired, falied policy.
January 12th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Greetings, Tax reform is a very interesting issue and out of serendipity I found freedom talks when searching for “flat tax” information.
A few things I would like to point out. In the home page for freedom talks it is said that taxes are at an all time high in the US. That line per se is an incorrect statement if not an outright lie. Marginal rates in the 50’s were substantially higher for income taxes than we have right now.
Also, I find the flat tax calculator, and the acompanying information misleading about the true nature of the flat tax proposed by freedom talks. Nowhere to be seen is a disclaimer that the flat rate does not apply to capital gains and dividends which effectivly excludes all the top earners in this country. How can freedom talks speak of fairness when a hard working individual pays taxes, while a very rich one extractring most of his income through capital gains and dividends does not pay a dime ?
I am all for a fair tax system, I propose a true flat tax of 25% without any exceptions for all the range of earners for all types of income. Lets see how that far such a fair system will go.