1. Why do you support the Fair Tax Act, and if you don't, why not?

The biggest problem with the Fair Tax is that voter ignorance would make it close to impossible to pass. It's so easy to pass on bad information about the tax that I'm not sure how any politician could support it. Some of the countries in Eastern Europe have adopted new kinds taxes and had success. Our nation almost needs a catastrophe for reform to take place.

Collecting the inefficient income tax costs our nations billions and we don't collect all the taxes. A national sales tax could collect money more efficiently and end this tax arbitrage. It seems like Democrats would be on board with this because the government could collect more revenue, more efficiently, and the tax could be implemented progressively.

2. Assuming the current tax system isn't perfect how would you fix it?

I don't think it can be fixed. Given the way our government operates the tax code will always be complicated.

Um, well, no he didn't:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/bo...ms_in_boca.html


FairTax Fairy Tales


In a lengthy exchange with McCain and moderator Russert, Huckabee promised that the FairTax would do everything short of taking out your trash. We decided to settle for examining a few of the highlights:

Huckabee: It actually untaxes the poor, untaxes the elderly. It makes sure that we don't end up paying taxes on groceries and medicine and the basic necessities of life. And for each third of the economy, there is a benefit, about a 14 percent benefit for those at the bottom; those in the middle, about a 7 percent; even those at the very top end of the economy end up with about a 5 percent benefit. …
Everybody gets in the economy – no more underground economy. Drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps, gamblers, non-Republicans – (laughter) – all of those people out there will be paying taxes. Nobody's working under the table.

As we wrote earlier, those earning less than about $25,000 per year will be better off under the FairTax. But it’s not necessarily true that the plan would untax the elderly. Retirees who are living on money they have saved – money that was taxed when they earned it – will still have to pay the consumption tax, meaning that, in effect, many seniors will be taxed twice.

Moreover, Huckabee's claim that everyone will pay less is a fantasy. The FairTax claims to be revenue neutral. That means that it has to collect the same $2.4 trillion that the current system collects. And remember that the FairTax replaces corporate income and payroll taxes. That means that individuals have to pony up to replace those in addition to replacing the sums collected via personal income and payroll taxes. So Huckabee is suggesting that the FairTax will generate exactly the same revenue while collecting nothing from corporations and still costing everyone less than they are currently paying. We certainly hope Huckabee has a barrel of magic pixie dust buried somewhere.

And Huckabee’s suggestion that the FairTax will end the underground economy is highly unlikely. It’s true that pimps and drug dealers will now be taxed when they spend their earnings. But will they really charge johns and junkies sales tax on their purchases? Moreover, those johns and junkies are no longer paying any income taxes on the money that they use to buy drugs or sex. Under the current system, pimps pay no income taxes but johns do. Under the FairTax, pimps pay a consumption tax but johns don’t. It’s a better deal for the person buying the sex, drugs or other illicit purchase, and a worse deal for the person selling it.

In fact, far from ending the underground economy, there is a real possibility that the FairTax will feed it growth hormones. Bruce Bartlett, who worked in both the Reagan and first Bush administrations, writes that "Under the FairTax, every time you purchase a service, you would probably get two prices — one you can pay with a check or credit card that includes the FairTax and one you can pay in cash and save 23 percent. Because there would no longer be any audits of income, since the IRS would have been abolished, tracing such tax evasion would be extremely difficult."

There were plenty of other tempting targets in this little exchange, but we’ve already bagged our quota.


Also Scubatim- on a subject you have been in a heated debate about- about revenue going up and all that, due to tax cuts yadda yadda. I had heard that before as well- but had no idea as to the source. You only provided op-ed pieces, with no real economic science journals quoted. So, I have been trying to research that as well, and though, I did not find anything to disprove OR prove your point (I have to say, Johnfromcleveland is clearly educated in economics, while you and I are not- unless you count my micro-economics of running a couple succesful businesses in my time - I found this by cross checking HIS facts on economics- he knows his stuff well enough that it is hard for me to find creditable sources to refute his points )

Anyway- I found this gem on tax cuts and claims about income actually FALLING during those cuts:

http://www.factcheck.org/republican_econom...on_but_our.html

http://www.factcheck.org/census_says_incom...n_but_some.html

Did the Bush tax cuts make up for income lost to the recession? No - but watch out for Republicans who claim it did.
Summary
In September the Census Bureau issued its annual figures on income and poverty, and to nobody's surprise poverty rose and U.S. median income went down in 2002 as a result of the economic downturn. Furthermore, Census said that its official measure of after-tax income also went down by nearly a full percentage point, despite lowered federal income-tax rates.
On the same day, however, the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee issued a news release claiming that after-tax income went up - and citing Census figures. What the release did not say is that the numbers being quoted were not the official Census measure of after-tax income, but an obscure, unpublished "experimental" measure that (among other things) does not take account of income from capital gains. The JEC Republicans had even issued a different release earlier in the day, saying that after-tax income was down, and laying blame on the Clinton administration.


Scubatim- beware of the politician making glowing comments on "economic" facts- they are usually lying. Unless you are personally getting rich. Then they may be telling the truth. But who cares? Your rich!