Ideas and opinions on current events from a workingclass perspective.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Gov. Huckabee on the Fair Tax
Mike Huckabee supports the Fair Tax, a plan that would eliminate the burgeoning "underground economy" and finally get the truly wealthy to pay something close to their "fair share."
"...finally get the truly wealthy to pay something close to their "fair share."
jmk, i'm surprised at you. taxes are levied on earnings. the truly wealthy - or any of us for that matter - pay according to what we earn. the wealthy (defined as those making more than $200k) make up less than 3% of our population and yet they pay more than half of all income taxes collected in this country. how is that NOT paying their fair share?
"the truly wealthy - or any of us for that matter - pay according to what we earn." (Heidianne) < < No, I have to say that that's absolutely untrue Heidianne. You're own stat shows how unworkable our current system is. Something's wrong when (1) the top 3% of income earners pay more than half all income taxes and (2) there's really something wrong when we define "the rich," as the highest income earners - the TRULY WEALTHY (the Kennedy's Trump's, Bloomber's, Heinz-Kerry's, etc) DO NOT rely on income as a major source of their wealth!
Taxing income/productivity is the worst way to raise revenues.
Not only does it punish productivity, as it punishes highly skilled/highly valued citizens (high income earners) and allows the truly wealthy (almost 2% of Americans DO NOT rely on income for wealth) to skate. It also allows those engaged in the underground economy to skate by without paying ANY taxes...at least the truly wealthy, like Tereza Heinz-Kerry and Tom Keane Jr. pay as much as 5% of their income in taxes....that's what Tereza Heinz-Kerry admitted to paying back in 2004.
No, our current tax system is demonstrably broken.
Almost a 20% of Americans pay no income taxes at all, earning below the $32,000/year mark, while the top 50% of income earners pay a whopping 90% of all income taxes!
That's not right.
That's not close to being a fair system.
We can do better and the Fair Tax really is one way we could do better.
I'm certain that if you consider these things you'll probably come to agree.
Makes a lot of sense, J. Does this mean you'll vote for Huckabee, or are there other issues that are more important to ou?
He does look more impressive each day this campaing grinds on, though. His personality alone makes him a standout. I'll be paying closer attention to him, even though I'm leaning toward Rudi at the moment.
Mick, ironically enough, I remain a regiostered Democrat. I call myself a "Zell Miller Democrat," and want very much for workingclass Conservatives to ultimately take back the Democratic Party.
I doubt that Huckerbee will end up the GOP nominee, but it's nice to see Rudy and Romney get shucken up a bit. I don't think a coronation is good for either Party.
Rudy's been hurt ironically enough, by the success of the Bush administration's anti-terror policies - anti-terror is his trump card.
Beyond that, Rudy's as personality-challenged as Hillary is. BOTH are annoying and very flawed people. Rudy's "cutesy" phone call while addressing a skeptical NRA audience ("Love ya too") is an example of his, all too often, "dufus-judgment." He really can be a complete nitwit.
That's why I like Romney a little more - better personality, slicker packaging and less prone to melt down.
I'd take Rudy over Hillary, Obama or Edwards, but head-to-head, I'd personally take Romney, even Huckerbee over Rudy at this juncture. I think the other two can surround themselves with good people on dealing with terrorism and listen to the military, while Rudy can't "learn" a personality like Romney's or a sense of humor like Huckerbee's.
"...finally get the truly wealthy to pay something close to their "fair share."
ReplyDeletejmk, i'm surprised at you. taxes are levied on earnings. the truly wealthy - or any of us for that matter - pay according to what we earn. the wealthy (defined as those making more than $200k) make up less than 3% of our population and yet they pay more than half of all income taxes collected in this country. how is that NOT paying their fair share?
"the truly wealthy - or any of us for that matter - pay according to what we earn." (Heidianne)
ReplyDelete<
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No, I have to say that that's absolutely untrue Heidianne. You're own stat shows how unworkable our current system is. Something's wrong when (1) the top 3% of income earners pay more than half all income taxes and (2) there's really something wrong when we define "the rich," as the highest income earners - the TRULY WEALTHY (the Kennedy's Trump's, Bloomber's, Heinz-Kerry's, etc) DO NOT rely on income as a major source of their wealth!
Taxing income/productivity is the worst way to raise revenues.
Not only does it punish productivity, as it punishes highly skilled/highly valued citizens (high income earners) and allows the truly wealthy (almost 2% of Americans DO NOT rely on income for wealth) to skate. It also allows those engaged in the underground economy to skate by without paying ANY taxes...at least the truly wealthy, like Tereza Heinz-Kerry and Tom Keane Jr. pay as much as 5% of their income in taxes....that's what Tereza Heinz-Kerry admitted to paying back in 2004.
No, our current tax system is demonstrably broken.
Almost a 20% of Americans pay no income taxes at all, earning below the $32,000/year mark, while the top 50% of income earners pay a whopping 90% of all income taxes!
That's not right.
That's not close to being a fair system.
We can do better and the Fair Tax really is one way we could do better.
I'm certain that if you consider these things you'll probably come to agree.
Makes a lot of sense, J. Does this mean you'll vote for Huckabee, or are there other issues that are more important to ou?
ReplyDeleteHe does look more impressive each day this campaing grinds on, though. His personality alone makes him a standout. I'll be paying closer attention to him, even though I'm leaning toward Rudi at the moment.
Mick, ironically enough, I remain a regiostered Democrat. I call myself a "Zell Miller Democrat," and want very much for workingclass Conservatives to ultimately take back the Democratic Party.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that Huckerbee will end up the GOP nominee, but it's nice to see Rudy and Romney get shucken up a bit. I don't think a coronation is good for either Party.
Rudy's been hurt ironically enough, by the success of the Bush administration's anti-terror policies - anti-terror is his trump card.
Beyond that, Rudy's as personality-challenged as Hillary is. BOTH are annoying and very flawed people. Rudy's "cutesy" phone call while addressing a skeptical NRA audience ("Love ya too") is an example of his, all too often, "dufus-judgment." He really can be a complete nitwit.
That's why I like Romney a little more - better personality, slicker packaging and less prone to melt down.
I'd take Rudy over Hillary, Obama or Edwards, but head-to-head, I'd personally take Romney, even Huckerbee over Rudy at this juncture. I think the other two can surround themselves with good people on dealing with terrorism and listen to the military, while Rudy can't "learn" a personality like Romney's or a sense of humor like Huckerbee's.
Just my thoughts on the matter.