TAX FALLACIES

Trying to come to a consensus on tax policy in this country is futile. The article below addresses a number of things I’ve addressed before. The bullshit about the rich paying all the taxes in this country is a storyline perpetuated by the rich and their media cronies. When payroll, property, and sales taxes are taken into account, the middle class in many cases pays a higher percentage of their income in taxes than the rich. There is one thing that you cannot dispute. The rich and powerful individuals and corporations can afford to buy the politicians that write the tax code. What does the chart below tell you? It tells me that over time those who have the money have arranged for loopholes to be created so that tax rates don’t really matter. No rich person or mega-corporation ever pays anywhere near the top tax rate. They have highly paid tax specialists and Washington DC lobbyists to insure they pay the least possible. This is why my 76 year old mother living on only Social Security paid a higher tax rate last year than GE.

I’m not in favor of raising taxes on the rich or anyone for that matter. We have a spending problem, not a tax revenue problem. I would be in favor of eliminating all deductions, credits, loopholes, subsidies and exemptions for every individual and corporation in the country. I have better chance of seeing God today. The tax code is power to politicians. Obama and Romney love the existing tax code. It’s how they dole out favors and paybacks for contributions. The statists in Congress think they can change the world by tweaking the tax code. The existing oligarchy will do nothing but tweak the current code. The number of pages in the tax code will surpass 100,000 by 2016.

In my perfect world, this is what I would do:

• Completely scrap the existing individual and corporate tax code.
• I’d replace it with a national consumption tax that excluded food and clothing.
• I would not tax income or savings.
• I would put a stiff tariff on all foreign imports, even if the company is based in the U.S. If the product is made outside of the U.S. it would be taxed.
• I would jump all over the writer’s #5 idea. I’d put a tax on every High Frequency Trade done by Wall Street. These shysters have screwed America and it’s time to screw them back.

And that’s all I have to say about that.