On his trip to Houston this week Fred Thompson was asked if he were President and the house and senate approved the fair tax would he sign it, Thompson replied "absolutely". This is good news for advocates of the fair tax; most voters agree that we need to overhaul the tax code. I will say that I haven't' studied their proposal in detail but removing all current taxation (federal) and replacing it with a consumption based tax seems logical. It actually addresses the thing that liberals claim they want which is the rich to pay their fair share. They don't really because the rich don't pay taxes in general because we currently tax income, not wealth. Most libs don't understand the difference, the rich ones do, but most libs aren't rich.
At any rate it is good to see that Fred supports an overhaul of the tax system, the other two top tier candidates (Rudy & Romney) support the status quo, or support raising taxes. Fred doesn't seem afraid to go out there and answer questions and stake a position on something that is controversial. This is good, it doesn't make him look like he needs to get a committee to tell him what to say like Rudy and Romney.
I am not necessarily opposed to the "Fair Tax" (assuming that it basically menas a national sales tax). However, I would want a Constitutional Amendment in place to forbid the government from imposing any other form of taxation, such as taxes on income, estates, capital gains, interest, dividends, etc.
Posted by: Isophorone | July 29, 2007 at 06:36 PM
Glad to hear that. I am just a little concerned with what else Fred supports.
Posted by: Kilo | July 29, 2007 at 08:11 PM
ISOPHORONE: I share your sentiment but I think you are advocating a repeal of the 16th Amendment which bypassed Art 1, Sec. 9 of the U.S. Constitution (No Capitation, or other direct, Tax...) which prohibited the federal government from imposing direct taxation.
The 16th Amendment was enacted in 1913 and was promoted on the understanding that only the rich would be liable for any subsequent taxes levied on income.
Nearly one-hundred years later I'm pleased to announce that the sheer majority of Americans are rich since we are paying the federal income tax. Note that this also includes numbskulls believing they are not paying the federal income tax because they "got money back" on account of their inability to understand withholding.
Posted by: 200 Grande | July 30, 2007 at 05:24 PM
I am thrilled that Fred would support the fair tax if it passed both the House and Senate. The actual difficulty lies in passing the fair tax through the House and Senate.
Can we take this as meaning Fred will also go to bat in an effort to convince the House and Senate to pass the fair tax as part of his legislative initiatives?
It looks like Fred conditionally supports an overhaul of the tax system IF everyone else supports it. I guess this is what passes for leadership amongst Republicans desperate for an alternative to the other candidates.
Posted by: 200 Grande | July 30, 2007 at 05:34 PM
The Fair Tax would kill the internet. It would make it where every internet site would have to collect sales tax. Right now you can purchase all day long on the internet at very cheap prices. You can do this because the internet allows small businesses to compete will big box retailers. The small businesses would never have a chance to start a business without the internet. I own a business online and if the fair tax is passed Im shutting my site down.
Posted by: Jared | August 06, 2007 at 07:24 AM