There is not much the two parties in Washington can agree upon. This has served to slow Congress down. The so-called super committee passed its deadline without reaching a resolution and the major sticking point between the two sides was the issue of tax rates. Last week we saw how much time is wasted in the repetitious debate on tax rates. This frustrating aspect to our current situation can be removed instantly by the passage of the FairTax. In addition to solving many of the problems facing our country today the FairTax provides a breath of fresh air to our divisive politics by instituting policies both parties value.
For instance, to answer the issues raised by the left the FairTax ensures protection for the poor better than our current system ever could. It also guarantees that wealth cannot be hidden or escape taxation like the sieve our current code is. While it is true that close to the bottom 50% of the income brackets in this country do not pay income taxes there are plenty of other insidious methods employed by our government to collect taxes without being visibly noticeable or voluntary. The most regressive aspect of our current tax code are the payroll taxes. By eliminating these taxes and the income tax employees could finally take home their entire paycheck. The FairTax also goes the extra step to ensure that the poorest of the poor are not taken advantage of in a system designed on a sales tax. The advent and purpose of the prebate answers this concern specifically. By providing a prebate on the sales tax cost on basic goods and services up to the poverty level the FairTax ensures that the unfortunate are not at a disadvantage. The FairTax also removes all loopholes and exemptions present in our convoluted code. This means there are no ways to hide from or dodge this tax. For example, if a millionaire decides to buy a yacht, it would not matter which state he decides to dock it, he will pay the FairTax at the point of sale.
Even if you belong to a libertarian leaning party the FairTax can answer your wants. Our current tax atmosphere is a choking one. Your money is taken even before you see it in your paycheck, it is taken as it is spent, as it is invested, it is tracked when given to charity, and taxed again when passed on. The same dollars cannot escape taxation on multiple occasions. The FairTax removes these machinations in favor of a predictable one-time tax. This tax does not apply to any used goods providing for avenues that do not require government oversight of any kind. Within an atmosphere of ever encroaching government controls this is a step in the right direction.
The FairTax also answers the needs of the right. The most striking is the elimination of the IRS. Removal of this entity greatly decreases the control that government has on the individual and reduces the size and spending of government. This also ensures an equal and fair distribution of taxes without trying to equally distribute wealth. The Herman Cain 9-9-9 plan and Rick Perry’s flat tax plan seek to do the same by less effective measures. The plans of all Republican candidates at the moment seek to do this and remove loopholes or special interest tax breaks while the FairTax does all of this without bogging down the debate with specifics in the tax code. The FairTax completely removes our current code which removes the necessity to argue over specifics in a 70,000+ page tax code. Targeting particular egregious examples will make our system work better however it is fighting a losing battle. One could spend a tremendous amount of political capital fighting over such a large tax code and what few that have the nerve to do so would be ignoring other pressing concerns. The FairTax provides an easy fix that is wrapped neatly in a 131 page bill that exceeds even the highest aspirations of the current Republican field.
There are also facets to the FairTax that do more than answer political party concerns. The upward mobility our country provides is jealously guarded by both political parties. One can debate the effectiveness of the measures used by both sides to ensure it but it is true that both seek to see that our country remains unique in this regard. The FairTax allows for this in a way that both sides can come together on. There is no tax on tuition for education. The FairTax sees education as it is, an investment. This investment in human capital is critically important for the future of our economy. This is an aspect of the bill that both Republicans and Democrats could definitely agree upon. The bill as a whole could make college more affordable for all families, by removing the income tax, payroll taxes and any tax on tuition. The FairTax is the only tax bill that makes this distinctive stance.
It seems unlikely in a political environment marked by division and inaction that a sweeping idea could be seriously discussed much less passed. The FairTax answers the needs voiced by both parties in the current tax debates. If there is a bill that should be discussed at such a time it is H.R. 25. Be sure to call your Congressman regardless of party and ask them to support the bill that could remove the need for a perennial tax debate so that we can focus on some bigger problems.
