On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:07:11 -0400, Chuck Harris wrote:
John Larkin wrote:

Income tax makes no sense. There should be only one tax, on
consumption, and it should be fully visible, as sales taxes are in the
US, not hidden like VAT.

Agreed, but the last thing the government would want is for you to be
constantly reminded of how far they have their hand into your pocket.

Imagine that instead of the 5 to 7% that most of us pay in state sales/use
tax that it was, say, 29% I think that might be a bit of a shocker.

Yeah, but not having 30-40% of your paycheck stolen right off the top
should soften that blow a little bit. ;-)

And, as you seem to note at least people would have a better idea of how
much the governemnt is taking and wasting.

Also, taxes on consumption are by nature highly regressive. The poor
by pay a greater proportion of their income to buy consumables (like food,
clothes, transportation and shelter) than do the rich.... I'm not saying
that is necessarily a bad thing... but I think it would cause a revolution.

Well, you don't tax grocery store food or medical supplies, for one thing.
Restaurant food, take-out pizza, convenience store food, all that's
taxable because they're luxuries.

And if you go to Kmart and buy a $5.00 pair of jeans, you pay $0.50 tax;
you go to Saks and buy a $250.00 pair of jeans, you pay $25.00 tax.

What does "regressive" mean anyway? If there's a 10% sales tax, then
the guy who buys a $2.00 toilet brush pays .20 tax, and the guy who
buys a $2,000,000.00 yacht pays $200,000.00 tax. The more you play,
the more you pay. That's about as close to "fair" as any system based
on institutionalized theft could possibly be.

The real problem is that there's just too damn much government. And
there's a very good likelihood that the ratification of the income tax
amendment signed the death warrant for America as the Founding Fathers
intended Her to be.

Sigh.
Rich