To listen to the podcast I'm discussing you can download the mp3 here.
My thoughts on Dan Carlin's Common Sense podcast on the faith our leaders have in their ideologies. Dan discusses how the US isn't a true democracy but a republic (and that's a good thing). He also discusses how we need to find a way to balance between equality and freedom. Often the more freedom the less equality but the more equality the lesser the freedom.
I struggle to determine what camp but end up deciding I don't belong in any camp? There will always be an unintended consequences to our laws and policies so maybe we should just err on the side of freedom. I conclude there are no bad systems, just bad people. So then how do we change people? Some say education but what happens when education is absent of absolute truth or is based on relativistic morals?
Fun fact, we had the highest top marginal tax rate (90%) under a Republican president (Eisenhower). Often it seems Capitalism results in exploitation of the workers whereas Socialism results in exploitation of the masses to get the "freebies". This is the great battle between the Reds and Blues. But the question I often wonder about is do our government programs harden peoples hearts?
I like the fair tax or Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan due to its simplicity and "fairness" but struggle with the effective tax rate it creates on the lower income.
"The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. The expense of government to the individuals of a great nation is like the expense of management to the joint tenants of a great estate, who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective interests in the estate. In the observation or neglect of this maxim consists what is called the equality or inequality of taxation." -Adam Smith (Father of Capitalism)
Where's the pragmatic party calling for the best of the ideologies? And more importantly, how do we get to it? My answer; lets talk more and expose ourselves to alternatives.
2 comments:
Like your video talking in a car, but before you spread bullshit, learn what you are talking about.
Then spread all the lies you want.
Fairtax and 999 are simple? Really? Well did you know Herman dropped Fairtax because of sworn testimony to Congress exposed Fairtax as the fraud it is - ? Go see the testimony to House Ways Means Committee about Fairtax fraud.
You might have noticed about that time Fairtax leadership just melted. They had these big leaders till right about then, summer of 11, and all of a sudden, Huckabee, Cain, FOX news, Boortz, either backed away or came up with excuses for no longer pushing it.
WHy? Because of what's actually in Fairtax legislation.
Mostly, because Fairtax has massive taxes on city county and states, and is only a "personal retail sales tax" for 18% of revenue. Yes, they have a personal retail sales tax, that you pay at the store, with a receipt, but the largest part of Fairtax tax is not that way.
They tax the city of Dallas for all it's operating costs, did you know that? All wages, pensions, and benefit expenditures, are taxed. So if Dallas has 100 million in wages and pensions, they have to pay the fed gov 23 million in taxes. IF they operate a court system -- every dime of that operating expense, they have to pay a 23% tax on.
Did you know that? Hell no.
Did you know all government "investments" in roads, bridges, building projects, are taxed, in ADVANCE? Oh you didn't know that?
No kidding? It's in the fine print.
This was all exposed by President Bush Tax advisory Panel, and by the sworn testimony. Go see it yourself.
And the Tax Advisory Panel didn't do anything difficult -- they just read the damn fine print closely. They weren't fooled by the double talk. Their report, though polite and academic, eviscerated the bullshit.
So learn what Fairtax actually taxes, then sell people on it, tell us how simple and fair it is AFTER you know what you are talking about
http://fairtaxgoofy.blogspot.com/
The purpose of my blog is to reflect on my thoughts on the various things in life. I'm not always right and am constantly changing my mind when presented with better ideas or factual information.
I appreciate the comments. I probably should have qualified my statements with "I like the idea" of the fairtax and/or 999 plan due to the simple idea of applying the tax at the transaction. I confess this was the extent of my understanding. I appreciate you taking the time to point out its flaws as I confess I have not read the details of any bills (as to my knowledge no bills regarding tax reform have seriously been considered).
I appreciate the link and hope it will give me some alternatives. I have no desire to debate details until I get past the major philosophical high level ideas. That's why I included the Adam Smith quote due to my concern over the "effective tax rate" a "fair tax" would impose and I also mentioned in my video that I'm for a progressive tax.
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