DISQUS

Perhaps you should keep reading. I'm fairly certain the British never taxed American whiskey. The first tax on whiskey was passed in 1971 by the United States Congress after the urging of Alexander Hamilton. It was a perfect example of people in power manipulating the system so that the nation's taxation falls mainly on the poor or working class.
Just like the powerful in Washington have manipulated the income tax so that it is bourne the heaviest by the poor and working class.
It is time we expose the propoganda in our tax tables that claim it is progressive and fight for a complete change to a consumption tax. The FairTax is a great place to start.

In order for them to lower the rate for anything, it will by default raise the rate for everything else for everyone else in a very visible way.  Currently, something can be slipped in and there is no visible signs that some ceiling fan company just got a huge tax break.  But, try to exempt them from the sales tax and we have just either reduced the revenue or we have to make everyone else pay a little bit more for every purchase that isn't a ceiling fan.David

Frank has already addressed your question regarding how someone will notice the FairTax and therefore the amount the government costs them.  Written into the language of the proposed legislation is a requirement that the amount of the tax must be written onto the receipt for every transaction.  Of course that won't be a perfect fix, but it will make a significant portion of Americans realize how much our government is costing us.  In fact, even people who will be completely untaxed by the prebate will still see the cost of government at every purchase and may begin to take note. David

Hello Rogel, I’m glad that you are seriously looking at the proposal now.  Since I still haven't figured out how to split posts into paragraphs, I'll answer each of your two questions in separate posts.  Your first question is in regards to exempting certain items from the FairTax in order to manipulate behavior.  Your implied question is "won't we quickly have a nightmare scenario of every lobbyist in Washington trying to get things exempted from the FairTax"?  One of my favorite examples is someone demanding to know why she has to pay the same tax for her Bible that her neighbor pays for his pornography.  The answer is "Because it is fair".  In part, you are thinking that way because of the twisted system we have grown to know and love.  There are no exemptions under the FairTax.  I am not at all opposed to congress trying to make some purchases more attractive than others, but I am opposed to having those manipulations done in the tax code where they apply only to the 30% of Americans who itemize their taxes.  If congress wants to manipulate people into purchasing more hybrids, they can more efficiently do so with a rebate program.  And it is far easier to just leave things in the tax code even after they have outlived their usefulness than it is to remove them.  I say let every rebate program stand or fall on its own merits and sunset after a set time unless specifically renewed.   DavidN@TampaBayFairTax.org

Eliminating taxes on a single corporation is indeed a handout and there are tens of thousands of examples in the current tax code that I would like to see revoked.  However, eliminating taxes on all corporations across the board will have the dual effect of removing the cost of those taxes from the prices we have to pay for stuff and bringing the price of American made goods exported from this country closer to the price of the goods produced elsewhere.    ---David

I said nothing about the current administration being Libertarian nor that many Republicans are Libertarians.  What I meant to say is that the only way for a Libertarian (i.e. Ron Paul) to be elected to congress is by putting an (R) after his name.DavidN@TampaBayFairTax.org

Rogel, I can tell by your writing that you agree with many of the goals of the FairTax proposal.  Unfortunately, Frank and I are not doing a great job of presenting how those goals will be met with the FairTax.  I suggest you read the thumbnail sketch I mentioned above as they have outlined it far better than we can in this forum (a forum in which I can't even figure out how to divide paragraphs[grin]).   Please pardon my flaws in communication and don't hold it against the FairTax proposal.  Americans For Fair Taxation have put millions of dollars and years of research into finding the best, most efficient, and most fair way to collect revenue for this country.  Some of the brightest minds in the nation have contributed to the result called the FairTax. DavidN@TampaBayFairTax.org

Hi Rogel, Under the FairTax there will be no handout for any American that isn't given equally to all.  Wouldn't it be great if the only way Congress could raise taxes on anyone were to raise them for exactly everyone?  The tax favors sold by candidates over the years have produced considerable inequities in our present tax system.  The FairTax goes a long way to leveling the playing field.You say your first question is "should we collect tax at all?"  I respect the question, but the answer is politically irrelevant until our system is more transparent.  Most Libertarians believe, I think, that if the general population had any idea at all how much our government is costing us, they'd pay more attention to how the money is spent.  Politicians love how the invisible and semi-visible taxes in our current system enhance the apathy.  The FairTax makes it visible with every purchase of a new good or service.The proposal is not at all a partisan thing; it is an American thing.   You know that the only way to get most libertarian ideals into congress is through the Republicans.  We can only hope that there are enough statesmen in the Democratic Party willing to accept an idea proposed by the "other side" and give it fair consideration.  The FairTax proposal deserves thorough consideration from all sides.  Please take a look at http://FairTax.org for more information.  A good place to start is the thumbnail sketch and then the FAQ.Thanks for your time, Rogel.DavidN@TampaBayFairTax.org