Thread: Taxation

1. What kind of a tax system do you feel would cause the least amount of damage to the US economy, provide the right amount of revenue for the federal government, and most equitably takes from the public?

2. What is the one change that you feel would best reform our current tax system?

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1. I believe in the right of individuals to own property; and I mean REALLY own it. That means making property taxes illegal. This also includes income, which I believe falls under the category of things we own. The best thing for our economy is for us to tax each good and service once and only once. We don't tax profits made from investments, though I could stomach a one time tax on investment purchases. This way the government doesn't profit at the expense of the people and instead grows or shrinks with the people themselves. The more we can afford to spend, the more we contribute to the government. The less we can afford to spend, the less the government should be allowed to take from us. Once we own something, it should be ours, and the government should respect that. We shouldn't have to pay for the right to own things.

2. The most important immediate reform is to repeal the 16th amendment.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

I believe a Value Added Tax that exempts food, children's clothing, work uniforms and medical services would be best. FairTax is too ureaucratic and intrusive.

Originally Posted by william the wierd

I believe a Value Added Tax that exempts food, children's clothing, work uniforms and medical services would be best. FairTax is too ureaucratic and intrusive.

If food was exempt from a sales tax or value added tax then the poor would actualy pay more money because higher income individuals are more likely to buy unfinnished food. If one of those taxes was the only way for the government to gain income then it would be crucial to have the least amount of excemptions as possible, because of the high tax from that single way.

A lower tax for those products would be fine, but it would need to be strict and difficult to increase or spread.


Real Estate taxes can be seen as something that taxes someone for not spending, but I think they are acceptable because unlike income or what someone currently owns, land can not be created and there is only a limited amount of it. Land is truely something that is borrowed from the Earth because it can not really be destroyed, so I just feel that it is acceptable. I guess my reason is kind of shaky, but whatever.


After looking at a Value Added Tax on wikipedia, I think that would be the best form of taxation because it only taxes people when they consume and the tax is also spread out through all levels of production, which I think is positive. However, there would need to be a much larger tax for luxury goods because if the same tax was on everything then the poor would surely lose wealth because of the regressive tax on sales taxes.

I would support a system in which each tax is related to the thing it is funding.

So if a person owns a home and they would like to have a fire department ready willing and able to come and put out a fire if need be then they would pay a home fire protection tax.

Assuming that every tax funds something of need then everything would get funded or we would recognize that there is no need. You tax bill would make it clear and transparent what you were paying.

Do you:

buy food - sales tax to fund the FDA
buy medicine - sales tax to fund the FDA
work - revenue tax to fund the enforcement of various labor laws
drive - tax to build roads
send kids to school - tax to fund schools
live in a community where you don't want dumb kids - tax to fund schools

How much each tax should be and the mechanism is what we would debate out in the open. Pork projects would be history.

Let's look at one:

The FDA had a recent budget of 1.95 billion dollars.
Americans spend 821 billion dollars on food each year.
Americans spend 250 billion dollars on pharmaceuticals each year.

So we can see that a tax on food and medicine to fund the FDA would only need to be very small.

And with the figures right out there for everyone to see we could expect more accountability from the FDA.

Originally Posted by Nerv14

If food was exempt from a sales tax or value added tax then the poor would actualy pay more money because higher income individuals are more likely to buy unfinnished food. If one of those taxes was the only way for the government to gain income then it would be crucial to have the least amount of excemptions as possible, because of the high tax from that single way.

A lower tax for those products would be fine, but it would need to be strict and difficult to increase or spread.


Real Estate taxes can be seen as something that taxes someone for not spending, but I think they are acceptable because unlike income or what someone currently owns, land can not be created and there is only a limited amount of it. Land is truely something that is borrowed from the Earth because it can not really be destroyed, so I just feel that it is acceptable. I guess my reason is kind of shaky, but whatever.


After looking at a Value Added Tax on wikipedia, I think that would be the best form of taxation because it only taxes people when they consume and the tax is also spread out through all levels of production, which I think is positive. However, there would need to be a much larger tax for luxury goods because if the same tax was on everything then the poor would surely lose wealth because of the regressive tax on sales taxes.

no real quarrel but the important thing for me is to make certain that all taxes are visible.

Originally Posted by william the wierd

no real quarrel but the important thing for me is to make certain that all taxes are visible.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Tax and spend is my motto.

Progressive taxes - dump most of the load on the people with the most wealth.

Originally Posted by lakeman

I would support a system in which each tax is related to the thing it is funding.

So if a person owns a home and they would like to have a fire department ready willing and able to come and put out a fire if need be then they would pay a home fire protection tax.

Assuming that every tax funds something of need then everything would get funded or we would recognize that there is no need. You tax bill would make it clear and transparent what you were paying.

Do you:

buy food - sales tax to fund the FDA
buy medicine - sales tax to fund the FDA
work - revenue tax to fund the enforcement of various labor laws
drive - tax to build roads
send kids to school - tax to fund schools
live in a community where you don't want dumb kids - tax to fund schools

How much each tax should be and the mechanism is what we would debate out in the open. Pork projects would be history.

That makes alot sense good idea. However, I think to assure that people don't move to areas with lower taxes after they school their kids in areas with larger taxes the school taxes should just remain federal. But local communities can greatly influence how the money is spent.

Originally Posted by Nerv14

What exactly do you mean by that?

The US has the world's highest corporate taxes because it is not visible and the BS that corporations can stay in business and not pass along those costs is believed by many idiots. Visibility is necessary to keep from screwing the poor while claiming to be "progressive".