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Originally Posted by dc_dux
The downside of a flat consumption tax?
1) it lowers the tax obligation of the top bracket at the expense of the middle class
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Depends on how the system is structured.
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2) they take away incentives to middle class taxpayers, re: home ownership, retirement planning, etc.
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People don't need incentives to own homes. Why should renters (often working poor who can't save enough for a down payment) subsidize middle class home-ownership? Wasn't it government in-part created the real-estate bubble through policy that encouraged high risk mortgages, mortgages often used by everyone but the poor?
Isn't the problem with our current system, the thousands and thousand of loop-holes, special subsidies and favorable treatment of a few at the expense of many?
I know, I know, you can not answer these kinds of questions - just tell me how much of a bad poster I am - been there done that.
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3) revenue projections rely on unsubstantiated ideological (overly optimistic) economic assumptions that they cant support.
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Again, depends on how the system is structured. There are always trade-offs, no system is perfect. but, no matter how you look at it our current system is unfair and broken.
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There is a reason that every president and every Congress, both D and R, since Teddy Roosevelt have support a progressive tax system, differing only on the rates.
It is fair and it works.
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I can understand why Washington insiders want to protect special interests, protect the loop-holes. Some of us see the deception. If my interests don't not have a strong lobbying effort compared to others, I get screwed. Poor people are getting screwed. The middle class is getting screwed. This system favors the rich, big corporate interests, and the interests of the powerful in government.
I could give thousands of examples, would you ever acknowledge unfairness? Or, do you want to pretend that Washington is going to end oil and gas subsidies in the tax code - they will just end some and give others and then claim they did something.
Or, how about those sugar subsides in the tax code? Ever calculate how those are unfair to the poor? Didn't think so. Oh, sorry I am changing the subject again - silly me, never mind.