The Fairtax: a quick shortcut to long-term inflation
Something was abuzz in the Georgia Legislature during its last session, and it wasn't bible beaters railing over Sunday liquor sales or partisan infighting over school funding. The ever wise Republican majority had something else up its sleeves: getting rid of the state income tax.
Legislation in the same vein has been introduced on the federal level as well. Designed by radio shock jock (and a self proclaimed "libertarian") Neal Boortz and Georgia congressman John Linder, the tax plan proposes that all federal income, corporate, and dividend taxes will be eliminated and replaced with a whopping 23 percent national sales tax.
This means that in addition to local and state taxes paid on new purchases, Americans would be forced to shell out 23 cents to the dollar on essential items like groceries and clothing.
Supporters of the "Fair Tax" tout it as an equitable means to eliminate the burden of income tax on Americans. In reality, it is an inherently regressive tax that places the largest tax burden on the middle and lower classes. Supposedly "small government" hyper-capitalists like Boortz and Linder fail to understand the disastrous effects of having the government's income be dependent on the growth of the retail market. When the economy slows down, do we close the schools, the police stations and the public hospitals?
The fair tax supporters have one thing right. The current tax system needs to be turned on its head. Where they arejust plain worng, is who deserves the tax relief. The middle and lower classes need a tax break, not an economy crippling new form of taxation.
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