...if the DEMOCRATS win the White House in 2008!!!
THE FOUNDATION: TAXATION
“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry... has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who... have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.” —Thomas Jefferson
INSIGHT
“The collection of taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success, but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.” —Calvin Coolidge
THE GIPPER ON TAXES
“Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So we cut the people’s tax rates and the people produced more than ever before.” ++ “Are you entitled to the fruits of your own labor or does government have some presumptive right to spend and spend and spend?” ++ “The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution.” ++ “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” ++ “Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15.” —Ronald Reagan
FAMILY
“Liberals are at it again. Just three months into their majority, Democrats are once again proposing the biggest tax increase in history... If it is passed, [the Democrats’ 2008 proposed] budget will impose the largest tax increase in history on American taxpayers—totaling nearly $400 billion over five years. Families with children, low-income families, and small businesses all would be hit with hundreds if not thousands of dollars in increased taxes. Just what taxes will be raised? Here are some of the specifics of the liberal proposal: The 10% Tax Bracket Will Become 15%: More than five million families and individuals who previously owed no taxes will become subject to taxation. Marriage Penalty Relief Will Be Eliminated: 23 million Americans will owe an average of $466 in additional taxes in 2011. The Child Tax Credit Will Be Cut in Half: 31 million Americans will pay an average of $859 more in taxes in 2011... You’re a family of four earning $60,000 a year: Your income-tax bill will rise 61% in 2011, from $3,030 to $4,893... You’re an elderly couple earning $40,000 a year: Your taxes will go up by 156% in 2011, from $583 to $1,489... You’re a woman: You could be one of the 83 million American women who could see their taxes rise by an average of $2,068... You’re married: You could be one of the 48 million married couples who will pay an average of $2,899 more under the liberal tax increase... You have kids: 42 million families with children will pay an average of $2,181 more in taxes.” —Newt Gingrich
FOR THE RECORD
“[One] ruse is the Democratic-media chorus that the Bush tax cuts must be repealed because they’ve left the Treasury high and dry...[T]ax receipts did plunge earlier this decade from their late-1990s heights, reaching a trough in fiscal 2004 of 16.3% of GDP. The economy was still recovering from the collapse of business investment and the stock market bubble, and no doubt the lower Bush rates played a role in reducing revenue for a time. But the lower rates also provided a spur to incentives that led to a rebound in investment, stock prices and ultimately in economic growth, individual incomes and corporate profits. This produced, in turn, a very sharp rebound in federal tax receipts—to 17.6% of GDP in fiscal 2005 and 18.4% in 2006. The Congressional Budget Office—now run by Democrats—predicts it will reach 18.6% in fiscal 2007. This is slightly above the 40-year historical average of 18.3%... Despite the Bush tax cuts—or we should say because of them—federal revenues are above where they’ve been for most of the last half century. The government is far from starved for cash. What Democrats really don’t want you to know is what will happen to receipts after 2010 if the tax cuts expire... A tax increase of that magnitude could well lead to a recession and a plunge in receipts...[T]he tax increase fuse has now been lit. Do nothing and taxes will rise as much as they have at any one time since World War II. Democrats have made the decision to obscure this burning fuse, and the press corps is ignoring it. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the country has to play along.” —The Wall Street Journal
GOVERNMENT
“Liberals and journalists are fond of telling us that raising taxes is the only way out of scary budget deficits that will be handed down to our children and grandchildren. But Americans don’t buy that argument. In a February 2007 PSRA/Pew Research Center poll, people were asked what they thought was the best way to reduce the federal budget deficit. Only 9 percent said tax increases were the best way. A combined 69 percent said they’d rather see government reduce spending. They probably noticed the amazing economic growth this country has seen since the tax cuts went into effect...Americans support tax reform—if only legislators would be honest about their tax reform plans... Americans may not know what all those politicians are talking about—who does?—but they know the tax code is crazy and that they should get to keep more of their own money. A majority are familiar with at least one ‘reform’ proposition. More than half the respondents in a March 2007 Harris/Tax Foundation poll said they’d prefer a flat-rate tax or a national sales tax (like the FairTax) over the current graduated income tax system. I agree with those people who think all the doubletalk about ‘reform’ is too confusing. Besides, whenever the Democrats talk about taxes, they are talking about raising them. Americans don’t want higher taxes. What we need is a simple system where everyone can plainly see—and choose for themselves—how much tax they are paying. The only plan that even comes close to achieving that is the FairTax. Well, I don’t think we should talk about tax reform any more. No more tax reform; it’s time for replacement.” —Herman Cain
OPINION IN BRIEF
“[A]s a first step toward real tax reform, I would like to show, in very simple terms, how individual income taxes could painlessly be eliminated: reduce federal spending to the level it was at the beginning of the previous administration...[T]he total revenue of the federal government during its most recently completely fiscal year was $2.406 trillion and... individual income taxes collected during this period were $1.043 trillion. This means that if you subtract the income taxes collected from total revenue you end up with $1.363 trillion for the federal government to spend. That is just a little less than the government spent during the fiscal year in which [Bill] Clinton began his first term. Are income taxes evil? Yes. Should they be eliminated? Yes. Would it be a terrible thing if the federal government still spent over $1 trillion? Yes. But it is a start. It is real tax reform. With no income tax, there will be no capital gains tax, no withholding tax, no EITC welfare program, and no refundable child credit welfare program... All of this, of course, depends on Congress. Although it is true that the president submits a budget to Congress, it is Congress that ultimately decides on the amount of federal spending. It is only because we have a monstrous welfare/warfare state that the government ‘needs’ to collect an income tax. The beginning of Clinton’s presidency was not that long ago. The income tax can be abolished. It can be done quickly; it can be done painlessly—and it can be done for the benefit of the American taxpayer instead of the federal leviathan. Now that is real tax reform.” —Laurence Vance
LIBERTY
“Americans are natural procrastinators when it comes to unpleasant tasks, so it should be no surprise that surveys show half of all tax filers wait until this last week before the April 16 deadline to do their taxes. No wonder: This year there are a record 66,000 pages of mostly incomprehensible tax laws to comply with, and for those with really complicated returns, 526 separate forms that may need to be filled out. In 2005 an astonishing six out of every 10 taxpayers needed the help of a trained professional to complete their returns. Tax preparation is now one of America’s fastest growth industries...[T]o make sense of their taxes American workers and businesses devote 6.4 billion hours a year, about 45 hours per return. There are now 16 separate tax breaks for college education and several dozen for energy conservation, including write-offs for such things as purchasing electricity-saving refrigerators... In 1914 the total income-tax collections were $10 billion (in today’s dollars). Now the income tax gathers in roughly $1 trillion, and gathering that stash requires a massive collection machine. The original IRS enforcement office had 4,000 employees. Now the IRS has 100,000 tax agents, more employees than the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Food and Drug Administration combined. Yet Congressional Democrats want to hire thousands more tax agents to audit more Americans and close the $300 billion ‘tax gap.’ Before hiring more tax snoops, we might want to heed the warning of historian Charles Adams, who notes in his book ‘For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization’: ‘From the earliest records of civilization, tax laws have taken away liberty more often than foreign invaders’.” —Stephen Moore
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