Re: Fair Tax

Thank you, Phil. You have opened the door for me to
> express my contempt for the alledged "Fair Tax". > > What a great idea it would be to invert the U.S. taxation > system? > > People with incomes below current minimum tax levels would > pay additional taxes without additional income. > > High income taxpayers would be paying a fraction of the > taxes they currently pay. Plus they could enjoy > investments with zero capital gains taxes. > > Without the deduction for mortgage interest, housing values > would drop decreasing the net worth of the middle class. > > Just think about paying additional taxes on your retirement > savings. > > We live in a consumption-based society. So a consumption > tax would would slow down the economic engine of our society > and that would increase both unemployment and interest > rates. We could go back to the days of 14% interest rates!!

Well said, Dick.

Moderator: Merci beaucoup. I should take this to the unmoderated "nitwit stockyard" where it is acceptable to name names and I could vent on the unhousebroken presidential candidate who supports this drivel. But then I'd have to go there to read the replies. Fortunately he couldn't win even he was allowed to count the votes in his bathroom.

> > > > > > > > >

I will start to consider all the "concerns" when someone explains to me how they will handle muni bonds. There are some constitutional questions about whether or not the feds CAN tax them and there are more political questions about that possibility. In addition to all the other dislocations, I doubt that my property taxes would stay the same if muni bonds had to pay roughly the same interest as corps and others. I don't see a whole lot of reason to suspect I would be better off in the final analysis. Moderator: Don't worry about property taxes with a consumption tax, we'll all be better off selling our property and migrating to a countries with low consumption taxes. Hell, such a tax would make being a shepherd in Andorra look good.