Huckabee’s FairTax

For those of you who are inclined to like Huckabee: keep in mind he’s got a completely insane tax proposal. How does a 30% sales tax — or more — sound? That’s incredibly regressive. (Taxes are progressive if people who make more money pay more taxes; they’re regressive if everyone pays the same tax rate, which means that the poorer you are, the higher proportion of your income that goes to taxes. Way unfair.)

He seems like a friendly guy, and he’s against Bush’s foreign policy, but this is an incredibly stupid tax plan.

17 thoughts on “Huckabee’s FairTax

  1. There’s nothing insane about the FairTax. It is an extensively researched tax reform that will revitalize the US economy.

    It is not regressive because of the prebate.

    Yes, if you do valuable work and take little back from society (high income, low spending) you’ll have a lower tax rate than today, but the money *will* be spent sooner or later, by you or your heirs, and then the government gets its share.

    Read more about the FairTax here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax
    http://www.fairtax.org/

    YouTube video explaining it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwuS9VCPmb0

  2. Tin Man,

    Two years ago, long before Huckabee become a candidate, 86 economists from around the country,co-authored ,signed and sent a letter to the President and all members of congress. This letter urged the passage of the FairTax because of the benefit it would be to this country and it’s citizens.

    The FairTax rate you quote is wrong and the FairTax is NOT added on top of the price of an item. It replaces the current embedded taxes in products caused by the current system.

    Members of the Gay community should be in full support of the FairTax since it puts a gay couple on the same level as a straight couple in the eyes of the tax code due to the monthly prebate paid to legal citizens.

    Please educate yourself log onto http://www.fairtax.org. You need to do this. At least then your opinion will be from an informed stand point.
    GOOD LUCK

  3. I think it’s easy to say that sales tax is regressive (since this is typically true) but, as mentioned, the prebate addresses this concern. Also, one thing that tends to get overlooked in the conversation around the fair-tax is that it will capture the “undocumented” portion of income that gets spent but is not taxed such as that which comes from illegal aliens or other under-the-table payments. These currently aren’t taxed in any meaningful way.

    The ability to collect and report sales tax already happens in almost all retail settings so the opportunity for misuse is minimized. The IRS can focus on businesses instead of on individuals which should greatly reduce their burden in finding missing tax dollars.

  4. Okay, I love learning about new things and I love getting blog comments, but three unfamiliar commenters on one post, all taking the same point of view, is unusual. What’s going on here?

  5. It’s political season. People google on their pet issues and drop comments. If you really wanted to have fun…

    1)Remove all references to how to contact you from the site.
    2)Run an item criticizing Ron Paul.
    3)Prepare to welcome thousands of new commenters to your site!

    Seriously, the Paulbots are amazing- they will find a reference and jump in by the hundreds.

    I don’t know much about the FairTax, or how I feel about it. But I don’t think anyone is going to have to worry about it becoming law.

  6. Huckabee is not a friendly guy. He’s a fundamentalist Christian preacher. That is categorically incompatible with being a “friendly guy.”

    As for his tax plan —

    I’m not sure that having 25% more in my take-home pay would off-set the shock of paying 25% more for practically everything. Wouldn’t that in effect discourage spending? The economy thrives on consumption so it would seem to make more sense to make spending more attractive.

    I have no qualms with the present income tax system — I guess that’s just because I don’t make a salary obscenely high enough for it to negatively impact me.

  7. FI, Daniel, & Tin Man

    As posted, the fairtax website will give you all the info you need. I failed to mention in my first post that one of those economists is a Nobel Prize winner in Economics. I post here as an American speaking to other Americans who want equality in this country starting with our tax system. If a mind is a terrible thing to waste than a closed mind is even worse. Please log onto fairtax.org. The FairTax movement is not going away and gets stronger every day. If you’re informed you won’t have to believe some of the garbage that’s already put out by the media. Your own opinion is the most important. Make it an informed one. ( Please)

  8. You are assuming that equality in terms of taxation is a good thing. I happen to believe that the greater one’s resources, the greater one’s obligation and responsibility to contribute to the collective good. Those who have more should pay more, both absolutely and proportionately: from each man’s means to each his need.

  9. OK, I went to the website. I read about the “Fairtax” and how it would be implemented. And I have formed an opinion.

    There are sooooo many things wrong with it; my personal feeling is that anyone hawking this plan is either totally unfamiliar with real world economics or is somewhat less than smart.

  10. Not to worry. The Internal Revenue Code and IRS regulations owe their impenetrable, arbitrary, and byzantine complexity– or their beauty and elegance, depending on your perspective– to their status as the preferred mechanism by which Congress pays back campaign donors. The current tax system is thus a vital part of the legalized bribery scheme that fuels electoral politics in this country. No member of Congress would give even a millisecond of consideration to dismantling anything that essential to their careers. So the so-called “fair tax” (an oxymoron if ever there were one) hasn’t a snowball’s chance in Saudi Arabia of even getting near the House Ways and Means Committee.

    But the proposal is very useful for someone like Huckabee (there’s surely a limerick or two in his name) who needs something to offer Unsaved voters.

  11. Daniel,

    When you quote” From each according to his ability to each according to their needs” do you know who you are quoting? Also what his philosophy was?

  12. Other Jeff,
    Now that you went to the FairTax site and found sooooo many things wrong with it, can you mention a few of them? Also please show how the current systm is better in each case.

  13. Mipiel

    Your theory about congress is 100 % accurate. However, the only thing they need more than money is our votes. The current 68 co-sponors in the House of Representaives already know that. The others, with enough pressure will too.

  14. For you Huckabee lovers, maybe he should spend more time at home working on family values and less time on the stump speaking about them. His son tortured and hung a dog. Then it is rumored that he urged the police to not investigate and no charges were filled.
    http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241
    Yesterday on CNN Situation Room he had two constitutional amendments he wanted to see passed:
    1. Ban abortion
    2. Define marriage as a man and a woman
    He is the worst social conservative nightmare ever, even if his tax plan may have benefits.

  15. Not all supporters of the FairTax are Huckabee lovers. By in large thier support comes from his backing of the FairTax. I can assure you any candidate out there Rep., Dem. Ind had the same chance to promote the FairTax, and would’ve gotten the same support. There isn’t a person in congress that isn’t aware of the FairTax they simply choose to try and keep their power to use the current code for social engineering.

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