National Sales tax

By Lou Sansevero Ferron

Editor:
Well the incompetents we’ve elected are at it again, the economy is starting to turn around and people are starting to buy again so what do these geniuses in Washington want to do; put into effect a national sales tax. Whoa, wait a minute, maybe that’s not such a bad idea, let’s take another look at this, but let’s call it what it really is; a purchase, not sales, tax (the purchaser pays the tax not the seller) or it is more precisely a consumption tax on every good or service except non-preprocessed food (raw meats and fish, raw grains, dairy products, and raw vegetables), medically necessary medical care (including medical insurance), and medically necessary prescription drugs.
That distinction being made what could be more equitable? With a consumption tax you are taxed on what you consume; it does not punish you for your productivity (as the present progressive personal income tax does). Simply put, the more you consume the more you pay in taxes and the less you consume the less you pay in taxes,you control how much you pay. Additionally a consumption tax is race, sex, national origin, citizenry, age, sexual preference, religion, political affiliation, and class blind; what could be more fair, what could be more transparent… you purchase $100 dollars worth of goods or services you pay $10 right then and right there; no forms for the purchaser to fill out, no accounts for the purchaser to pay, no deductions, no exemptions, no cheating.
Yes, I said no cheating. If you look a little closer you soon discover that there is no (or very little) room for cheating…if a merchant sells $1,000,000 worth of goods or services he has to send the government a certain percentage, say 10 percent; no deductions, no exemptions, no way to hide it you sell X amount you have to send the government 10 percent that’s it. Best of all, all that’s needed is a simple four line tax form…line one how much did you sell this month/quarter/or year?, line two enter 10 percent of line one, line three subtract line two from line one, line four send a check for the amount on line three to the government at…
Guess what…no (or a very small) I.R.S. since their basic function now becomes one of opening envelopes and collecting checks (so to speak) and overseeing an equally simple, corporate flat tax system (which should have the same 10 percent rate for every domestic corporation…no deductions, no exclusions, etc. etc.).
The liberal left will try to argue that a consumption tax would be an unfair regressive tax, i.e. it lays a heavier tax burden (as a percentage of income) on the poor than on the “rich”. This is a bankrupt argument; the present progressive tax system is “unfair” to those that are most productive by laying a heavier tax burden on them (as a real percentage of income) punishing them for their productivity while rewarding the least productive for their lack of productivity; a consumptive tax system would, in my opinion, actually benefit the least productive by giving them an incentive to improve their productivity (by incentivizing personal productivity by finding ways to increase their incomes and thereby lowering their “…tax burden (as a percentage of income)” instead of dis-incentivizing personal productivity…I firmly support the advice of Benjamin Franklin “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” Franklin seems to have looked into the future to our time, has seen the danger “entitlement” programs represent to our republic and hoisted a red flag. Personally I believe that “entitlements” are the restraints forged by cynical politicians to keep the most vulnerable in our society in economic slavery and destroy, in that segment, the family unit, the will to succeed, and their moral fiber while simultaneously purchasing votes to expand the political power of the former. As someone who, in my early childhood, knew the sting of poverty firmly believe that no one in this country is entitled to anything save the opportunity to succeed or fail based on their own effort and industry.
Whoa I’m off on another tangent and a national sales/purchase/consumption tax is not what these idiots are talking about. They’re talking about keeping (and increasing) the present productive punitive progressive personal income tax, keeping (and expanding) “entitlement” spending, keeping the present non-zero budget system, and implementing a VAT (value added tax) system. What’s a VAT? It is not a national sales tax, fix that firmly in your mind and don’t let any conman/woman politician fool you. A VAT is a tax that is put on every item of merchandise which is added at every step from the source of production (or manufacturer) to the consumer at which point a (local/state) sales tax would also be added on. Read that over and over, all of these middlemen are not going to eat this expense they are going to pass it on and no matter what the idiots in Washington say…it will increase the cost of everything you buy. Europe has VATs and it is and has destroyed their economies.
Additionally, not only is a true consumption tax a fairer, prejudice free tax but it also has the potential to generate more revenue for the federal government by virtue of its being universal and unavoidable. Those segments of society that currently avoid paying taxes; prostitutes, drug dealers, illegal aliens, and other criminals whose incomes generally are underground and go untaxed could not avoid paying this tax since they would be taxed on what the consume at the time of consumption.
Link a National Consumption Tax (as replacement of the current progressive personal income tax) with the elimination of “entitlement” programs (with the possible exception of social security and medicare which are not really “entitlement” programs) and a zero start/balanced budget amendment and I think we’d be well on our way to eliminating the budget deficit which threaten to destroy this republic. Write to your representatives and encourage others to write to theirs and tell them “Do away with the current progressive personal income tax and replace it with a National Consumption Tax, do away with entitlement programs, pass a zero start/balance budget amendment, and no V.A.T. or next election you are fired.