| After the cider is gone and the confetti tossed, the federal government has one more holiday present in the mailbox. Like an inevitable visit from an unpleasant acquaintance, the W-2 forms come as a reminder of the money we make that we never see.
A brand new Congress and President Bush are preparing to charge full-speed ahead on an unprecedented aggressive agenda after the New Year. Tax reform, an issue debated year after year, will be a key focus for the new legislative cycle. I urge all sides not to default to a band-aid solution for our tax system once again.
Reform, by definition, is not the status quo. A genuine change will scrap the current system and start fresh with the FairTax.
The IRS and the 17,000 pages of federal tax code is a $1 trillion anchor our American economy must drag each and every year. Half of Americans seek help to prepare their tax returns, because it’s an intimidating and confusing process.
Billions of dollars in compliance costs, disincentives and the cost of the IRS itself drag it down. Our trade imbalance and outsourcing are problems created by the very tax code which raises our revenue.
The FairTax, a true and complete tax system reform, would allow all wage-earners to keep 100% of their paychecks. Imagine opening a paycheck and not seeing a huge chunk of it removed by the federal government. A national retail sales tax would mean no more income taxes and no more taxes on savings and investment. A national sales tax would get rid of the IRS and its first lien on all productivity. Corporate taxes would cease, causing goods and services we buy to decrease 20 – 30%. Moreover, by allowing all wage-earners to decide how much taxes they want to pay, it is fair for all income levels.
The FairTax will generate the revenue to keep Social Security and Medicare in place. The means by which the funds are collected costs less, which means more money can be devoted to programs, instead of bureaucratic red tape.
I challenge skeptics to tell the American people why we continue to patch a broken system instead of acting on a full solution.
Traditional, “incremental” tax reform benefits, such as tax cuts, protecting the middle class, closing loopholes and reducing the burden on savings and investment are all encompassed in the FairTax, in addition to the real added value to the American people and long term advancement for the economy. Most importantly, the FairTax puts the power in the hands of the people and not the IRS.
President Bush is willing to expend his political capital to achieve his aggressive agenda. Voter turnout on November 2nd proved the people will stand behind him as he pushes his agenda. With a clear mandate, no doubt this is the ideal environment to act on substantial economic reform.
It’s time to stop passing patchwork solutions for the existing inefficient and leaking tax system. Instead, let’s consider real change.
--Congressman Steve King
-30- |
