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Thursday, July 10, 2008
posted by AmericanTestament.com | 5:50 PM | permalink
I swear I'm not a shill for the Sunlight Foundation. I just keep bumping into their stuff online. And, so far, I like what I see.

The House Franking Committee (Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards) wants to take away your representative's right to use the Internet to communicate with you.

See the interview video.

See the extensive "Red Book" mailing manual (72 pages...great for insomniacs).

While I agree with the principle of not allowing spend-o-crats access to taxpayer funds to spam us with unsolicited screeds about what they will do/have done if/after elected, what I object to is a rule that would essentially put a gag order on a politician using his/her cell phone to use Twitter. Half the people talking about implementing this rule don't have a clue about the Web as it stands...how can we trust them to regulate it?

Jon Henke at The Next Right has some thoughts on that as well. Yes, Jon, for members of Congress, every year is like it's 1999 (or earlier).

My favorite quote from the video should be carved into the steps of the House.
"Listen, Mike (Capuano), you have about as much chance of regulating the Internet as King Canute did at stopping the tide."
Capuano was quoted in the Washington Post earlier this year as saying:
"I make no bones about it. I don't know anything about this stuff," Capuano said with a shrug. "To me, the Web is a necessary evil," he admitted, "like cellphones."
This gives me a whole new perspective on why my emails to my representatives go unanswered, or when they are, amount to a brush-off form letter containing no real information.

Go ahead. Tell 'em how you really feel.

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Liberals have their monopoly on ABC, NBC, and CBS. This way they turn the lights off and rob America blind. Now they are trying to do the same with the internet. Makes you wonder how anyone could vote these creeps into office.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 11, 2008 at 11:59 AM  



Saturday, January 26, 2008
posted by Kyle Hampton | 11:26 AM | permalink
Of course, for us Romney supporters, we have known that Romney is the choice for a long time.

Vin Weber and Ceasar Conda have an article over at NRO stating exactly why Romney is the choice. Specifically, they review Romney's economic stimulus plan. They outline the basics of the plan:
For individuals, it would permanently reduce the lowest tax rate from 10 percent to 7.5 percent, providing up to a $400 tax cut for those affected. It would also eliminate payroll taxes on workers older than 65.

Additionally, the plan will allow Americans with adjusted gross incomes of less than $200,000 to save tax-free, by eliminating their tax liability on interest, capital gains, and dividends.

For businesses large and small, the plan would provide new incentives for job-creating investment. Companies could immediately write off or expense the cost of new equipment purchased for a two-year period, retroactive to January 1, 2008.

Romney proposes to permanently reduce the corporate rate to 25 percent for 2008 and 20 percent in 2009.
All of these changes to the tax code work not only a short term gain for individuals and businesses, but represent a significant step in the right direction in keeping our economy healthy. Here's the bottom line:
In 2008, we have a clear choice. We can select a nominee whose economic views have been shaped by almost 30 years spent in the free market, making businesses work and creating jobs. Or, we can pick a longtime politician who has never run a corner grocery store, much less the largest enterprise in the world — the federal government. The choice is clear, and the choice is Mitt Romney.

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1 Comments:


Romney is the best GOP candidate. In addition to strong family values, Romney may be what this country needs to solve our national challenges and fix broken Washington. He can win the war against Islamic jihadists. He can secure our borders and deal with illegal aliens without stay-forever John McCain "Z Visas"; he will implement employer verification and penalties for noncompliance. His energy policy would include domestic drilling and conservation, with nuclear and renewable options.

Romney has warned about the impending Social Security and Medicare crises. He will cause a paradigm shift in medical care with portable health insurance. He wants to reduce taxes and eliminate taxation on capital gains and dividends.

He is the only Republican candidate who can usher in a new day in America, as President Reagan did in 1980.

Giuliani comes in a distant second and Sen. McCain is an honorable patriot who has been dead right about Iraq and dead wrong about core principles: freedom of speech (McCain/Feingold), rule of law (immigration) and economic justice (taxes). He has no executive experience.




Sunday, January 13, 2008
posted by Devon Murphy | 7:10 PM | permalink
Senator John McCain, by his own admission, is not the sharpest tack in the shed on economic issues. So when McCain attacks Romney via mailers in Michigan accusing Romney of raising taxes by $700 million, it's a good idea to check the REAL numbers.

$260 million -- Romney's fee hikes on targeted services...like highway billboards, duplicate copies of driver's licenses, bar exams, registering a boat, installing underground water tanks, filing a court case, transporting hazardous waste, etc. This represents less than 10% of the $3 billion deficit Romney closed in his first year.
$240 million -- Fee hikes that were passed PRIOR to Romney's first year in office, yet did not take effect until Romney was IN office.
$210 million -- Romney closed corporate tax loopholes...for example, banks that did some real estate as part of their business were claiming to be "real estate lenders" as their primary business and were thereby qualifying for a major tax shelter. Closing the corporate tax loopholes are simply enforcing existing tax code as it was intended...to call this a tax hike is like calling it a sentencing when you send an escaped convict back to prison.

Add all three up, and there's your $700 million. Romney's contribution is only about $470 million, NOT $700 million, and NONE of it can honestly be considered tax hikes.

Furthermore, the $260 million of fee hikes that Romney approved were more than offset by various TAX CUTS he implemented...in other words, better than a "revenue neutral" shift of taxes to service fees, which any conservative should like. The service fees were generally in line with national and local inflationary trends, as well as making the prices more reflective of the actual costs. Fees generally make accounting in government more transparent, as you can see where the money is going...and there's really no good reason to subsidize a service cost below its market value anyway.

Romney's fiscal record on cutting spending is unimpeachable. And here's the list of Romney's tax cuts, the biggest of which was his reversal of the $250 million retroactive capital gains tax in 2005.

CAPITAL GAINS TAXES
INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT
PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
2004 SALES TAX HOLIDAY
2005 SALES TAX HOLIDAY
BIOTECH MANUFACTURING JOBS TAX REBATE
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDIT
LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TAX RELIEF
COMMUTER TAX RELIEF
VETERANS TAX RELIEF
HOME HEATING OIL DEDUCTION/ENERGY EFFICIENT CREDIT
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
FIRE SAFETY TAX DEDUCTION
CONFORMITY TO FEDERAL INCOME TAX CODE
MEDICAL DEVICE TAX CREDIT
MOTION PICTURE TAX CREDIT
BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT TAX CREDIT EXTENTION
HISTORIC REHABILITATION TAX CREDIT

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
posted by Kyle Hampton | 11:46 PM | permalink
I had so many comments on my Fair Tax post that I wanted to respond to some of the points made:

First, several people made the point that Europe has a Value Added Tax (VAT) that is more than the 10% figure that I quoted. All of the research that I read made a distinction between the VAT and a national retail sales tax like the Fair Tax. This distinction is based on the mechanics of the tax. The value added tax looks at what a firm adds to the value of a product where a national sales tax is an excise tax levied at the point of sale. The end result looks similar because the VAT is passed on to the consumer. However, the VAT requires firms to report the value added at each stage of production. A national retail sales tax does not require any such reporting other than that the national rate has been applied. The figure I used looked just at those countries using a national retail sales tax and did not include those countries using a VAT.

Second, several readers expressed frustration at the current tax system and argued that we are essentially paying the same rate as what the Fair Tax would impose. That may be true, but I don’t understand how that merits scrapping the current system. If the Fair Tax does the exact same thing, why should switch? The tie goes toward stability, does it not? People have planned, not just in the short term, but in the long term for the tax benefits of the current system. Revolutionizing the way we tax would upset the expectations of a millions of Americans and businesses. Thus, doing something that drastic requires not just generalized frustration, but serious injustice. Generally, I think that frustration with the current tax system has made people over-eager to do something else. I don’t deny that the current system has its flaws. Indeed, it should be flatter and simpler. However, taking the extreme position of overhauling what we have and disturbing the expectations of those who are paying taxes seems unwise to me.

More rebuttals to come

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For benefit of your readers, I posted a couple of explanatory comments at your last post. Here I'll layout the essentials. The FairTax is...

• SIMPLE, easy to understand
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn't cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes
• FAIR, FLAT, and FAMILY FRIENDLY, loophole-free, and everyone pays their share
• LOW TAX RATE is achieved by broad base with no exclusions
• PREDICTABLE, doesn't change, so financial planning is possible
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn't intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards - rather than penalizes - work and productivity


A detailed benefits analysis of the plan (from The FairTax Book) explains such strong support:

For INDIVIDUALS:
• No more tax on income - make as much as you wish
• FairTax is paid on retail goods and services when purchased new, not used

• You receive your full paycheck - no more deductions
• Every household receives a monthly amount, or "prebate"
• "Prebate" is "advance tax payback" for monthly consumption to poverty level
• FairTax ensures poverty protection, being less regressive than income tax
• Increased household income preserves real purchasing power against any higher prices

• Reduction of pre-FairTaxed retail prices (due to reduced costs; increased competition)
• 29.9% mark-up yields 23% FairTax portion of new price tags
• FairTax portion of new prices reveal true cost of gov't to consumers

• FairTax is captured on illicit forms of income, when spent
• Parasitic income tax filing industry eliminated
• No double taxation on goods and services
No more IRS or FILING OF INCOME TAX returns
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates


For BUSINESSES:
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax
• Business compensated for collecting tax at "cash register"
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls
No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices
• Reduced costs. Competition - not tax policy - drives prices
• Off-shore "tax haven" headquarters can now return to U.S
No more "favors" from politicians at expense of taxpayers
• Resources go to R&D and study of competition - not taxes
• Global "free (and equitable) trade" becomes possible for currently-disadvanted U.S. exports
• U.S. exports increase their share of foreign markets


For the COUNTRY:
• 7% - 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax
Jobs return to the U.S.
• Foreign corporations "set up shop" in the U.S.
• Tax system trends are corrected to "enlarge the pie"
• Larger economic "pie," means thinner tax rate "slices"
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as "pie" increases
No more "closed door" tax deals by politicians and business
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow


Mr. Romney's weak response to FairTax questioning on “This Week with Geo. Stephanopoulos” elevated his opponent who seems to understand the core problem. Understatedly, Mr. Huckabee quipped that what's wrong with the income tax can't be fixed with "a tap of the hammer, nor a twist of the screwdriver." But make no mistake, he's on to the bigger picture, and he pointedly understands the larger ramifications of how enacting the FairTax can course-correct global trade inequities.

While Mr. Romney clings to the destructive tax code, the IRS, preserving political power of granting tax favors at continued cost to - and misery of - American working families, his opponent speaks to Americans who have a terrible feeling that it is not only difficult to surmount increasing barriers to reach the next rung on the wealth ladder, but should they succeed, they'll need to spend an additional fortune to keep from having their hard-earned success confiscated by a government whose idea of "fairness" derives from Karl Marx's playbook (paraphrased), "From those according to their abundance, to those according to their need."



It seems like a flat tax produces much of the same pros that are mentioned by Ian, with less overhead.

Implementing and regulating the sales tax and it's refund system seems more complicated to me than something like a flat tax.

Now I don't think Romney is pushing for a tax overhaul, but a flat tax seems much more practical than a sales tax.

By the way. I grew up in Alberta Canada. When I was young, there was no sales tax. I liked that you could go up to the register and pay the amount that it was advertised for without having to add taxes in your head.

The conservative government then in 1991 reformed the tax system by replacing a 13.5% hidden Manufacturers' Sales Tax with a 7% visible Goods and Services Tax. Revenue neutral would have been a 9% sales tax.

So they lowered the tax but made it more visible (As a fair tax would do--I assume most people make more purchases than they get paychecks).

The next election they lost all but 2 of their 151 seats in parliament.

So even if Huckabee is able to get this implemented (There's no way in Hades it will be if Bush can't even get Social Security reform through), don't count on republican re-election the following election. In fact I think it is fair to say that if Huckabee were to pass this in his first term, he would not get the Republican nomination for re-election.



Ian, thank you for all that lovley propeganda. Quantity does not make up for lack of content. Just post a link the fairtax.org next time. I have seen your post on other sites. You guys sure do get out in force. This is not the only way to introduce a consumption tax, and Warren Buffetts political views arn't exacly conservative, and don't represent the views of most of the readers of MMM. I emplore you to read these.

http://thoughtfulideas.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-national-retail-sales-tax-good-idea.html

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110011009



Stephen, I don't really expect much from bloggers - and comments like yours don't surprise me. It's far easier to engage in Psychologist David Burn's Cognitive Distortion No. 6 - Minimzation / Magnification - than to actually engage on the specifics of points that I've taken great pains to learn about, research, and present to you for thoughtful consideration.



Kyle,
It's truly not just a matter of replacing one system for another. There are almost too many negatives in the current tax code to count. Regardless of personal or even public feelings about the current tax system, even the United States Government itself has come out and said that the current tax system is broken and is costing both the American Worker and it's government, huge amounts of money, lost jobs, etc. The minor tweaks that Mitt and others are proposing, however helpful over the next 4 to 8 years, are not going to fix the tax code enough to avoid financial train wreck we face in the next 20 to 30 years. The Current tax code needs to be eliminated and replaced, and to date the best option presented has been the Fair Tax. PLEASE, use this link and read this Very Well written article:
( http://www.realclearmarkets.com
/articles/2007/12/the_fair_tax_is
_about_economic.html )

Stephen, any time you have some facts or figures you'd like to have an honest conversation or debate about, I'm sure that Ian or I would gladly participate. I'm not above being proven wrong, but with the amount of research done by top economic scholars on the Fair Tax and it's figures, those who have legitimate beefs are very few, and very far between.



Romney said "Government is Broken!". Yet ignoring a system that would make a huge economic progression is hipocritical. I want to "fix" the gov't but I don't care about ideas that could easily do so, come on. I agree with everything else Romney says, but ignoring FairTax is ignoring the current economic situation.
Where's Regan? GOD BLESS AMERICA!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 3, 2008 at 11:04 AM  



Tuesday, December 18, 2007
posted by Kyle Hampton | 2:45 PM | permalink
I want to disclaim at the beginning that I am no tax policy expert. Yet, I think that the concepts argued for and against the “fair tax” as proposed by Mike Huckabee are simple enough that most people should be able to understand them.

Mike Huckabee describes on his campaign web site his version of the Fair Tax:
When the FairTax becomes law, it will be like waving a magic wand releasing us from pain and unfairness.

The FairTax will replace the Internal Revenue Code with a consumption tax, like the taxes on retail sales forty-five states and the District of Columbia have now. All of us will get a monthly rebate that will reimburse us for taxes on purchases up to the poverty line, so that we're not taxed on necessities. That means people below the poverty line won't be taxed at all. We'll be taxed on what we decide to buy, not what we happen to earn. We won't be taxed on what we choose to save or the interest those savings earn. The tax will apply only to new goods, so we can reduce our taxes further by buying a used car or computer.

Our current progressive tax system penalizes us for working harder and becoming more successful. As we climb the ladder, the government lurks on each rung, hungry for a bigger bite out of our earnings. The FairTax is also progressive, but it doesn't punish the American dream of success, or the old-fashioned virtues of hard work and thrift, it rewards and encourages them. The FairTax isn't intended to raise any more or less money for the federal government to spend - it is revenue neutral.
There are a lot of different points to be made. Easily dismissed is the claim that the Fair Tax will release us from pain and unfairness. Such a silly claim gets at the unseriousness of the Huckabee campaign in general. More substantively, only six countries have ever adopted retail sales taxes at rates of 10% or more; none do now. 58 Fla. L. Rev. 1043, 1048; Joel Slemrod, Presentation to the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform: The Costs of Tax Complexity (Mar. 3, 2005), available at http://www.taxreformpanel.gov/meetings/ docs/slemrod 03032005.ppt.

Huckabee next says that all will get a monthly rebate for purchases up to the poverty line. This argues against one of the main points that he promotes in arguing for the Fair Tax: administrative ease. Huckabee has argued for abolishing the IRS, but it seems that he would have to replace it with some other agency by which to mail out every American’s monthly rebate check. The type of money being passed through the mail would also invite all sorts of criminal behavior (remember how well the debit cards went after Katrina?).

Huckebee also says that the Fair Tax will create positive incentives for saving. That is probably true. Through a combination of zero tax on savings and the dramatic increase of goods after the Fair Tax is enacted, people are likely to refrain from spending. The Fair Tax creates the incentive to withhold income from being put back into the economy. How this will affect the economy only an economist could predict, but the incentives seem to lead to a slowing of the economy as people withhold their dollars from the marketplace. However, eventually, even savings will be taxed as they are spent. The savings argument is misleading because it really only marks a delay in taxation, not an abolition of the tax on savings.

Huckabee argues that both taxes are progressive. However, the Fair Tax is difficult to make progressive. Since the tax applies to all at the point of sale, regardless of economic status, it would generally appear to be either a flat or regressive tax. The single rate of taxation on purchases hits low-income people harder than high-income people because the purchases are a larger proportion of the low-income person’s wealth. Higher income people are able to save a larger portion of their earnings. Thus, even with the rebates he proposes, for anyone above the poverty line, the tax is regressive. To make it progressive, Congress would have to add in additional complexity Graduated tax rates, differential rates, or higher rates all would lead to increasingly complex taxpayer behavior and legislative and administrative responses. 88 Calif. L. Rev. 2095, 2141.

In sum, and these certainly aren’t all the points to be made about the Fair Tax system, the Fair Tax likely does little to improve the current tax system and likely does harm. It does little to improve the complexity or administrative burden. It only shifts the time of taxation from when it was produced to when it was consumed. Finally, it likely dulls economic growth by creating a disincentive to spend.

Beyond its inherent political impracticability, the Fair Tax should be rejected. The better alternative, and the more realistic one, is the one Mitt Romney has proposed: lower marginal rates, end the death tax, end taxes on savings, and lower corporate taxes. These things combined will do more for the economy and the nation than the enactment of the Fair Tax.

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Can you imagine the chaos visited on the economy if thie were implemented, either immediately, or gradually. Talk about a mess.



I used to be a supporter of the fair tax, but no more. The US economy will TANK with the fair tax. What will happen when everything we buy is increased by 30%?



To say no countries have a sales tax above 10% ignores the fact that the EU charges a 17% - 19% Value added Tax (VAT), which is essentially like a retail sales tax (Plus they have high income taxe!). So I would disagree with that statement, although if you examine the tax structure of Europe, you would clearly not want to adopt what they have.

Just thought I would point that out.



Thanks Kyle,
That certainly isn't a complete list but it isn't hard to see why only a candidate like Huck would adopt such an obviously flawed plan even when faults and shortcomings are so easy to find.
I would like to add that most of us remember from micro-economics 101, what sales taxes do. It keeps people who would otherwise enter the market out, both buyers and sellers. Gains from trade are unrealized. Plus it creates a huge incentive for black markets. These are not ways to stimulate the market, and keep America competitive with a growing Asian economy. I wish I had a whiteboard and 10 short minutes to show him. I guess that divinity school didn't offer advanced classes like that. My personal favorite way to streamline the tax code is a flat tax, but I'll save that for another day.
I hope he doesn't try the awe shucks I'm just a good ol' boy approach when he is pressed about this. Staying in a Holiday Inn Express isn't enough too fool the country.



This tax plan will create all kinds of political fights. What will the poverty level be? Who will determine it? Will there be annual adjustments to it like a cost of living increase? Are the monthly tax rebates to go to families or individuals? Do minors get a rebate on the taxes that they must pay? This will also cause a big dip in all sectors of the economy as people realize that they can save a huge amount by purchasing used items. This will have major ramifications for the auto and building industries. It will just be a matter of months after this tax in enacted before politicians try to get reductions or exemptions for industries that are having problems. This will be a nightmare.



I just thought that I would add this comment from David Frum at the National Post.
"The currently front-running candidate in Iowa, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, has built his campaign on a plan to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax ... Economists and tax experts virtually unanimously agree that the plan is beyond unworkable -- that it is downright absurd."
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=169952

Amen!

Another worthy question is “how does the fair tax account for retirement accounts”. It seems like all the tax benefits vanish. Suddenly your 401k and IRA's are the same as any other savings account? That would really upset a huge percentage of the population, who historically are very good voters.



Are you aware we are more than double taxed on our dollar as our system stands right now? Do any of you run a business? If the government comes to you right now and tells you about a new corporate tax you now have to pay, where do you come up with the money to pay it? You get it from your customers. The consumer, who is paying for your service and your taxes from his after taxes dollar. That is double taxation!!!
Pass through all the taxes from a products consection, marketing and distribution and on average 22% of EVERYTHING we buy is taxes. And we pay that with our after taxes dollar. Can't you see that?

Why does the government have a need to know how much a citizen earns? These forms are intrusions into our lives. I want the government to leave me alone. I'll pay taxes, but let me have the final say on where my money goes.



Mike -

The stuff that I've read makes an explicit distinction between the VAT and a national retail sales tax. That's why I didn't include them in this. Otherwise I would agree. Check the citations for more information.



I am extremely skeptical of the promises made by the proponents of a national sales tax. A flat tax would be a much better and fairer system, but to get there without completely disrupting the economy, we would probably have to do it in steps. Step 1) Lower the rates and make them more equal. Then Step 2) Lower spending. Then Step 3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 over and over again. I figure that a President could achieve a flat tax somewhere near the end of his first term or beginning of his second term. Heck, Vladamir Putin did it in Russia and it's helped their economy.

Up-Chuck-abee argues that a national sales tax will somehow magically end America's shadow economy. Yeah right! It could easily make things worse though. In order to undercut the prices offered by America's legitimate businesses, a national sales tax could create a huge black market for "national sales tax-free" goods. Those tax cheat underground businesses could even charge more than businesses do today, because all that they've got to do is charge less than legitimate businesses for them to fulfill a need. Yes, the government could fine those businesses or send their owners to jail, but wouldn't that require even more elaborate enforcement and probably an even larger and more intrusive bureaucracy than we currently have with the IRS? What is going to stop people from ordering merchandise abroad in order to skate the rules or what will stop businesses from just going completely underground in order to avoid the taxes? How about smuggling? I’m sure that Mike Up-Chuck-abee with his great records on illegal immigration and fighting crime will make sure that we don’t have everything from kitchen sinks to contraband toys joining illegal drugs in its quest across our huge border with our southern 3rd world neighbor. A national sales tax might just be another scenario of hurting only the businesses who are willing to follow the rules (kind of like one of the main arguments against some gun laws).



Two issues concerning the Fair Tax. BTW, I actually see its potential since several of the issues you bring up are unproven and only a supposition of what might happen. The reason I say this, is because you ignore basic tenents of consumer behavior.

With that said however, my biggest concerns with the fair tax is the liklihood of the federal government to easily introduce it and than begin building on it so that we eventually resemble a western european nation with extremely high sales taxes as well as a high income tax on a Federal level.

The other concern is the ability to create an arbitrage market based on tax avoidance. Used goods are tax exempt in the Fair Tax system, so how difficult is it to take new goods, sell them for ridiculously low prices to a holding company that resells them for fair market value as tax exempt used goods.

Regarding European Sales Tax that statement about 10% is way off. Having lived the last 15 years in Europe the sales tax rates are much higher. In Sweden "moms" which is sales tax on all goods and services is generally at 25% with a few exceptions such as for books.



I actually like the fair tax and wish Romney would support it too. However there are many, many other reasons to support Romney over Huckabee. People are starting to notice Huckabee's flaws as the polls are indicating.



Kyle:

You are also not a tax expert. I suggest you stick to something you know as there is no merit to any of your comments. For instance, not a single prebate will be sent by check in the mail. Prebates will be distributed by either electronic transfers to a bank account or a special charge or debit card.



Dan Mastromarco did a great job of detailing the problems with a "flat" income tax, and how the FairTax would be superior, in rebutting an older Bruce Bartlett objection (which was resurrected for Bartlett's more recent diatribes - adequately rebuked - at WSJ, OpinionJournal, and The new Republic Online). For easier reading, and emphasis, I've paraphrased his 1999 reply to Bartlett following.

(Paraphrased) Reply by Dan R Mastromarco (LL.M., Taxation, Georgetown, principal in the Argus Group, adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, International Management Program, and research consultant to Americans for Fair Taxation - FairTax.org) to:

"A National Sales Tax Doesn’t Add Up" by Bruce Bartlett, December 29, 1999

Many engaged in true tax reform find Bartlett-type attacks exasperating, if not embarrassing. I'd like to convey perspective of both flat taxers and sales taxers who believe that such attacks are counterproductive, but first provide some political history by which to frame said perspectives.

For years Conservatives have posited that a VAT is bad policy (when liberals were discussing it), fearing it would become additional to an income tax (it was called a "money machine"). Circa 1980, conservative intellectuals touted Hall-Rabushka "subtraction method"[ H-R ] VAT which taxed business value added at the business side and labor value added at the labor side. Unlike European VATs (identical in scope), H-R became favorite of Dick Armey and Steve Forbes. It eliminated steeply progressive tax rates and tax on savings. Because of the prior VAT criticisms, H-R was packaged as the "flat tax" and is sold as an income tax to this day, rather than the VAT that its DNA characterizes it as being.

Some conservative commentators have called for the repeal of the 16th Amendment and for the adoption of the flat tax, (despite the fact that it is styled as a direct tax and could not be adopted with such repeal). Mr. Bartlett has called the national sales tax [ie, the FairTax] a VAT (which it isn't), castigated VATs as evil, and has said that sales taxes have become VATs in Europe (which they didn't). In the next breath, he "throws his arms around" the flat tax (which is a VAT). He quotes Bill Gale that the [FairTax] would have to be imposed at 60 percent, but glaringly fails to recognize that if the two bases are the same, he would have to impose that rate for the flat tax to be revenue neutral. In truth, all economists know that the two plans differ NOT in economic effect or base, but in administration.

An income tax taxes savings and investment multiple times. Both flat tax and FairTax are neutral as to savings and investment, tax income only once, and are both consumption taxes. Both are single rate taxes, have nearly the same base, and would improve the U.S. standard of living. Neither redistributes wealth.

While some have even suggested that hey are the same plans under different names, the flat tax taxes value added at each stage in the production process, but the FairTax prefers to tax it when it is added up at the end and eliminate the need to make everyone a taxpayer and collector.

Substantive commonalities between the flat tax and FairTax doesn't mean that there are NO key political and policy distinctions that could be exploited in pitting one against the other. If FairTax supporters wanted to retaliate in response to the Bartlett-type critique, they would have much material with which to honestly do so:

• The flat tax will make small firms and farmers pay the tax even if they have no profit
• The flat tax is opposed by many small business groups
• The flat taxers implicitly support big government by disguising even more of the overall tax burden as the current law
• The flat tax has been kicking around for nearly 20 years
• The flat tax makes everyone a taxpayer and collector, while the FairTax exempts 115 million filers [2000 figure] from ever having to deal with the IRS
• The flat tax is regressive, but the FairTax would enable everyone to keep his full paycheck.
• The flat tax has not only stalled, it has lost public and Congressional support.
• The FairTax is instantly understood, while even some proponents of the flat tax don’t understand it
• There are no transition rules developed for the flat tax and they would be very difficult to craft
• The flat tax taxes exports and relieves imports from tax
• The flat tax confuses tax reform with temporary tax reduction and makes both twice as hard
• The flat tax retains the entire income tax apparatus which erodes as quickly as you can say, “tax bill”


FairTaxers could advance these truthful points without resorting to bigotry associated with a cultic religious organization. However, for the most part, FairTax supporters have chosen not to attack the flat tax, but rather accentuate the commonalities between the plans - despite the above-noted differences. The reason is that, in the battle for tax reform, the real enemy is our current system.

Income tax advocates look down upon the articles of Bruce Bartlett with smug chortling, as Bruce is doing their work for them. The IRS and the liberals who want an income tax to ensure (1) taxes can be raised without the American people knowing it, and (2) wealth can be redistributed from the middle class to the poor, do not even need to fight us - we're killing ourselves!

Perhaps Mr. Bartlett believes that the flat tax will help elect Republicans, effect tax reform, and provide tax cuts; however, the real effect of his criticism is to divide conservatives, to delay serious national consideration of tax reform, and to fertilize the roots of the income tax.

( Source - Addit'l at FairTax.org Whitepaper - May republish in whole or part. - Ian)



I hate to sound rude, but it seems no one, with the exception if Ian, has =any idea= what they are talking about.

And, I think it was very irresponsible for major candidates, with the exception of Huckabee, to not familiarize themselves with the FairTax. When Romney is attacking Huckabee and the FairTax, he has no idea what he's talking about. Do you still think Romney -- a guy doing a "half-fast" job -- is not going to do a "half-fast" job if elected? The evidence points that way.

And, by the way, there've been a number of presidents without foreign policy experience, who've done a fine job in that area. Thus, I reject your assertions, otherwise.



Mitt's alright, but since he's run a business he, of all people, should know how much the FairTax will help the country. Most importantly the poor and middle class...oh..or maybe that's the problem. The people that the Fairtax seems most threatening to are the "super wealthy", "Politicians" and "Big Business" who can game the current system for tax breaks. I forgot that Mitt get's alot of support from those groups, so maybe he does really know what effects the Fair Tax would have on the economy...hmmmm.
I most love hearing people sound educated when trying to trash the Fair Tax, but clearly, for those who are educated on the plan, they present themselves as absolutely and utterly ignorant.
There are over 75 WELL renowned economists who support the Fair Tax and millions of dollars of research and running numbers to make sure the calculations are as correct as humanly possible. Here check out the list:
http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/Open_Letter.pdf




Sunday, December 9, 2007
posted by Scott Allan | 9:45 AM | permalink
Mitt,

You have had my support since you announced you were running. I've followed your campaigns since you ran against Ted Kennedy. I was impressed when you turned around the Winter Olympics. I grew up in Massachusetts and I know how hard it is for a Republican to lead in that state, but you did a fantastic job. I believe that you have truly evolved as a person and candidate and your positions and values best qualify you for the Presidency.

I really want you to win this election. I'm going to offer some amateur advice, which hopefully you will consider since I am a prototypical primary voter.

Stop Huckabee
This Huckabee phenomenon has been impressive, but now is the time to stop it. I think Mike Huckabee is a decent, likable man and a good debater. I understand his appeal. He says is in favor of the fair tax which is an increasingly popular position. However, when I saw this video of Governor Huckabee begging Arkansas for a tax increase, I must say, I was deeply concerned.


Play this video again and again and again in campaign ads. It's going to stop people in their tracks.

Mike Huckabee is far better than any Democrat alternative, but he is not the ideal candidate. If most Republican voters are like me, the most important things they want is a victory over terror and low taxes. Huckabee believes Gitmo is not in America's interest.



On his campaign site, he says, "As president, I will fight this war hard, but I will also fight it smart, using all our political, economic, diplomatic, and intelligence weapons as well as our military might."

When you read between the lines, it sounds a little soft as though he might try to negotiate with our enemies. Maybe he could make Nancy Pelosi Secretary of State.

In an interview with George Stephanopolous, he starts channeling Ron Paul:

" Stephanopoulus: Pres. Bush said in his second inaugural address, "It is the policy of the US to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture." Has Pres. Bush's policy been a success?

Huckabee: Well, the problem is, sometimes when you get what you want, you don't want what you get. And this is a great case of that happening. I don't think it's the job of the US to export our form of government. It's the job of the US to protect our citizens, to make us free and us safe, and to create an enviable kind of government and system that everybody else will want.

Q: So it wouldn't be the core of your foreign policy?

A: Absolutely not, because I don't think we can force people to accept our way of life, our way of government. What we can to is to create the strongest America, freedom internally, secure borders, a safer nation. That makes a whole lot more sense to me than spending billions to try to prop up some government we don't even like when we get it."


Huckabee has granted clemency to 703 criminals including a dozen murderers during his terms as governor which is more than all six of his neighboring states and more than Bill Clinton:

Louisiana – 213.
Mississippi – 24.
Missouri – 79.
Oklahoma – 178.
Tennessee – 32.
Texas – 98.

As for Immigration, these are some of Huckabees positions:

"When he was governor, Huckabee held the following positions on illegal immigration: He supported higher education benefits for children of illegal immigrants, opposed a federal roundup of illegals from his state in 2005, opposed a 2001 bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote in the state, and in 2001, a member of his administration pushed for legislation to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants."

Taking all of these facts into consideration, I get the impression that the Compassionate Conservative in Huckabee seems to be more soft than compassionate.

Since Huckabee has only recently surged in the polls, his record might not be very well known. It is very important to show these differences.

Now that I've gotten Stop Huckabee out of my system, there are two more issues I would like addressed which I think are winners.

The CIA
Someone HAS to fix this. Our intelligence is an embarrassment. How can we stop Al Qaeda if we cannot infiltrate their organization? How can we formulate a position against Iran when our intelligence keeps contradicting itself. How can we protect ourselves with such an incompetent agency? I trust Israel's intelligence far more than our own.

A 10 year plan to eliminate our need for foreign oil


I am sick and tired of having to kiss the ass of dictators and radical Islamists stuck in the 12th century simply because they have oil. The way Islam treats women is disgusting. Take the case of the woman who was gang raped in Saudi Arabia by 7 men and then sentenced to 200 lashings and 6 months in prison for being in the company of a man who was not a relative. Let's not even mention that the Saudis financing terror and Wahabism around the world and that most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi. If Saudi Arabia did not have oil, we would have labeled them a terrorist and criminal nation a long time ago. Politics sure makes for strange bedfellows. We are supposed to champion human rights, not ignore them when convenient. Then we have Hugo Chavez reviving communism in our hemisphere and making billions from Citgo while constantly insulting us and aiding our enemies.

This has got to stop. I find it hard to believe that with all our innovation, we cannot become oil independent in 10 years. We are The United States of America for crying out loud. Where is my hydrogen car? Where are my ethanol gas stations? Let's stop messing around and get it done. I'm about to get a new car next year and I'm very disappointed in my choices. Believe me, this will tremendously improve our foreign policy position and make us much safer. I don't hear any Republicans leading the charge in this area. I truly believe Republicans will stand up and applaud this leadership.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Good luck in January, Mitt. As my father always told me, "The cream always rises to the top". I have confidence you will prevail.

Scott Allan

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Mitt needs to unload on the lack of congruence of his Republican friends. For too, long challengers like Huckabee tossed out this charge of consistency. Today, Huck says consistent and Wallace says immigration, taxes or public health. On the other hand, Mitt’s actions match his stance. You can’t say that about the other candidates.



To everyone who's concerned about Huck...let's try to keep his bad press rolling. Contact the ASPCA, Humane Society of the US and PETA and ask when they are issuing a statement condemning the brutal dog torture and murder by David Huckabee and subsequent attempt to sweep the story under the rug by Mike Huckabee.

press@aspca.org
membership@hsus.org
MediaInfo@peta.org

After all, every little bit of bad press helps. And let's face it, if this was a story involving the Romneys, the MSM would have it splashed across the front page of every paper in the country.



I agree with everything except, "Mike Huckabee is far better than any Democrat alternative..."

I'd prefer any of the Democratic candidates to Mike. Not only is Mike nearly void of practical competence (see the decision-making emphasized in this post), but his positions (outside guns/abortion) are as liberal and/or looney as anyone's. Guns & abortion are important, but they're issues that are unlikely to change regardless of the next president.

Mike would damage the country and seriously damage the Republican party for decades to come. If Mike somehow wins the nomination (unlikely) I'll vote Democrat for the first time in my life. He's the only Republican candidate I find 100% unacceptable.



I'm going to be at the Iowa Caucuses. Mitt will have my vote.

Three tickets out of Iowa, two tickets out of New Hampshire. Let's remember that everyone.

There. Is. No. Way. Mike Huckabee. Will be the nominee. Period. He can win Iowa. Maybe South Carolina. That's it.

What republicans need to remember is that who we actually nominate means a great deal this time around whether or not the democrats win the general election. The nominee always somewhat re-brands the party. If Rudy is nominated it will show that being pro choice is not necessarily a deal breaker for the coalition. If Huckabee is nominated, the fiscal conservative wing of the coalition will back Hillary, Obama, or Bloomberg, and may never come back to the republicans. If either piece of the coalition breaks off, republicans are toast.

If Huckabee wins the nomination, there is a good chance we'll see a third party run by Bloomberg who can self finance.

Huckabee won't win. Conservative Christians are not that stupid.




Friday, October 5, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 10:41 AM | permalink

Governor RomneyToday, the Romney campaign came out swinging. In their first official Rudy exposé the Giuliani "tax and tax again" record is thrown into stark relief. The research is pretty extensive and makes an excellent case against the fiscal policy that Rudy advocated while Mayor.

"Earlier Today, Mr. Giuliani Assailed The Legislature For Seeking To End The Commuter Tax, Saying That If Anything, It Should Be Higher." (Clifford J. Levy, "Leaders In Albany Plan To Eliminate Tax On Commuters," The New York Times, 5/13/99)

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Fought To Tax People For Going To Work:

University Of Pennsylvania's Factcheck.Org: Mayor Giuliani "Fought To Keep" The Commuter Tax. "Also, it's worth noting that Giuliani's list doesn't mention one tax he fought to keep – New York City's commuter tax, which was lifted by the state Legislature in 1999. The mayor and the city council sued the state to maintain the tax – .45 percent of earned income for most of the people affected – but lost in court. The city had been collecting about $360 million per year from commuters from New Jersey, Connecticut and other parts of New York state." (Factcheck.org, "Giuliani's Tax Puffery," FactCheck.org Website, http://www.factcheck.org/, 7/27/07)

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Not Only Wanted To Keep The Tax, He Wanted To Raise It:

Mayor Giuliani Said That The Commuter Tax Should Be Increased Rather Than Eliminated. "Earlier today, Mr. Giuliani assailed the Legislature for seeking to end the commuter tax, saying that if anything, it should be higher." (Clifford J. Levy, "Leaders In Albany Plan To Eliminate Tax On Commuters," The New York Times, 5/13/99)

Mayor Giuliani Threatened Politicians Who Considered Voting For The Tax Cut. "At the City Hall event, Giuliani also warned Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and any other city-elected backers of the tax cut: 'Voting against the interests of the city, somehow, some way, you will pay for it.'" (Dan Janison, "Former Foes United," [New York] Newsday, 5/17/99)


FACT: Mayor Giuliani Called The $360 Million A Year Commuter Tax "Modest," And Said The City Was "Entitled" To The Tax:

By 1999, More Than 750,000 Non-City Resident Commuters Were Paying The Commuter Tax. "The 33-year-old tax on more than 750,000 non-city residents who commute to jobs in the city rakes in $360 million a year for the Big Apple, when payments by New Yorkers and out-of-staters are counted." (Gregg Birnbaum, et al. "Shel-Shocked Pataki Will Get Tax-Kill Bill Next Week," New York Post, 5/20/99)

Mayor Giuliani Justified The Tax As "Modest." "'Sometimes, the game of politics gets out of control,' Giuliani said. 'This is a very modest tax.'" (Dan Janison, "Former Foes United," [New York] Newsday, 5/17/99)

Mayor Giuliani Said That The City Government Was "Very Much Entitled To This Very Small Tax." "'The city should not feel that it's doing anybody a favor here,' Mr. Giuliani said. 'We are very much entitled to this very small tax.'" (Clifford J. Levy, "Legislature Acts Quickly To Repeal Commuter Tax," The New York Times, 5/18/99)

* Mayor Giuliani Administration Official: "We Want To Retain That Money." "'We are going into this lawsuit in a very optimistic fashion,' said Michael D. Hess, the city's Corporation Counsel, who joined Mr. Giuliani in an afternoon news conference at City Hall. 'We want to retain that money for the good uses that the city will put it to.'" (Abby Goodnough, "Giuliani Files Lawsuit Challenging Tax Repeal," The New York Times, 6/3/99)

Mayor Giuliani Said That Suburbanites "Should Feel An Obligation" To Pay The Tax. "On his weekly WABC radio show, Giuliani said that suburbanites 'should feel an obligation to make a contribution to the city that is doing a lot for them.'" (Robert Hardt Jr., "Albany Tax Slash Has City Weighing Layoffs," New York Post, 5/22/99)

FACT: Mayor Giuliani Sued Republicans In Albany So He Could Keep The Commuter Tax:

Mayor Giuliani Immediately Threatened Legal Action In Order To Keep The Commuter Tax. "A spokeswoman for Mr. Giuliani said tonight that he would file suit to retain the tax, maintaining that the state cannot end it without the permission of the city." (Clifford J. Levy, "Leaders In Albany Plan To Eliminate Tax On Commuters," The New York Times, 5/13/99)

* Mayor Giuliani: "We Will Challenge It. We Will Go To Court And We Will Win." (Gregg Birnbaum, "Rudy Goes To War With Albany," New York Post, 5/14/99)

Governor Pataki Signed The Repeal Into Law, Despite Giuliani's Protests. "Gov. George Pataki signed the law eliminating New York City's commuter tax yesterday at the Rockville Centre train station, much to the delight of hometown state Sen. Dean Skelos, who for more than a decade championed calls to remove the tax." (Monte R. Young, "Pataki Signs Commuter Tax Repeal," [New York] Newsday, 5/28/99)

Mayor Giuliani Filed A Lawsuit Challenging The State's Authority To Repeal The Tax. "Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and City Council Speaker Peter Vallone joined forces and filed a lawsuit yesterday to challenge the Legislature's repeal of the city's commuter tax, insisting the measure was unconstitutional… The suit argues the Legislature passed the measure too quickly and did not receive city permission in what's called a Home Rule message." (Liz Willen, "City Sues Over Tax Repeal," [New York] Newsday, 6/3/99)

The State Supreme Court Rejected Mayor Giuliani's Argument And Ruled The Entire Tax Unconstitutional. "A Manhattan judge on Friday, in effect, rewrote the state law repealing the New York City commuter tax, an action which authorities said could cost the city more than $360 million a year. Supreme Court Justice Barry Cozier said the law, which repealed the payroll tax only for state residents but left it intact for out-of-state commuters, was unconstitutional. His ruling means the tax is eliminated for all commuters…Cozier agreed with lawyers for New Jersey, Connecticut and two private individuals that the new tax law, scheduled to take effect July 1, violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs had argued that taxing some commuters and not others was unfair to those who still would be forced to pay. The judge rejected the city's argument that the law is special legislation requiring a so-called home-rule message before any change is made. A home-rule message is a request from the city to the state to alter a law affecting city affairs." ("Judge Eliminates Commuter Tax," [New York] Newsday, 6/26/99)

FACT: After Losing In Court, Mayor Giuliani Continued To Fight To Keep The Commuter Tax:

The Giuliani Administration Vowed To Appeal The Ruling. "City officials said the court ruling would be appealed." ("Judge Eliminates Commuter Tax," [New York] Newsday, 6/26/99)

The New York Court Of Appeals Rejected Mayor Giuliani's Appeal. "Deepening a financial blow to New York City, the state's highest court said yesterday that state lawmakers acted within their authority last year when they repealed a city tax on commuters and that the 'discriminatory' income tax still levied on out-of-state commuters must also be ended. That means out-of-state commuters will be reimbursed for the city tax they've paid retroactive to July 1 of last year, when the repeal for in-state commuters took effect. The city had collected the 0.45 percent tax since 1966." (Kara Blond, "Court Of Appeals Kill City's Commuter Tax," [New York] Newsday, 4/5/00)

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Friday, March 30, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 6:28 AM | permalink
Mitt Romney on taxesThe recent meeting hosted by the "Club for Growth" (the same event that someone panned McCain for dissing) proved to be a very successful event for Mitt.

Momentum is his according the WSJ (actual excerpts can be found here):
The guy with the momentum is former entrepreneur and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He's signed an anti-tax pledge, bemoaned excessive regulation, called for cheaper energy with domestic drilling, and laid out (in detailed Power Point presentations) the coming fiscal disasters that are Social Security and Medicare. He took another plunge yesterday, unveiling a broad-strokes tax agenda.

While short on details, he laid out a marker for the field, calling for lower marginal tax rates, a more competitive corporate tax and the end of the death tax. This isn't necessarily a surprise, given Mr. Romney's economic team is largely made up of the Bush tax-cut brain trust, including former Council of Economic Advisers chief Glenn Hubbard, his successor, Greg Mankiw, and Brian Reardon. Mr. Romney also scored a coup with economist John Cogan, who knows budgets inside-out, and is a tax-cutter to boot.

What attracted many of these economists to the Romney team was the former governor's success, in a liberal state, of beating back big-tax proposals and instead choosing to erase deficits by hacking away at spending. Mr. Romney's challenge will now be in convincing economic conservatives that his tax plan, and other pro-growth talk, is more than just election rhetoric. In particular, he'll need to do some explaining about his Massachusetts health-care plan, which Mr. Romney touted as a market-based reform, but was more about new government regulation.

The team least happy with this early Romney tax marker is surely John McCain's. The super-senator has been unable to get much traction with this second bid for the White House, thanks in part to conservatives' distrust of his economic credentials. The maverick was born out of the old austerity wing of the GOP, tough on spending, big on balanced budgets, grave about the need for entitlement reform. These were the traits Mr. McCain stressed in his last run, and by the look of his new team, little will change this time around.
Ramesh at NRO's The Corner had this to say:
Almost everything is off the record at the Club for Growth's "winter" conference, but I can say that the dozen or so attendees to whom I spoke after Mitt Romney's speech were impressed.

Since the campaign issued a press release about the speech, I can also comment a little about its contents. Romney hit every one of the club's buttons. He came out against most trade barriers, for reductions in marginal tax rates, against the "death tax," for cuts in corporate tax rates to make our rates comparable to those of other countries, for federal tort reform, and for scaling back Sarbanes-Oxley. He repeated his call for federal spending to shrink by one percent in real terms every year.

A few attendees complained about the vagueness of Romney's proposals. While he has come out for more detailed and substantial tax cuts than Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, or Fred Thompson, he didn't say what corporate and personal income tax rates he wanted, or offer an estimate of the budget impact of his tax cuts. On Social Security, he spoke against tax cuts but otherwise merely offered a list of options—with personal accounts the last one on the list.

All in all, it seems like a perfectly fine economic plan if you're looking for a conventional conservative platform and a smart businessman to sell it. I don't think it is a great tax plan for the general election, however, and Republicans need one.

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Go to the straw poll at the site below and vote for Mitt!

http://www.gopbloggers.org/

(scroll down to the straw poll)

By Anonymous Anonymous, at March 30, 2007 at 3:12 PM  



Friday, March 2, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 10:25 PM | permalink
The New American Challenge. First, economic conservatism


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Friday, February 16, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 9:29 AM | permalink
Earlier in the week we launched the first of our online tools, an interactive issues chart. Today we get down to business with an easy to read and understand FAQ on the topics that people have questions about.

CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC BELOW TO VIEW THE TOOL.


Alternately, you can view it here and download the pdf file here.

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Monday, February 12, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 9:33 AM | permalink
Here's a quick excerpt from Gov. Romney's address in Detroit this last week. One thing I love about this clip. He brings out the PowerPoint in full force! A picture says a thousand words:

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Sunday, February 11, 2007
posted by Momo Harris | 5:05 PM | permalink
Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney for PresidentGov. Mike Huckabee was on This Week Sunday morning and stated that in more words or less that there is nothing wrong with higher taxes as long as it is being spent correctly. In issues of health care, housing, and education, there should be higher taxes to be able to afford programs that help out the neediest of people.

Now, this sounds all well and good, except that in reality, the Federal government has a poor record of using taxpayer's money appropriately. In the past, billions were spent in helping the poor and needy to get out of poverty and to improve their lives. Billions were spent on education to help troubled schools compete with better schools.

Yet, all of this spending that was done has not ended poverty or helped kids become educated. Health Care, under government's watch, has given some people access to medical care, but kept many from not receiving from health care, due to the bureaucracy that is involved and the waste that has gone on. Huckabee's answer that taxes are needed to help make things better won't help but hurt since government would be involved in issues that could be solved through private charity or action.

Looking at his record as governor of Arkansas, he raised taxes to try and fund improvements to the state, yet they rank in the bottom for health care, economic growth, and education. If raising taxes are a good thing, Arkansas would be having great growth in all of these areas.

Mitt Romney offers a contrast of leading Massachusetts in economic growth, improving schools and health care during his four years in office without raising taxes, compared with Mike Huckabee's 8 years in office and lack of improvements in any of those categories while raising or implementing a series of taxes. Mike Huckabee is a good and decent man, but he is wrong about tax, education, and health care policy and raising taxes will not solve any of those problems.

You can watch a portion of the exchange here

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I found the remarks to be extraordinarily derogatory to conservative values. No, Mr. Huckabee, it is not merely a matter of letting poor people starve or go without health care. What kind of incentives are you creating? Here I thought we repudiated the welfare state in 1994. It is alive and well in Arkansas.What this country needs right now is a candidate who believes in fiscal conservatism, can articulate it like Reagan, and will use his veto to instill some discipline on Congress. I know the right man for the job.



Huckabee sounds like he's vying to be John Edwards' running mate.




Thursday, February 8, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 9:57 AM | permalink
Rasmussen Reports notes that Mitt's favorable ratings are up 6 points (from 29% to 35%). Unfavorables dropping from 34% to 31%.

34% of voters still don't know Mitt Romney which give the Governor a distinct advantage to lay out his case without a political biases.

Granted there are other biases afoot as this NY Times article notes.

Elsewhere, the influential Club for Growth lauded Romney's speech Wednesday in Detroit:
The other presidential candidates should follow Governor Romney’s lead and propose similar, if not more extensive, measures to protect American taxpayers and promote continued economic expansion.
In case you missed it here's a quick excerpt from Romney's speech:
It is time to make saving easy in America. I believe people should be allowed to earn interest, dividends and capital gains up to a certain amount a year, tax free and without restrictions on how or when their savings and investments are spent. As an example, let's say we chose $5,000 for joint filers as the annual tax free figure for dividends, interest and capital gains. This would help middle class families to be able to save and to invest - and spend their savings the American way: any way they want.

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Wednesday, February 7, 2007
posted by Dave | 7:26 PM | permalink
Mitt Romney in DetroitGovernor Romney today delivered a thorough economic address to the Detroit Economic Club. An excerpt:
"One hundred years ago, Golden Jubilee for Queen Victoria, unthinkable England would ever be surpassed as a superpower. But 50 years later, America roared passed.

"Inconceivable to us today that America could ever be passed. We've been competing with Europe for so long that we've gotten a little over-confident. But look east. Asia is emerging as an economic powerhouse. Great news, can buy our goods and products - I was pleased to see all the Buicks when I was in Beijing in December. But also a real challenge. Will Rogers: 'even if you're on the right track, if you don't move, you'll get run over.'

"Standing still isn't a viable option. The question for America is this: what direction should we take?"
Afterwards, the Club for Growth issued a press release containing the glowing approval of Club President Pat Toomey:
“Governor Romney outlined today an economic platform that is, generally speaking, very pro-growth despite the surprising limit he suggests for tax-free savings,” Toomey said. “As the governor develops the specifics of his economic policies, we hope he will boldly build upon the limited government, free-market policies he discussed today.”
Finally, the Governor appeared on CNBC's Kudlow & Company for a detailed interview on economic policy. Here's a segment on YouTube.

It's clear that no Presidential candidate on either side of the ballot is as prepared to discuss issues of economic importance as Mitt Romney is.

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Saturday, January 13, 2007
posted by Justin Hart | 9:57 AM | permalink

  • "The easy way to fix any problem is to go to the people and say you have to pay more money, but that's not what the job of management is. The job of management is to find ways to permanently and structurally change the costs of our structure such that we can have a balanced budget without always raising taxes every time people think there's a need."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Herald, March 22, 2002


~ Mike

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Saturday, January 6, 2007
posted by jason | 8:11 AM | permalink
With the inauguration of Deval Patrick the Commonwealth of Massachusetts returns to the suicidal tendencies of it's past. Apparently the inauguration parties have left Patrick a little punch-drunk as he eagerly overturns the spending cuts of the Romney administration:


Haverhill, for instance, will receive $2.6 million in Hale Hospital debt relief, money needed to keep the city's budget balanced.

Funding for Pettengill House, the Newburyport YWCA, the Lower Merrimack Valley Boys & Girls Club, Salisbury's Historical Society, Amesbury's Cultural Council and Salisbury's Chamber of Commerce also were restored.

Salem State College, which lost $800,000 for its nursing program, will see that money. The state will also pay $500,000 for Peabody flood prevention and $400,000 for the dredging of Crystal Lake.

Romney cut $425 million in state spending on Nov. 9, saying there wasn't money to pay for those items. Link


Romney left office with the distinction of having governed every year with a balanced budget. The last year was highlighted by Romney's constant vetoing of the state legislatures spending sprees. Of course kids in candy shops never want to be denied, and the outrage of the liberal legislature was oozing as we well remember.

Some of you might remember the other Romney cuts that Patrick has now restored:

1. Victorian Street lighting in Melrose ($200,000)

2. A gazebo for Braintree ($100,000- thats an expensive gazebo!)

3. Study for the internal combustion engine ($4,000,000- isn't that Ford's job?)

4. Money for the Hyannis Athletic Association ($75,000 well I guess Ted Kennedy is a little portly!)

Yet where the stupidity ends the irony begins. In a remarkable show of cognitive dissonance Pork-Barrel-Patrick has claimed Romney left a deficit "hidden" in the details that Patrick will somehow fix:


"It's a very significant structural deficit," Patrick said. "We have to deal with that, and we will deal with that. There's no reason to panic." Link


(I have no doubt this claim is brought to you by the DNC commitee for 2008)

There wouldn't be a reason to panic if a) There was really a deficit and b) Patrick was intent on cutting spending. Yet when Patrick has plans to fix his imaginary deficit while increasing spending, one is left to wonder how he will accomplish this.

Barbara Anderson, founder of Citizens for Limited Taxation, said Patrick's pronouncement gives her a sense of deja vu.

She said a new, reform-minded governor named Michael Dukakis came into office claiming he was left a fiscal mess in 1975 and responded by raising taxes.


Like a dog returning to it's vomit, Massachusetts has decided return to the days of high spending and high taxes to fix a mess that never existed. How often do the liberals need to be reminded that cutting taxes and spending always leads to a balanced budget? How often do liberals need to be reminded of the failures of past administrations who have gone down this same road?

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