There are some parts of the discussion in subsequent articles regarding taxation which minimally agree with Ted Cruz but, in the main, the offering from him is nothing more than a shell game in which taxes are shuffled around with little to no benefit. His V.A.T. (i.e. sales tax) is borrowed from Europe so why not borrow the entire European approach, other than England, and go full, in his terms, socialist.
The only significant similarity to the proposal from Cruz is a flat tax rate with consideration, as in the discussion, of income sources for the poor and that which shall be exempt.
Absent in the Cruz discussion is isolating the existing national debt as a single entity, separate from the explicit management of the annual budget. There may be flaws to the bond-selling approach to the pay-down of the national debt but, as you will see in the articles, rational critique is invited. There is no partisan component to it because the left and the right agree the bills of the government must be paid therefore get on with doing that.
Moreover, the definitions of the political parties relative to conservative versus liberal have been so transmogrified by television theatrics as to be something unrelated to actual political process which depends, above all, on fairness. It's not the job of Congress to be fast, no matter how much we may prefer it, but it is the job to be fair and there is a wide perception Congress has not been fair for quite some time.
Example of the absurdity of twenty-first Century politics is today's offering from Donald Trump who claims Ben Carson's wild statements are similar to child molestation. This kind of reckless slander isn't political but rather mindless character assassination. For this reason, there is little to no purpose in engaging with such people because there can be no expectation of a rational answer. This is of the same kind as the puerile strikes in Congress in which the opposing party is vilified in any possible way giving all appearance Congress engages in a cage fight rather than politics.
An example on the left is Nancy Pelosi and everything has been offered for her up to burning her as a witch. That type of Fox News widely-commercial and poorly-political slashing of everything even mentioning the word 'liberal' is symptomatic of the disease. CNN wobbles around some twisted definition of centrism but it's clearly swung strongly by PAC dollars, just as is Fox News.
We loathe the expression ad hominem (i.e. personal attacks) because people who use the term are, more often than not, useless poofs too impressed with their own words. However, in the context of the current political contest and particularly from the news channels, it's warranted in whatever form you wish to express it.
Therefore, we regard the Kannafoot Position as a fair point of discussion and the engagement can proceed from that perspective. As you can read for yourself, it did.
Here on the Socialist Left, we first deny there is any socialist left or democratic socialism as these are no more than buzz words with little to no understanding in the hoi polloi (i.e. an originally-Greek term meaning the masses, proletariat, etc) and accomplish no more than stirring emotions. The point to all of this is fairness and all governments are socialist, by definition. They take your cash and distribute it as roads, etc, etc for the benefit of all. More esoteric definitions of socialism are all very well but the fundamental from this is fairness and calling it any other word makes no difference except insofar as buzz words are exploited to negative effect.
We, on the Socialist Left, are aware of various analyses which claim the Ted Cruz plan will cost $16 trillion and perhaps it's true ... or not. Nevertheless politics by sound bite or network sniping do not constitute debate nor do they contribute to a reasoned opposition with the purpose of fair management of the system, call it socialist if you like. As soon as you call it socialist as a derogative, we will walk away because you already are starting to waste our time.
Perhaps you have heard claims elsewhere regarding Cruz and his plan to abolish the Internal Revenue Service for which we assume his alternative plans on the honor system and the postman will pick up your flat tax payment ... but he also wants to eliminate the postal service.
Here on the Socialist Left, we see no credibility in Cruz and he's a politician more than a mathematician and has been demonstrably disingenuous in many things he has said.
So, moving forward and we shall see whatever comes. The engagement in reasoned discussion with the other side is an excitement and the poodle shows on television are nothing at all.
The discussion with Kannafoot can be read at Kannafoot, a Goldwater Republican, Provides Excellent Review of Taxation w/Rebuttal (Searching for Ithaka link).
The only significant similarity to the proposal from Cruz is a flat tax rate with consideration, as in the discussion, of income sources for the poor and that which shall be exempt.
Absent in the Cruz discussion is isolating the existing national debt as a single entity, separate from the explicit management of the annual budget. There may be flaws to the bond-selling approach to the pay-down of the national debt but, as you will see in the articles, rational critique is invited. There is no partisan component to it because the left and the right agree the bills of the government must be paid therefore get on with doing that.
Moreover, the definitions of the political parties relative to conservative versus liberal have been so transmogrified by television theatrics as to be something unrelated to actual political process which depends, above all, on fairness. It's not the job of Congress to be fast, no matter how much we may prefer it, but it is the job to be fair and there is a wide perception Congress has not been fair for quite some time.
Example of the absurdity of twenty-first Century politics is today's offering from Donald Trump who claims Ben Carson's wild statements are similar to child molestation. This kind of reckless slander isn't political but rather mindless character assassination. For this reason, there is little to no purpose in engaging with such people because there can be no expectation of a rational answer. This is of the same kind as the puerile strikes in Congress in which the opposing party is vilified in any possible way giving all appearance Congress engages in a cage fight rather than politics.
An example on the left is Nancy Pelosi and everything has been offered for her up to burning her as a witch. That type of Fox News widely-commercial and poorly-political slashing of everything even mentioning the word 'liberal' is symptomatic of the disease. CNN wobbles around some twisted definition of centrism but it's clearly swung strongly by PAC dollars, just as is Fox News.
We loathe the expression ad hominem (i.e. personal attacks) because people who use the term are, more often than not, useless poofs too impressed with their own words. However, in the context of the current political contest and particularly from the news channels, it's warranted in whatever form you wish to express it.
Therefore, we regard the Kannafoot Position as a fair point of discussion and the engagement can proceed from that perspective. As you can read for yourself, it did.
Here on the Socialist Left, we first deny there is any socialist left or democratic socialism as these are no more than buzz words with little to no understanding in the hoi polloi (i.e. an originally-Greek term meaning the masses, proletariat, etc) and accomplish no more than stirring emotions. The point to all of this is fairness and all governments are socialist, by definition. They take your cash and distribute it as roads, etc, etc for the benefit of all. More esoteric definitions of socialism are all very well but the fundamental from this is fairness and calling it any other word makes no difference except insofar as buzz words are exploited to negative effect.
We, on the Socialist Left, are aware of various analyses which claim the Ted Cruz plan will cost $16 trillion and perhaps it's true ... or not. Nevertheless politics by sound bite or network sniping do not constitute debate nor do they contribute to a reasoned opposition with the purpose of fair management of the system, call it socialist if you like. As soon as you call it socialist as a derogative, we will walk away because you already are starting to waste our time.
Perhaps you have heard claims elsewhere regarding Cruz and his plan to abolish the Internal Revenue Service for which we assume his alternative plans on the honor system and the postman will pick up your flat tax payment ... but he also wants to eliminate the postal service.
Here on the Socialist Left, we see no credibility in Cruz and he's a politician more than a mathematician and has been demonstrably disingenuous in many things he has said.
So, moving forward and we shall see whatever comes. The engagement in reasoned discussion with the other side is an excitement and the poodle shows on television are nothing at all.
The discussion with Kannafoot can be read at Kannafoot, a Goldwater Republican, Provides Excellent Review of Taxation w/Rebuttal (Searching for Ithaka link).
4 comments:
There are two primary sources of revenue for the government. The first, most popular at local levels, is a tax on sales. At the national level, this frequently translates into a Value Added Tax (VAT), but at it's heart it's still a tax on sales. The second is a tax on income.
The Cruz concept relies heavily on a VAT, and that is a general concept that I do not support. Consider that a tax on income does not remove an incentive for a person to earn more. In rare cases under today's system a salary increase or bonus may hurt if it just pushes you across the line into a higher bracket, but I can honestly say I've never heard of anyone turning down a raise because they didn't want to pay the taxes on it.
That is not true when it comes to a sales tax or a VAT. Both do stifle purchasing, and at the state level they have been demonstrated to push folks across a state line to get a better sales tax rate. (I bought my IPad in NH instead of RI to avoid paying $50 in sales tax.) A VAT is even worse, especially when you consider the high percentage often associated with that type of national tax. It definitely impacts a decision on whether or not to make a major purchase.
As to eliminating the IRS, it's a cute concept that resonates with the masses, but from a practical perspective it's sheer nonsense. Simplify the tax code and automate more of the returns process in order to gain administrative inefficiencies, but any call to eliminate the agency is not grounded in reality.
There you see it from the Goldwater Republican perspective and the Socialist Left agrees with it. We do not want pandering, we want fairness because, in our view, socialism, populism, and fairness are all largely the same thing but each word has been manipulated and transmogrified in different ways by the media. We abhor that kind of buzz word politics and we want the real thing. We're appreciative and excited by the discussion with Kannafoot as it gives me hope legitimate negotiation of positions really can deliver an excellent product so long as the road bumps stop obstructing the process with needless injection of religion and other such red herrings which have nothing to do with the consideration. You may notice the subject of religion has never been raised in any of these articles and I can vouch for the authenticity of Kannafoot's religious beliefs. As to my own, I wear a TCU (Texas Christian University) hat but I am not a Christian. The hat was six bucks because I guess no-one else wanted it (larfs). I wouldn't have cared if it said I Love Gay Cowboy Movies, makes no difference to me.
Turning down raises is rare but holding until the end of the year is used. As is holding bonuses or commissions until the following tax year as a form of income averaging.
Taxes will never be fair. It cant be. The wealthy must pay the majority as the poor cant. Kannafoot is 100% correct simplfy the code. And cut the need for the huge expense of tracking returns. I wouls gladly pay more to walk away from the process of filing returns.
Besides taxes are the governments way of congratulating hard work
Fair enough on all counts and I'm glad to see you join the party. Hysteria has been extreme everywhere and I feel so strongly we need reason and clear thinking maybe more than we ever have.
I have a minor point on fairness as it may be an ideal which is impossible but, with reason, I believe we can approach that which the most people consider fair. I don't mean to get too poetic but I see it as little different from photographing orchids as there will always be some imperfection, albeit a tiny one.
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