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Perry's simple tax plan not so simple

Jetboogieman

Jetboogieman

Somewhere in Babylon
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Rick Perry has said he wants to scrap the tax code and make taxes simpler.

That may be what he wants. But what he proposed on Tuesday is to keep the federal tax code intact and add an optional flat tax.

Inherently that makes the tax code more complex, not less.

The GOP presidential candidate's "Cut, Balance and Grow Plan" would give taxpayers a choice.
"
Central to my plan is giving every American the option of throwing out the three million words of the current tax code and the costs of complying with that code in order to pay a 20% flat tax on their income," Perry said in a speech in South Carolina.

If families making $500,000 or less choose the 20% flat tax, they would get a $12,500 standard exemption, and they would be allowed to deduct mortgage interest, state and local taxes, as well as charitable contributions.

Families who earn more than $500,000 would not get any of those tax breaks.
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So much for simplicity there buddy.
 
All this will do is lower federal revenues and make the debt grow even faster.

Then you will just hear people bitch about the debt even more with nothing real being accomplished.
 
megaprogman said:
All this will do is lower federal revenues and make the debt grow even faster.

Then you will just hear people bitch about the debt even more with nothing real being accomplished.
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No, it wouldn't. If you wiped the tax code bare, set simple rules, revenues would increase simply because the deductions would be virtually non-existent and the tax base would be vastly increased.
 
Samhain said:
No, it wouldn't. If you wiped the tax code bare, set simple rules, revenues would increase simply because the deductions would be virtually non-existent and the tax base would be vastly increased.
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Hes not doing that...all hes doing is GIVING the rich a huge tax cut....his plan is if your rich and you want to save millions return my 20% flat tax...if your not one of the richest you can still use the old tax code....Lol... anyone below the top 10% that goes for this is nuts....it most CERTAINLY will add hugely to the debt
 
lpast said:
Hes not doing that...all hes doing is GIVING the rich a huge tax cut....his plan is if your rich and you want to save millions return my 20% flat tax...if your not one of the richest you can still use the old tax code....Lol... anyone below the top 10% that goes for this is nuts....it most CERTAINLY will add hugely to the debt
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Uhm, it gets rid of exemptions for anybody over 500k. You realize the current effective tax rate for the "the rich" is about 17%? So if they choose the flat tax their rates go up, not down. Sometimes, you gotta wipe the bias out of your eyes and actually look at things objectively instead of sitting on hack island.
 
When even Fox News -- FOX NEWS -- calls your plan a "disaster", you know you've screwed the pooch!
 
tessaesque said:
So Fox News is only credible when it it supports your viewpoint?
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No, but fact is. If Rick Perry actually made a half-decent plan. Fox News would be cheering for the plan right now.
 
Camlon said:
No, but fact is. If Rick Perry actually made a half-decent plan. Fox News would be cheering for the plan right now.
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I would think Fox's rejection of the plan would bode well for it. Since they're considered to be so incredibly biased and right-leaning, if they disagree with it then it must buck the trend, no? And if that's the case, then wouldn't you want to maybe consider what they're rejecting?
 
tessaesque said:
I would think Fox's rejection of the plan would bode well for it. Since they're considered to be so incredibly biased and right-leaning, if they disagree with it then it must buck the trend, no? And if that's the case, then wouldn't you want to maybe consider what they're rejecting?
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This is a republican nomination. At least 5 million republicans watch Fox News, that is 25% of the voters in the nomination. Getting promotion from Fox News is critical. Much more important than Huffington Post, Washongton Post or any other newspapers republicans don't read.
 
Camlon said:
No, but fact is. If Rick Perry actually made a half-decent plan. Fox News would be cheering for the plan right now.
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I disagree. Fox has clearly decided to push Romney so attacking Perry's plan is par for the course. I listened to Krauthammer last night try to bash Perry's plan, he came across as a stammering idiot.
 
conservativeguy said:
I disagree. Fox has clearly decided to push Romney so attacking Perry's plan is par for the course. I listened to Krauthammer last night try to bash Perry's plan, he came across as a stammering idiot.
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Fox news are promoting any candidate they think can win. Hence, they are letting Romney and Cain fight about the nomination, while pushing out Perry who is a disaster.
 
Camlon said:
This is a republican nomination. At least 5 million republicans watch Fox News, that is 25% of the voters in the nomination. Getting promotion from Fox News is critical. Much more important than Huffington Post, Washongton Post or any other newspapers republicans don't read.
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Which is incredibly sad. I don't base my voting decisions on what any of the pundits have to say. Their biased, emotion-driven reactions to candidates completely turns me off (network notwithstanding). I think if 25% of the electorate is waiting for Fox to tell them how to vote then we're all doomed.
 
Samhain said:
No, it wouldn't. If you wiped the tax code bare, set simple rules, revenues would increase simply because the deductions would be virtually non-existent and the tax base would be vastly increased.
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from article in OP said:
That may be what he wants. But what he proposed on Tuesday is to keep the federal tax code intact and add an optional flat tax.
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If perry is giving people an option on which tax code they will use, then people will choose whatever gives them the lowest payment, meaning that revenues will go down as a function of less taxes being collected.
 
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megaprogman said:
All this will do is lower federal revenues and make the debt grow even faster.

Then you will just hear people bitch about the debt even more with nothing real being accomplished.
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"Starve The Beast" has long been a right wing strategy to weaken government. This is simply part of that belief system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast

"Starving the beast" is a fiscal-political strategy of some American conservatives[1][2] to cut taxes, depriving the government of revenue in an effort to create a fiscal budget crisis that would then force the federal government to reduce spending. The assumption is that the government would not spend beyond its means (taxes). History has shown, however, that the US government - "the beast" - has instead borrowed money to maintain or increase its continued spending, generally resulting in increased United States public debt rather than dramatic reductions in the size or scope of government.

James M. Buchanan, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, helped develop the Fiscal Illusion hypothesis. It's obvious, he said, "borrowing allows spending to be made that will yield immediate political payoffs without the incurring of any immediate political cost."[3] In their book Democracy in Deficit (1977), Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner suggest that the complicated nature of the U.S. tax system causes fiscal illusion and results in greater public expenditure than would be the case in an idealized system in which everyone is aware in detail of what their share of the costs of government is.[4]
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Camlon said:
Fox news are promoting any candidate they think can win. Hence, they are letting Romney and Cain fight about the nomination, while pushing out Perry who is a disaster.
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I disagree. They have a steady stream of RINOs attacking Cain as well as Perry. They are all-in for Romney.
 
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