Americans for Fair Taxation executive director Tom Wright and regional director John Collet met with me Thursday. They are pushing to replace corporate and personal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes with a 23 percent retail sales tax.
No, they’re not nutcases. And they have some compelling claims.
For example, they argue that a consumption-based tax system could cut the estimated $260 billion spent annually enforcing and complying with tax laws by 90 percent — which could be a big boost to the economy. They also argue that the new system would be more progressive, because taxpayers below the poverty line would get a rebate on all their taxes and the burden of paying for Social Security would be spread throughout the population, including the rich (the current system has an income cap on payroll tax collections).
They are aiming to have the change pass Congress in 2006. But Wright acknowledged that the timetable could be hurt by the battle over the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy and the fact that President Bush’s Social Security reform is “in the ditch.”
I have trouble seeing an entrenched Congress and a cautious public going along with such a huge change. Still, our byzantine tax system does needs overhauling, so I welcome this debate. To learn more, go to their Web site at www.fairtax.org.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
A tragic auto accident this week illustrated in stark terms the value of seat belts.
Ron and Sandy Fuller, who according to friends didn’t like to wear seat belts, were killed Wednesday when their van flipped near Hutchinson.
Their 8-year-old son, Christian, who was wearing his seat belt, survived the accident.
Buckle up.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor didn’t single-handedly smash the glass ceiling for women jurists and bring gender balance to the legal profession, but her elevation to the nation’s highest court didn’t hurt. Between 1981 and 2005, female law school enrollment rose from 36 percent to 48 percent, and the number of women on the federal bench rose from 48 to 201. That’s impressive. I’ve been interested, too, in how her gender has entered into the reviews of her tenure. Cokie Roberts pushed Newt Gingrich onto this train of thought on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday by talking about the life experience and practicality that O’Connor brought to the bench, but what he said was striking nonetheless: that in the legislative arena, most women “tend to be looking at ‘how do we get this together?’ whereas most men are kind of looking at ‘how do I beat you?’” Such generalizations can be asking for trouble, but can’t they also be true — and instructive?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It was a relief that the Kansas Supreme Court accepted the state’s school finance plan Friday; the last thing we needed was to shut down schools or make lawmakers return to Topeka again. As the court order noted: “The present solution may not be ideal. However, it is approved for interim purposes.” In other words, it’s good enough for now. But the real test will be next session.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
"I hope the United States Senate conducts themselves in a way that brings dignity to the process and that the senators don’t listen to the special interest groups, particularly those on the extremes that are trying to exploit this opportunity for not only . . . what they may think is right but also for their own fundraising capabilities."
— President Bush on filling the Supreme Court vacancy.
Good luck with that. Right- and left-wing ideology is big money.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Kathy Reul, 44, a health care worker in Queens, confided to a New York Times reporter this week: "I drink a beer every day on the subway. I don’t have it in a cup. I have not seen a police officer on a subway train in a long time. If I can get away with having a beer, I can get away with having a bomb."
Revelations like this — and the horrific images from London — remind us that our freedom carries with it a vulnerability that may never be wholly eliminated. But we must commit to lessening it, by increasing our investment in stronger security measures at home.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
