The News Tribune, April 13, 2012
Obama's tax ‘reform' is just free-lunch egalitarianism
by Charles Krauthammer
... Obama introduced it last September:
“Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a
(higher) tax rate than Warren Buffett. ... And that basic principle of
fairness, if applied to our tax code, could raise enough money†to
“stabilize our debt and deficits for the next decade. ... This is not
politics; this is math.â€
OK. Let’s do the math. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this
new tax would yield between $4 billion and $5 billion a year.
...
It’s a substitute for tax reform, an evasion of tax reform.
2-4-8 Response
The President's Economic Recovery Economic Board led by
Paul Volcker issued its report in August of 2010 but did not consider real
tax reform. The committee did not feel it was within their scope even to
consider a VAT as part of corporate tax reform. There was also nothing in
the report that resembled the Buffet Rule, yet this became the cornerstone
of Mr. Obama's tax reform agenda after the Occupy Wall Street movement.
If Mr. Obama wanted individual tax reform he might have
advocated a flat 8% income tax rate and 2% net wealth tax (enough to replace
all current federal revenue).
If Mr. Obama wanted corporate tax reform he might have
advocated a flat 8% corporate income tax and 4% VAT (for the lowest business
tax rate of all major countries and $500 billion in additional revenue).
I must reluctantly agree that Mr. Obama does not really
want tax reform - now. If the health care law is overturned by the Supreme
Court I suspect any sane congress would put major tax reform first and
revisit health care only after the economy is in order.
Eugene Patrick Devany, JD, MPA
www.TaxNetWealth.com
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