Louie Gohmert: Raise taxes on poor people because they can pay with welfare (via Raw Story )
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) has proposed raising taxes on the poorest Americans even if the only money they have to pay is money that they get from government programs like welfare. At a Tea Party Patriots event in South Carolina earlier this month…
what's his idea of a "fair tax"?
ReplyDeletey,
ReplyDeleteThis "fair tax" has been a concept that has been around in the GOP realm for a while:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax
of course out of paradigm... so if deficits result they still think that is "bad"... etc...
rsp,
Ah, a "fair tax" means only taxes on consumption goods. Which means much lower taxes for the rich and similar or higher taxes for the rest.
ReplyDeleteOK.
Well if they bought a Daimler they would pay more tax than one of the unwashed that only bought a Ford... but as a % of income still regressive of course, etc...
ReplyDeleteGoing NO WHERE in any case... I think due to the prevailing view that Social Security HAS TO BE 'paygo' or else it becomes "welfare", etc...
The GOP is finished as far as national office unless they kick these people the hell out of there into their own "Tea Party" of crazies...
rsp,
And I would add that this guy looks deranged in this picture here... revealing!
ReplyDelete"Fair tax" is a GOP code word for flat tax.
ReplyDeleteThere are some redeeming features in the fair tax. Since the US Govt has structured rent, utilities and various taxes to be paid throughout the year, the monthly rebate, instead of annual tax rebate, is a good idea for the poor.
ReplyDeleteEnsuring that rich people don't pay lower rates than poor people is a good discussion to have. Capital gains should be tax at a rate higher than the lowest tax bracket. Now the rich pay lower rates than many low to middle income Americans. A flattish tax, while far from ideal, is better than our regressive rate scheme that places the highest property tax rates on low income housing and property in low income neighborhoods while leaving ag and mineral properties untaxed and corporations receive welfare and exemptions on their property while the poor get high penalties and "special assessments". We have sales taxes that target the poor who work longer hours and use more fast food and convenience stores while giving breaks to the rich who shop at luxury super-markets, like Whole Foods", that don't even exist in poor neighborhoods. We have utility taxes that focus almost entirely on residential users in regulated markets while giving breaks to corporate users who buy wholesale. We have vehicle taxes and identification plate schemes that give breaks to fleet owners while penalizing the poor. We have government subsidies on mortgages and tax breaks (for government issued mortgages) that by design, use credit scores that eliminate the lower 60% of society. So yeah, I think it is time we talk about getting closer to a VAT or flat tax that can't be used by Demo-Repubs at all levels of government to give their ivy-league exclusive society exclusive access to the "party."
Flat tax would be refreshing! But Fat chance. The Dems aren't going to be chucked out of office anytime soon and Repubs are beyond hope.