Dr

The Dangers of a Value-Added Tax

Speaking for myself, short of committing mass suicide,  there is nothing this government could do, suggest, enact, or impose that I wouldn't feel safe to call oppressive, unconstitutional at some level, and criminal.  Like the VAT.  “ On its way out of the recession, the economy may encounter a VAT blocking its way. Last week on PBS's "Charlie Rose Show," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thinks "it's fair to look at a value-added tax." And the Congressional Research Service just published a lengthy new paper on the value-added tax that tends to obscure the fact that the middle class will bear the majority of its burden.. At a 17% tax rate, for example, he can quickly increase taxes by $1.5 trillion a year in a partially hidden way. A VAT is by its nature hidden, because no one files a tax return. Obama could {most certainly would] also increase the income tax on "the rich," saying that they and the middle class get a nearly free ride under the VAT compared to less affluent people who must spend everything on purchasing "taxable" essentials. Not so, but the VAT lends itself to spin. Mr. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi might also use the VAT to fund "free" government-run medical care and hospitals for everyone, as well as "free" college education and "free" home mortgages. The one certainty about a VAT is its enormous revenue-producing potential. At a rate of 17% to 18%—about average for Europe—it could increase total federal taxes to 30% of GDP or more from 15% now, according to the Congressional Budget Office. ” At the moment I'd support the VAT, if ... The IRS was dismantled entirely The 17% rate was protected by a 90% vote requirement  to increase, and a simple majority to decrease that rate. No exemptions, rebates, exclusions for anyone, for any reason. The VAT  replaces  the payroll, FICA, all medical care taxes, and no additional tax scheme can be imposed for any reason. It would have to be enacted by a congress controlled by Republicans, and Obama's veto overridden else there would assuredly be a poison pill embedded someplace.  Poison for us.