First a caveat: I am a populist democrat. Read my other diaries if you dont believe me. It scares me to think that I am considering an idea by a guy like Steve Forbes, a conservative republican, as an idea that I could support, but I think the time has come that all of us on both sides of the political spectrum admit that our tax system, as it stands, its not repairable. So what are the options? What is fair?
A few years back, Forbes to me (outside of being an annoying prick) was a one trick pony, as he was/is to most people. Mr. Flat Tax. A broken record. As I prepare today to finally do my 2005 taxes (yes, I took an extension!!!), I realized that the system that we have is insane!! Maybe he had a point! I'm forced to keep every scrap of paper involved in any cent of money spent or earned thru an entire year, then add it up to see what I can deduct against the hard number of what I "really made", (based on 1099's and w-2's). I cant help but think what a collasal waste of time this is, especially when with all of my work, adding, filing, etc.... I might reduce my personal tax liability to maybe 15-20% of total income......when a wealthy person with good accounting and "creative money management", can essentially get thier "actual" income down to ZERO, with deductions and expenses. How is THAT fair?
So, Bush will brag about how his "tax cuts" are helping me, and helping the economy and the budget, but how can they be, when the reality is as the famous Leona Helmsely said "only the little people pay taxes."? Bush is bragging about like a little boy who just got his first "A" in math, with most of American saying "that Bush was right about taxes!!". I dont know about you, but my taxes AND income have NOT changed under GWB, but my cost of living has. I honestly belive that tax cuts (outside of capital gains taxes) are almost irrelevent to most wealthy people...... as they already can creatively figure out what they would LIKE to pay in thier income taxes, and not get caught. Bush's tax cuts dont really help ANYONE. They are PR for his administration. Everyone loves tax cuts, right?
Lets scrap all of this. I say 10% for everyone across the board. No deductions. Save me the time (3 full days!!!) of doing this........ Eliminate half the IRS, or reassign them to an organization that DOES investigate people that really DO cheat. If you want to TRULY see tax revenues increase, how bout if we start MAKING RICH PEOPLE PAY TAXES!! It is IMPOSSIBLE to catch all of the shady stuff when even my tax return is 50 pages!! An ex girlfreind of mine who is a day trader, has a return that runs 900 pages!!! A wealthly person's can be in the thousands of pages!! Its crazy.
Not only (as a populist democrat) does a flat tax effect us all equally, but it at least makes everyone pay!! Some will argue that a flat tax effects poor people harder than rich, but they dont understand that principle and practice in the tax code of 2006 are two different things!! And we need to find a fair approach to this.
Tax reform should be an issue that the Democrats embrace NOW. If not a flat tax, then something else. But it NEEDS TO BE A KITCHEN TABLE APPROACH TO REFORM. The Republicans are the masters of stealing Democratic ideas, lets take this one from them. Polls show that people now trust the Democrats with the economy more than the Republicans (duh). This is THIER idea, how could they criticise it? It cant be a complicated plan. It needs to be based in principle and explained in 2 sentences. Show leadership, much as Murtha has with Iraq.
How bout this: 10% across the board for all americans, regardless of wealth, INCLUDING corporations. No deductions. We live in one country together, and should have a tax code that reflects the common good and the common need. If you live in this country, you should pay (as Arnold likes to say) your "fair share".