Economy

I agree with you that the economy is in a horribly tragic state right now and I think that the government should be worrying about it...(that was what ex-Pres Bush should have foreseen himself causing when he drafted all our troops).

and the economy being like this will cause such a hard time for those of us nonw looking for jobs...even though it's good that gas prices are going back down, the unemployment rates and numbers of foreclosures that are sweeping across the nation are shocking.

hahah..in short, the current economic status is causing me concern cause colleges are cutting down on the number of applicants accepted and the tuition and fees and such are getting high...so hopefully Pres. Obama does as he promises and gets the economy back on place...

sorry for writing so much..hopefully i make sense. X-D

In our country there is excessive income redistribution that is only hampering economic progress. Since the inception of the national income tax in 1862 the income tax has done nothing except penalize the hard working and thwart the progress of our economy. As it stands the wealthiest citizens are paying an extraordinary proportion of federal taxes. The top 1% of wage earners in American earns 21.2 percent of America’s wealth yet they pay 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. This fact is staggering in that these people pay more federal income taxes than the entire bottom 95% of people combined. In his Communist Manifesto Karl Marx claimed that the progressive income tax such as this was one of the ten key steps to abolish capitalism and destroy the ideals our great country was built upon. Clearly, this is a social and economical injustice that must be addressed. The flat tax is the only justifiable method to dispose of these cruel tax policies.
Incorporating the flat tax into America’s economic system will allow free trade and capitalism, the roots of the American economy, to flourish. America’s current system taxes the upper income tax bracket 40% of their total income. While this may sound reasonable, take into consideration that this is only a federal income tax. All of these citizens still need to pay state income taxes, municipal taxes, as well as property taxes and state sales taxes on the items they buy. A forty percent income tax is unreasonable no matter who needs to pay it. One of the greatest economists of our time, Milton Freidman, proposed his permanent income hypothesis which states no matter how much people are making at a given point in time they will always spend the same amount. In good times they will save or pay off prior debt, but in bad times they will spend what they have saved. This can be directly applied to the flat tax because people in the highest tax brackets are paying off debt for things like education which is what has made them successful. While paying of this debt, these people still need to pay taxes, and putting these people in a forty percent tax bracket is extremely unfair and corrupts our economic system. The flat tax would significantly lower income taxes on these individuals while only requiring a minute tax increase for the lower brackets, while still raising the same amount of revenue for our country. Currently our government unfairly penalizes these people for their success ultimately hindering economic growth. These are the people that spend the most money and keep our economy healthy while allowing the free market to thrive.
Instituting the flat tax in our economy would provide economic liberty to all American citizens. One basic belief of American capitalism is that people can make better use of their money than the government can, while realizing that some laws need to be made to prevent complete anarchy. The flat tax would solve this problem while keeping all citizens on the same playing field. One major complaint with our current tax system is that it favors the wealthy, because there are too many rebate opportunities and loopholes that favor the rich. These problems would be addressed with the flat tax because everyone would pay the same amount without any rebates, removing these so called advantages for the wealthy. The wealthy would still be paying more than the poor, but the system would not be as overwhelmingly disproportioned. A tax payer with 1,000 times the amount of taxable income than that of a poorer citizen would still have to pay 1,000 times the taxes. Clearly the flat tax would be the most effective form of taxation and we have not even looked at the remarkable benefits that it would provide to our economy and society in general.
If a flat tax were instituted in America the American economy and the average American citizen would reap many benefits. The flat tax would promote productive economic behavior because people would work harder since the government would not be taking all of their hard earned money. Harvard’s leading economist Dale Jorgenson has also hypothesized that the flat tax would instantly provide up to five trillion dollars of national wealth. He claims that all the current income producing assets would immediately rise in value because the revenue raised would not be subject to incredibly high taxes. In 2005 the IRS reported that American taxpayers spend 6.6 billion hours a year filing their taxes, but the tax returns still are not one hundred percent accurate. The current tax system is so complex and redundant that it requires much more time and money than is necessary. A flat tax would simplify this process allowing the tax system to be less complicated and more efficient. These are just a few of the tangible benefits of the flat tax for all American citizens.
If you still believe that the flat tax would be a radical reform and would never be successful, think again. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia all adopted a flat tax upon breaking away from the Soviet Union in the 1990’s. These three nations have experienced unprecedented economic growth earning the nickname the “Baltic Tigers.” In 2001 even Russia adopted a flat tax and they prospered seeing that all the corrupt tax evasion industries were no longer profitable. Many other European countries are instituting the flat tax including Slovakia, Romania and Poland. Everyday our world’s economy is becoming more globalized and business naturally goes from higher tax nations to lower tax nations in order to save money. This is a primary reason why America has suffered severe job loss due to outsourcing. With a flat tax America could attract new businesses and other investments that will help America to become the industrial titan and world power it once was. America will no longer have to worry about keeping up with industrializing nations such as China and India. Again we can turn to Milton Freidman, who is also a major proponent of the flat tax. In his book Freedom and Capitalism he explains that a flat tax of twenty three and a half percent would raise the same amount of revenue as the current system. This would only raise the tax rate three and a half percent on the lowest tax bracket while significantly lowering it for the people actually spending money. The adoption of the Flat tax would allow the American economy to prosper, and allow America to remain a great economic power.
Clearly the flat tax is a tax reform that could drastically change America and allow our country to flourish. America would see unprecedented economic growth, while reducing the economic burden on many of America’s citizens. The flat tax would allow America to become the economic power house it once was and usurp China and India as the world’s leading producer. A flat tax would reinvigorate Americans sense of hard work, and restore the American Dream. As I leave you today I urge you to listen to my plea for tax reform and to make America a better nation.