Trueck's Article Rings True - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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On Taxes, Huckabee Leads

Submitted by Dan Mastromarco, Dec 7, 2007 11:38

David Trueck's article is absolutely on point. One can only hope that smart voters will reward Governor Huckabee for having the courage to support a tax plan, the FairTax, that journalists often do not take the time to understand.

The FairTax untaxes savings, now at Depression Era levels, in order to enable all Americans to enjoy the most universal form of IRA -- a tax system where income is not taxed until spent. The FairTax offers the best assurance politicians will lower taxes, because it makes the hidden taxes we now pay in the price of goods painfully and honestly visible in each purchase price. Today, by exempting 40 percent of Americans from the tax system, we marginalizes would-be stakeholders who do not feel vested in the level of taxes the rest of the 60 percent pay. The FairTax untaxes exports made by American workers with American plants, instead of requiring U.S.-produced goods to try to compete against foreign-produced good with the corporate taxes, payroll taxes and capital gains taxes buried in their product price. It ends the free ride given to imports from China and the rest of the world by taxing foreign goods the same as U.S. goods when consumed here (today, every importing nation removes the taxes at their border so their goods can compete unfairly against U.S. goods). It even helps to solve the illegal "immigration" by making it certain illegal aliens pay taxes on their purchases and by requiring them to document their status to qualify for the FairTax refund. But most importantly, the FairTax generates economic growth, by not taxing investment in plant and equipment, research and development -- our very seed corn. And by doing so, and expanding the base of tax, it enables marginal rates to fall. Finally, the FairTax is fair, since the tax falls not on income, but on those who have the ability to consume beyond their needs. And it is fair because it eliminates the $270 billion or so wasted dollars we spend on compliance, enabling Americans to redirect those costs to more useful endeavors. Rudolf Giuliani and Mitt Romney should be required to explain defend the "buggy-whip" of the 21st Century -- the income tax.

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