"I'm not indifferent as to whether we finance government by borrowing or by taxes. Borrowing is an involuntary transfer from future workers to present voters." Cato Institute Chairman William A. Niskanen

Jax,
The graph you've posted indicates it's the Democrats, not the Republicans that are the true fiscal conservatives. Their track record isn't perfect. But as a generalization, it's the Republicans that are the fiscal liberals.

Reagan is about the worst!
Not only was he a dissolute deficit spender. He was an unrepentant hypocrite about it.

Former CA Governor Reagan campaigned on balancing the budget, and paying down the debt.
But after Reagan tricked his way into office, he ran up more debt than all of the other U.S. Presidents before him, COMBINED !!

What a crook! Evidently, that's why he's so beloved by Republicans.

Nightrider wrote:What's wrong with the Constitutional tax system?

These articles should answer most of your questions:

Go to Americans For Fair Taxation: FairTax.org

and scroll down to the Featured Articles. I especially think that
you'll find this one very interesting: "What the Federal Tax System is
Really Costing You, Besides Your Taxes!"

Best regards,

- NR

Nightrider wrote:In the article that you had referred to, connected to the link you provided, it is noted: "Under the Fair Tax, individuals do not file tax returns. Only businesses who sell goods and services at retail are required to file tax returns."

The Constitutional tax system is quite similar under the "income tax". As noted in the Congressional Record: "The income tax is, therefore, not a tax on income as such. It is an excise tax with respect to certain activities and privileges which is measured by reference to the income which they produce. The income is not the subject of the tax: it is the basis for determining the amount of tax."

So, like the "Fair Tax" — or "sales tax" — the measurement used for the amount of tax owed by the business is the amount of income generated by the business. In the "sales tax", the amount of the sales would be the measurement used to determine the amount of the tax. Also, it is the business that files the tax return, not the individual. Refer to Article Four of the Bill of Rights.



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The floggings will continue until morale is improved



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The solution to this problem is not better taxes.
The solution to this problem is better government, and that means both lower, and fewer taxes.
Orwell would be envious.

Naming it a "Fair Tax" does not render it so.

And as I understand the proposal, it's an exceptionally regressive tax.

Why?

Because the working poor, those that don't earn enough to have savings, would essentially be taxed on 100% of their income; because all their income is spent on essentials; food, clothing, shelter, etc.

But $Billionairs that simply can't spend enough to keep up with their own income, would only be taxed on a minuscule fraction of it.

So this so called "Fair Tax" may be among the least possible "Fair" tax.

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In 1992 Libertarian candidate for U.S. President Andre Marrou included in his campaign stump speech:
Candidate Marrou was asked at a 1992 campaign fund-raiser how U.S. federal government could be funded if the IRS were actually abolished.

Marrou responded:

I see a lot of silly shit. Look at the Debt Tax seriously which is about 30 cents on every tax dollar. This is a direct tax on the citizens of the U.S.A. This is how it should be viewed.

The government estimates are based on government accounting, which is sloppy, and if used by corporations would be considered misleading, even illegal.

Using more accurate accounting methods, the national debt is approximately 3 to 10 times the number the government reports, depending on methods used to calculate social security and medicare promised values.

The bottom line is that cost and spending projections have to be made by all governments and businesses. Without projections you cannot manage, no matter what system you use.

Don't you find it odd that taxes were being cut all from the time of Truman through JFK meanwhile budget expenses were increasing? Don't you think you should consider rate of growth of the US Economy in your figurings?

Bottom line is the US is very well off fiscally and monetarily....the debt is not a bad fiscal policy nor is it covering up bad fiscal policy.

1) The National Debt as a % of GDP is a Red Herring for very ignorant people. A better way to look at the National Debt is what % of Tax Revenues does it take to pay the interest on the National Debt, it's about 30%. But the bottom line is that the National Debt is a bad thing no matter how you spin it. Why not just pay it off?