VAT... whispers of a VAT from Obama lackey

[BReilley]

The FAIR tax is related to the VAT tax, except it's collected entirely from the end purchaser, rather than tacked on at each part of the chain, essentially, it would be a consumption tax - a rich guy that spends 1000x what Joe Sixpack spends would pay 1000x the tax.

The rate would be fairly high - just under 20% - but as explained by its proponents, it would be a REPLACEMENT for the income and FICA taxes, which would simply go away. (As would a good part of the Federal tax bureaucracy, saving us beaucoup dollars.  )

The VAT tax that Obamites are considering would be AN ADDITION to the income tax. <expletive> <expletive> <string of expletives>

I'd LOVE to see a fair-tax-type national sales tax put into place.  Part of the reason we allow ourselves to be taxed so much is that it's more or less painless.  Sure, they get the money out of your paycheck, but most everyone with a meaningful income has direct deposit, which makes the automatic withholding even less noticeable.  It'd be different if we saw it come out of every purchase, every day of the year.  Furthermore, if the sales tax was their only means of taxation, an increase in taxes would mean an increase in the overall tax rate, which would ideally involve a vote in both houses of Congress.

People might pay a good deal more attention to politics, if it were big news when the tax rate was to be raised a tenth of a percent.

[Sindawe]

Sure, they get the money out of your paycheck, but most everyone with a meaningful income has direct deposit, which makes the automatic withholding even less noticeable.  It'd be different if we saw it come out of every purchase, every day of the year.

About eight - ten years ago I did just that.  Saved EVERY receipt for EVERY purchase, punched the numbers into an Excel spreadsheet that lived on a 2nd tab from my budget sheet.  Did this for a year. 

My response over the year as I saw JUST how much taxes where paid?  Well, repeating in print here what I said aloud in the privacy of my own home would have me in the as a guest of the Feds for a very long time.

 

That little experiment is one of the reasons why my political views today are classed by some here as one who ownes a Wookie suit and lives in his mom's basement.

Neither of the last items are true (it may end up to be my spendthrift socialist mother that lives in MY basement), but hey if it brings laughter to another...

[Nitrogen]

I'd be fine with a VAT if we repealed the income tax.

Yeah.  Stop laughing.

[Monkeyleg]

Sindawe, I often have people ask me why I became a conservative, as I wasn't particularly political when I was younger. There were two defining moments. One was when I opened my own business and had to write my withholding tax check to the IRS every month. The second was hearing Katie Couric on NPR referring to the NRA's "stranglehold on Washington."

[Jamisjockey]

I don't pay as much attention to Obama's lackeys as the words that come from Pelosi's piehole.  She's been whispering about the VAT for about a year now. 

[HankB]

About eight - ten years ago I did just that.  Saved EVERY receipt for EVERY purchase, punched the numbers into an Excel spreadsheet that lived on a 2nd tab from my budget sheet.  Did this for a year. 

My response over the year as I saw JUST how much taxes where paid?  Well, repeating in print here what I said aloud in the privacy of my own home would have me in the as a guest of the Feds for a very long time.

 

I keep a pretty good record of my income and puchases on an Excel spreadsheet, broken down into broad categories like "Groceries" or "Lawn Care."

I have a pretty good job, but I'm not wealthy - my %$#! congresscritter (a %$*! democRAT) is paid noticeably more than I am, with much better benefits. Still, year in and year out, I see that I pay more in taxes (income, FICA, sales, gas, property, etc.) than I do on food, clothing, shelter, and transportation combined.  And I'm not even accounting for all the hidden taxes that are a part of every good and service I purchase.

And some people say that's still not enough. <expletive> <expletive> <long string of expletives>

[longeyes]

VAT, schmat, I'm worried about VAT II.

This won't end with a VAT but with an entire Vatican.

[209]

As was stated, taxes once enacted rarely go away.  Connecticut is proof of that.  They reduced the sales tax by 2% and enacted a state income tax.  Once flush with the new money, they quickly spent that and we are still paying more in taxes every year since that state income tax was created to fix the budget.

And the candidate who won the election for governor had campaigned on no state income tax, then implemented one after winning the seat.  So if I tend to think Obama is lying when he says "no new taxes for [insert protected class here]", I guess you can say I'm just jaded.