My Tax Plan

My tax plan is simple. Many of you may have heard about it by now, and one Republican candidate actually ran with it as a plan he would push for. He was the only candidate on either side offering something legitimately different than the status quo i.e. "tax cuts" or "raising taxes on the wealthy." It is the Fair Tax. I will do my best to summarize here but you can read up on it in more detail at http://www.fairtax.org/. There are a few changes I would like to make to it, but it's a good starting foundation for now.

Basically speaking, it eliminates the income and payroll taxes and replaces them with a national sales tax. There are states now, like Texas and Florida, that utilize this general philosophy on the state level to collect and manage their general revenue. They don't collect income taxes in addition to property and sales tax. What this means at the national level is that you only pay taxes when you consume. You get to keep 100% of your paycheck!! It also means that people that don't pay income taxes now would pay taxes when they consume in our country. This includes illegal aliens, tourists, anyone paid in cash now that doesn't file income taxes.

This is a solution that is beneficial to everyone as it takes care of social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other popular welfare programs that everyone doesn't want to see go away, but no one wants them to bankrupt the country either. The Fair Tax solves this problem since it increases the pool of people paying taxes.

There is one other benefit to the Fair Tax so that basics needs are met by all. All families will receive a prebate each month based on the number of people in your house hold for the amount of tax for the basic necessities of the household regardless of income. Anyone who can't afford more than the basic necessities will in essence pay no taxes unless they consume above and beyond your basic needs. Sorry Christmas presents don't count as basic needs, but with more spending power created from not paying taxes on your needs, Christmas presents might not be so difficult to swing each year.

Oh and there's a bonus, it eliminates the need for IRS (not the need to keep collecting on back owed taxes). But April 15 will no longer be the dreaded tax day, it will be just another day. And before you worry about all those government employees out of work, think of all the jobs that are now shipped overseas to countries considered more of a tax haven than the U.S. is now. With no income and payroll taxes, companies will be bring operations back here and/or move operations over here. So there will be plenty of jobs for them to get, as well as for all the other people who are unemployed.

While free market competiton takes care of the price of goods, one other thing I should mention is that only new goods are taxed. If you buy a used home or a used car, no taxes. If you buy used clothes, furniture, or anything else not new, no federal sales tax. You may still be subject to state taxes, but who cares if you understand this concept, you can make decisions based on this knowledge of when and how much you'll be taxed.

Again for more detailed information, check out http://www.fairtax.org/. It's a valuable source of information. There is also a link on there that tells you which of your Senators and Representatives support it or not. http://www.fairtax.org/cgi-bin/scorecard.cgi
Once you make up your mind that it's a good thing for our country, write your Senators and Representatives and let them know your thoughts on it even if they support it, but especially if they don't. The more voices they hear on this subject, the more they are likely to take a closer look at it. This isn't a partisan solution in my opinion, it's a win win solution for everyone, except for purist who are opposed to all taxation. It's better than a flat tax as it taxes consumption. So all those rich people buying cars and mansions and clothes and whatever else they buy will now be taxed on their consumption, not their earnings or capital gains as much of it sits in. You basically get to choose when you want to pay taxes or not based on the consumption decisions you make.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Auto Industry Ignorance or Arrogance?

If you haven't heard the news by now, the big wigs all rode private jets to ask congress for bailout money. Because first class is beyond them? I realize their time is valuable, but airports provide sufficient resources for them to work while waiting for their flights.


It seems to be in poor taste to fly in private planes to ask for the money of people who very rarely if ever fly private. Click here to see the report by ABC News.


If these CEOs are running the companies into the ground, we can see why, with refusal to change their executive travel policies. If they can't make cuts to their own perks before asking for tax payer dollars then they shouldn't be running the companies. If they are unwilling to change their policies dealing with unions, then they shouldn't be running the companies.


Government needs to stay out of the auto industry. I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Shut your mouth Michael Moore, you sound ignorant. Sorry he's on Larry king talking as if he knows something about the auto industry and the economy. But of course he didn't mention anything about the unions making concessions or the companies refusing to deal with unions any longer.

Back to I've said it before and I'll say it again. Let poorly operating companies fail. They will either figure out what to do to survive or fail. You can't throw good money after bad and expect to see good results. Sure times will be tough for some people for awhile, but they'll find new jobs either in their industry or somewhere else. Some of them will acquire new skills to get new jobs. When left to their own devices, people usually figure things out for themselves. Even if that means getting temporary help from their families, friends, church, and even government assistance available to them.

If you weren't furious before, you should be furious now. Write and call your Senators and Representatives. They may not listen, but you should always tell them you're view, take note of their vote and hold them accountable when they are up for reelection. Don't let them get away with this. It's our fault if we don't hold them accountable.

Bipartisanship: Fact or Myth?

This whole election was filled with politicians on both sides of the isle (except Ron Paul I think and I'm sure a few others) talking about the importance of bipartisanship to work through the issues.

These statements came from a bunch of pompous, power hungry politicians on an ego trip. What I think they really mean by bipartisanship is, "it's great as long as your side compromises their morals, values, and beliefs to defect to my side, regardless of thoughtful logic, or what your constituency wants." Some politicians are willing to defect, while some are willing to discuss compromise and are somehow fooled into selling the morals, values, and beliefs of their constituency for "the better good of America." But in reality they are doing it to somehow increase their power or buy undecided votes depending on the race, since they can bank on the majority of their base not paying attention to their actions, thus voting for the name or party they know come election time.

True bipartisanship would be finding the common ground on an issue such as improved education in this country (or am I naive to think that everyone wants that?), and then discussing the various possibilities and researching how those various options work around the world and perhaps in our own country. It would require everyone involved to be open minded to the various solutions and results of research and remain free of non-objective influence by special-interest groups, lobbyists, or their best friend for that matter.

Something tells me this is an impossible ideal since the objective of our government and those running it has become to gain power, influence, and size at all cost by convincing the people that they can't take care of certain things on their own without the help of the government.

Or in reality is the system of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" actually bipartisanship at it's greatest? You know where you talk a bunch of people on the other side to vote your way for a particular issue and promise to pay them back when they need a favor later.

I don't think so, but perhaps you do, and the beauty of living in a free country is the right to have your own opinion and be able to express it. We have the power when it comes to electing our various politicians. Research their beliefs and actions. Make sure you don't give up our valuable liberties in exchange for the government taking care of all your needs. Be careful what you wish for.

In conclusion, as things are, I vote Myth. What's your opinion?

More Evidence Supporting School Choice

Since I haven't seen this video talked about on most of the blogs I've come across, for those of you that haven't seen this video clip of a teacher in our country, Ashville, North Carolina, spreading her political opinion to her students, take the time to watch it and be appalled at the hypocrisy of her actions in the classroom to her followup statements. I don't have a problem if current events are discussed objectively in the classroom, but that was not an objective discussion. Nor were her reactions to the students who said they supported McCain.

I know that many of you believe that education is a right not a privilege. In my opinion education is important to the future of our country and its economy and growth regardless of it being a right or a privilege. If it's a right as many people agree on, should it not be your right to choose where you send your child to school with the tax dollars you are already paying? The money should follow the child not the the government school district you live in.

If public education is so great, why are the Obamas are shopping private schools for their girls? Presumably your tax dollars will be paying for their private school education even if indirectly through the salary of the president. I don't know if they have a separated stipend for education for the children or not. Irregardless, public school is apparently beyond their girls. I don't blame them, I'd be shopping private schools too, but every parent should have the opportunity since they are already paying taxes in the form of property taxes through rent or ownership.

It is in the best interest of this country if our children receive quality education at the price we are already paying. So what if some government schools are forced to close down. Free market competition is what has made our country great and prosperous. Education is proof of that, as we are behind much of the world in education. Throwing money after the problem is not the solution. Returning to free market competition is.

Everyone wants to fix health care and poverty in this country. Have any of our politicians and the general public considered the likelihood that education is the solution to health care and poverty? If kids come out of high school with the skills they need to either go to college or get a job beyond a cashier at Walmart or a non-managerial job at McDonald's, they can get better jobs that might offer health insurance, pay part of it, or at least pay more so they can afford to purchase it themselves. Just a thought for those of you that haven't considered this before.