[Hoot Gibson]

With the flat/fair tax would that be a blanket percentage like 8% or something like that? Wouldn't that further hurt the economy? If I am making sense of it, that is like saying 100,000 per year Bob and 10,000 per year Jeff buy a $100 chair. Both pay $108 on that chair.

However Jeff just spent 1% of his income, and Bob spent .01% of his income. We all know the flat tax would be higher than that KY gets 6% already, so what is more realistic 10%? 12%?

I see how that is fair, but at the same time, you would go back to the company town days, etc... Very quickly with that system, Bob would get richer and Jeff would eventually go broke.

If I remember correctly disability checks for people that were born disabled (not workers disability) is about $650 per month, which is about $7800 per year. If there is a 12% tax on everything they buy, they wont even be able to keep the lights on and pay rent. I am guessing the tax would be on bills as well, right? School taxes, etc... are on them, why not the flat tax?

If there was a hitch in the flat tax to where disabled, etc... could be exempt, I think it would be a great idea. However, what I gain from all the talks is that EVERYONE pays the same rate. Bad idea.

Most flat tax proposals would still exempt people at the bottom end of the pay scale. So would the Fair Tax, which is not an income tax but a consumption tax. However, IMO, most people should be paying a federal income tax as long as anybody is paying such a tax. Currently 47% of all Americans pay zero in federal income taxes and that broad of a total exemption from taxes provides a big incentive to support tax hikes on the other 53% and to just stay home and enjoy the free ride.

I am in favor of lowering marginal tax rates and broadening the tax base by tapping into those 47% of non-federal income taxpayers so that they have skin in the games that are played in Washington. I am in favor of a progressive tax system but what we have today in this country is ridiculous.

A flat tax where people earning less than $20,000/yr. or so would be exempt would be a much more fair system than what is currently in place. I am also in favor of eliminating tax free investment vehicles like municipal bonds and tax-exempt trusts such as families like the Kennedys, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, et al have used for decades to shelter their wealth. No wonder limousine liberals like Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and John Rockefeller support higher taxes on the so-called wealthiest among us - the wealthiest among us can afford experts to help them find safe places to stash their cash. They know that they will not be subject to the same tax hikes that they want to impose on small business owners.