Response to Gandhi

Gandhi -

I am thiiiiis close to revoking your speaking rights. Here's his comments:

Actually you said "The cost of collecting sales tax from every outlet would easily equal and probably outweigh any savings of not having an income tax", and you cited "*immense* implementation costs" and job migration in your original critique of Parker. So you definately make it out to be inferior... I never actually looked much at the idea of a sales tax before, I just like the concept primarily because it reduces government control over our lives, and is actually a "fair tax" and a flat tax. The income tax system with its tiers is daylight robbery, and ultimately very bad for the economy. The rich should actually be taxed less so that they have an incentive to create more wealth. BTW I disagree with the end of the article, as should be obvious :) Ettlinger's 60% total figure (national plus state taxes) is way off, no matter how you adjust it; if it was that high then I would take Chops' position. Spending cuts definately have to happen first.

OK, first off I meant what I said both times. And you still have a romantic view of the sales tax. The fact is, it'll be just as tough and expensive to administer PLUS the switchover costs, which is what I said would be *immense* (now, that's a one-time cost, but you've gotta prove that another system is significantly better before you make a massive change).

Secondly, Ettinger's 60% figure is right on, assuming his other statistics are right on. As he says, the advertized 23% tax is actually a 30% tax, and according to his statistics that becomes 40% if you discount government spending (having the government pay taxes is just a way to create government jobs, and it's dumb). Given that state and local taxes equal about 50% of the federal take, adjusting the 40% to 60% is realistic. In New Hampshire, with no current sales tax, you can measure the real "feel" of that. Here, with a 5% tax in place, the increase would only be about 53%. Either way, consumer goods would get way expensive.

Most importantly, Gandhi, I want you to read a book that tells you of the evils of wealth and materialism. This book will open your eyes to the fact that the poor really aren't any worse, and are actually a lot closer to God, in general. It will also open your eyes to the idea that growing the economy isn't really a godly goal for a government. Rather, social justice should be the #1 concern, and if we don't have 8% growth for the next 50 years, but instead we make people more equal, and we tear down the proud and build up the downtrodden, that's OK with me. The great thing about this book is that it's (a) divinely inspired and (b) available for free online. Just follow my link to the Good News. And I'm not being facetious - it breaks my heart to see someone who loves God bellowing the gospel of materialism. What did Christ say about the rich? That it's hardest for them to enter the kingdom of heaven (but all is possible with God). What did he say about the poor? That He came to preach good news to them. What did He say about taxation? To give to Caesar what is Caesars.

Read Amos. Read Malachi. Read Matthew. Take a good, long, open-minded look at what God says about society. This isn't about sales tax v. income tax. It isn't even about taxing and the size of government. It's about how we want our government to treat us, especially the weaker members of society. I'm a conservative, which means I believe that government has to do what I and my fellow citizens say, not vice versa. Therefore, my Christian views of society shape what I want the government to do. If I thought that maximizing GDP were the only goal, sure I'd call for flat taxes, no labor laws, and decreased civil liberties. I'd also call for women to get into the workplace and abandon their families. I'd call for the government to determine the number of university slots available for each profession (we need more engineers and fewer theatre majors). I'd do a lot of things, and my society would look more and more like Brave New World every day. Instead, I try to do what I can to make my society more and more like the Kingdom of God, whose representative I am on earth.