Mike Huckabee

I see no one from this site is jumping on the Fair Tax bandwagon.

Well here goes.

I have listened to the Fair Tax sale pitch by Neal Boortz and their gang for a couple of years now and I am sold.

I have worked and paid tax all my life and have always felt that there had to be a better taxing system. If this new system is called Fair Tax then the old system needs to be named the Un-Fair Tax.

There are going to be persons on both sides with selling points why too or not too change over to a new taxing system. Like him or not, listen to Neal Boortz explain how it compares before you make up your mind. Who knows April 15th may just be another day on the calendar.

In the end it may be like when we officially changed over to the metric system.. Who the heck knows.

I see no one from this site is jumping on the Fair Tax bandwagon.

Well here goes.

I have listened to the Fair Tax sale pitch by Neal Boortz and their gang for a couple of years now and I am sold.

I have worked and paid tax all my life and have always felt that there had to be a better taxing system. If this new system is called Fair Tax then the old system needs to be named the Un-Fair Tax.

There are going to be persons on both sides with selling points why too or not too change over to a new taxing system. Like him or not, listen to Neal Boortz explain how it compares before you make up your mind. Who knows April 15th may just be another day on the calendar.

In the end it may be like when we officially changed over to the metric system.. Who the heck knows.

- A Venter

Flat Tax - Steve Forbes has advocated it for years - he's a very bright guy.

I think Forbes was pushing for a national VAT and not a FLAT, but who am I to split hairs with you?

I think Forbes was pushing for a national VAT and not a FLAT, but who am I to split hairs with you?

- JDTippett

Nope - it was the FLAT tax. But, I could be wrong. You know, when you have a bunch of kids it tends to numb the brain

Tell me about it, Republikin. I raised four of 'em. They're all grown now, but it seems that once parental brain cells explode, they don't regenerate.

I do my best to protect the three I have left.

i can already see how it will never work..

since real estate isnt protected.. that means adding 23-30% on top of every sale..which will result in a shrinking of "the American Dream" (I can already hear the anguished cries..)

no way will that be allowed to remain..thus the floodgates will be opened..

real estate will be exempted..then new cars..then insurance..

well, yuo get the picture..

heck...nick and crew will be th eloudest ones crying, since it means they would actually have to pay taxes on their sales...

interesting article about him...and his support of the "fair tax" that is so near and dear to our local anti-government anarchists..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22520696/

- palmetto_native

I am 100% for the Fair Tax.

But I am certainly not anti-government or an anarchist.

So perhaps you are lumping too many factions together?.

I'm with Ron on this one. I hardly see how a 23% FEDERAL tax on everything you buy can be considered anti-government or anarchist.

Personally, I'm undecided on the Fair Tax at the moment, but I think it's an idea that deserves a fair discussion without all the media distortions that are being thrown out by people who should know better.

Here are some immediate problems that I find with it.

First it isn’t a 23% tax as is toted. If you pay 23 cents of a dollar spent in taxes then the cost of the item was 77 cents . 23 cents on a 77 cent purchase is a tax rate of 30%.

That means that costs like health care, professional fees, rents , credit card purchases would cost 30% more. Buy a car or a house on credit and there would be a surtax of 30% on your monthly payments.

Now there is an argument that the cost to a producer could be reduced by the elimination of imbedded income and social benefit taxes that are part of the cost of labor. That doesn’t make sense when you realize that those taxes are part of a workers wages. Say a worker makes $400 a week, of which he pays 20% for Federal taxes. For the elimination of that cost to the employer, the worker would have to take a reduction in pay to $320. Think that would happen ?

Finally the question of this allowing the elimination of the IRS is senseless. Maybe it would have a different name, but there would have to be some enforcement agency to ensure that collections of taxes were remitted to authorities, that the obvious increase in black market activity was controlled, and that small businesses did in fact collect the required taxes.

Oh, it also occurs to me that the wealthy person would probably buy limos, yachts and other expensive toys in foreign lands where the sales tax was less than 30%.

Also don’t forget that on top of the 30% tax would be all State, Ciounty and local sales taxes to the extent that States have such levies. There would also be State income taxes to contend with. Since most would not start with the Federal Income Tax return as a base, I can just imagine the massive State tax codes that would result.

Finally, it obviously is a regressive tax. The rich folks that live on the hill would end up paying a much smaller percent of their income that would a middle class family. That’s because the middle class family is not able to save the large amount of their income while the wealthy have, do and would save a major portion of their income.

William Kristol wrote an article in the NYT today saying that Huckabee could beat Obama.

William Kristol wrote an article in the NYT today saying that Huckabee could beat Obama.

- Lee Cole

I read the article and would like you to quote where Billy Boy wrote that the Huckster could beat Obama.

Sounds more like wishful thinking on your part.

William Kristol wrote an article in the NYT today saying that Huckabee could beat Obama.

- Lee Cole

I read the article too and I didn't see where Mr. Kristol said that.

He doesn't quote that completely but I think it can be inferred that that is the point of the article. Apparently, I'm not the only one that thought that because SC Hotline's link to the article is "Huckabee Can Win in November.

forget the FAIR TAX, I'm not willing to pay interest on money I had to borrow to pay the govt's tax. Thats just wrong! I like the 10% FLAT TAX, easy and everyone pays the same. No loopholes no deductions no BS, just 10%

How much did you make?______ x.1=______send that amt in.

forget the FAIR TAX, I'm not willing to pay interest on money I had to borrow to pay the govt's tax. Thats just wrong! I like the 10% FLAT TAX, easy and everyone pays the same. No loopholes no deductions no BS, just 10%

How much did you make?______ x.1=______send that amt in.

- zn706

You just pinpointed the biggest loophole of all for a flat tax

From my limited math experience ( I still don't balance a checkbook after 35 years) the way I see it is:
Every item is taxed, correct?

so a raw product ( say plastic molding extrusion) is sold at a tax of 23% to a manufacturer. He also has a tax of 23% for boxes, packing matereals, utilities, manpower and related salary costs, medical insurance and so forth. He sells it at a substatial markup to cover the increased cost to defray his expenses as per business.
The consumer now pays the substantially increased cost, with a 23% tax on THAT amount. This is for every product, comsumable and service.

So who the heck is saving anything now???

I have to say the reason I do not like Huckabee is that while Romney was attacking? Huckabee on policy, Huckabee was making snide offhanded personal attacks, I just don't like that if your going to attack someone do it up front and honestly and do it on policy not on their personal life.

Flat tax and national sales tax are two different animals click here to help with the discussion.

I attended the debate in Columbia and had never heard of Huckabee, but I will say this....he stood out above the rest in his responses which seemed heart-felt and honest. I like him.