Huckabee’s comment does not sound all the presidential. Of course, he didn’t sound that presidential in the Florida Debates when asked about the fair tax which he backs. He couldn’t even come up with one fact for the voters to walk away with. When asked by Russert if the fair tax would tax groceries, he lied. The fair tax will tax “all comsumer goods and services.” Beacon Hill Institute research. Beaconhill.org search fair tax.

Of course, McCain must not understand the fair tax also as he asked Huckabee about the fair tax and he did not counter that lie or the statement by Huckabee that the fair tax would eliminate all taxes. When in fact it will not. The fair tax willl not eliminate Federal excise tax on gasoline or tires, etc. or “other” taxes, some of which are local and state taxes. Huckabee said it takes until May for people to actually earn enough money to pay the years taxes and the fair tax would eliminate that burden…NOT>

But the fair tax plan has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Let’s say the Tax on the corporation is 17% and it is removed and covered by a corresponding amount in the federal sales tax…and the corporation decides to be greedy and only lowers the price of those goods 15%…This could easily happen across the board on hundreds of millions of items. 1% here…2% maybe 3% there. You know what you have now. The government is happy because the government has not lost a penny. Remember they have calculated the loss of revenue and is getting it from the consumer. And you know what else…The consumer will never know. Really he won’t. Pretty cool, huh…the consumer ends up paying more in the long run and he will never figure it up and be the wiser. Corporations will be happy. Politicians will be happy and the consumer will be screwed. Unless you want the federal government to take over control of the businesses.

“Huckabee was accompanied by rising Florida Republican star and FL Speaker of the House, Marco Rubio, who endorsed his candidacy recently”

Mike is well on his way to another surprise victory in Florida!!

To Diana, I don’t think that you were watching the same debate that I was, if you don’t like a person you won’t hear what they have to say, you only make up in your mind what you want to hear, If you don’t like a candidate that’s fine don’t make up stuff, I watched the same debate and came away with a whole different response. Karen

We need a president who knows how to gather data, analize it, and then make good decisions. We need Mitt Romney

Hey Alan,

Mitt is a typical politician who changes his mind like he changes clothes.
What “good decisions” has he landed then switched? Plenty—-he’s a flipper!

Wake up you Romney Robots. A few short years ago your Mitt was a disciple of Ted Kennedy and said he was NOT anything like Reagan and Bush (check out You Tube). Two weeks ago he was hammering Huckabee about “how dare Huckabee not agree 100% with all of Bush’s policies”, and “I’m the only true Reagan Conservative”. A few days later he was shouting “Washington is Broken and I’m the Change Candidate”. What will he say and Who will he be tomorrow? I’ll tell you who, whoever he thinks he needs to be or say to get the next vote.

I guess it depends on what the definition of “SAW” is! “If I imagined it, then I SAW it, same thing”. I’ve been an avid hunter all my life”. HUH?

He needs to take up wind surfing, like his fellow Bostonian!

How does Mike not sound Presidential? What would you have him say? He spoke the truth. Have you been to the Fair Tax web site? It is very interesting. I would definitely benefit. Also, I thought Mike said you work through March, not May. Maybe I heard wrong. Some people in certain tax brackets do have to work to May or even June. The Fair Tax would make everyone pay taxes, even CRIMINALS. Imagine that. Free loaders, illegal immigrants, everyone will have to pay taxes. You pay on what you buy, and I have absolutely no problem with that. Gas is already taxed, groceries, motels, clothes….what isn’t taxed. I would just as soon pay a little more there and wind up PAYING LESS. Why can’t you see that this works? Why do you not want real change? The bureaucracy of the IRS has got to go. I would also like someone to address the unfair practices of banks and their overdraft fees. Incredibly hard on the people who can afford it the least.

Hey Lisa,
What do Huckabee followers have to say about Mitt Romney?

diana,
Well, it a very good thing that you are not running for office. The very first fact that you overlooked, and in doing so revealed glaring ignorance, is that the Fair tax would instantly eliminate the complete waste of $250 billion dollars it annually spends on the IRS. Next, you somehow overlooked that 9-14 million illegals would now pay taxes. Up to 14 million instant new taxpayers. I get so mad when I hear completely ignorant people like you comment on a system they so clearly have not researched and that they do not understand. Next, you overlooked an FBI estimate (from 2005) 1.6 billion dollars annually in illegal profit (drugs, prostitution, etc). The new tax revenue is enough, according to numerous analysts, to match our current tax revenue, fund Medicare and Social Security at the rate of only 14.5% within its third year and some experts think that it could drop to 8-9% within five years of being implemented. How can you not want to save these programs while taking home more money? How anyone is against the Fair Tax is simple unbelievable.

Vote Huckabee, support the Fair Tax and a better future (one where you get to keep more of what you make!)

Huka b poleeeaze, course we need more room in our jails and prisons and with his record of pardoning criminals, what the huck? Then when he re-writes the Constitution to align with God—–yep sounds good, Go Huck!

Well,
Mr. Add 2 lanes of Interstate from Maine ti Florida (WHAT?) Mr. Lets just ADD some FAIR TAX (really, who is really buying that as being fair?)

Huckabee is really lost on what to say………..HUCKABEE FOR COURT JESTER!

Romney is the Leader we need to FIX washington and bring about positve ECONOMIC POLICIES that will benefit our employers, IF we want to be employed!

Go Mitt!

Comment by Huckabee should win: “Well, it a very good thing that you are not running for office. The very first fact that you overlooked, and in doing so revealed glaring ignorance, is that the Fair tax would instantly eliminate the complete waste of $250 billion dollars it annually spends on the IRS”

The fair tax would first eliminate that money spent on IRS And next it would have to start up a whole new government agency to distribute checks monthly to each and every citizen as ‘prebates’, take in sales taxes from each and every good and service in the country and administer the new system…You can push dollars around on paper all day long and the figures would just get more complicated and you waste more trees…the bottom line is This is Big Government growing bigger. This is not conservatism. And you are trying to justify the whole mess by taking money from ILLEGALS…that is Huckabee’s conservative answer to our economic problems…just leave the illegals in here and take their tax money…only you have a problem here with your reasoning…Huckabee stood up and said he doesn’t want the illegals here…so now where are you?

And the federal government plans on the state governments to handle this federal tax…This is goes against the 10th Amendment and separation of federal and state governments…They would have to amend our Constitution and mix federal and state governments…WE REALLY do not want to go there…

I don’t need some pencil pushing economist to tell me that having a government check in my mailbox is a fix for anything…I am a conservative…and I hate the government reaching in my pocket book…

diana says: “I don’t need some pencil pushing economist to tell me that having a government check in my mailbox is a fix for anything…I am a conservative…and I hate the government reaching in my pocket book… ”

Are you describing Romney?

Ed..Sorry you lost my logic. The so called ‘fair tax’ backed by Huckabee is based on the premise that people will not be able to purchase goods without a monthly check in the mail from the good old federal government. Huckabee calls these ‘benefits’…the fair tax people call these checks ‘prebates’. I call that Big Government in my pocket book.

Oh, and the fair tax people say we will benefit by taking away alllll corporate tax on goods and services. How will the little guy benefit from the removal of tax from lawyers and accountants and investment brokers and that tax being divided up on all the consumers?…Oh, yeah, the illegals will be paying the part of those guys taxes…wow…guess all those politicians that have law firms will be really thankful those illegals are paying their taxes for them…nice…

PLEASE READ THE FAIR TAX so you can make educated arguments.

The fair tax IS FAIR!!!

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck
Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
Allows American products to compete fairly
Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
Abolishes the IRS

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck
Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
Allows American products to compete fairly
Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
Abolishes the IRS

ED the prebate is EXACTLY like the tax refund we get NOW. BUT we get it everymonth. You don’t have to wait for your check to buy things. ALSO, you get a 35 % raise because you get to keep your entire paychek. The ‘little guy’ will be able to get out of debt and move into the middle class.

How is the govt. stealling 35% of your pay check NOT big govt??????

How about if the govt. didn’t even know how much you make or how much you have in the bank???

THAT IS SMALL GOVT!!!!

“The FairTax will not be enforceable and evasion will be rampant”

The truth: More than 80% of all tax returns are eliminated under the FairTax–every individual filing. What remains are retail outlets collecting the FairTax. Of these, 80 percent of all retail sales now occur at large retail chains like Wal-Mart. The point is oversight will still reside under the Treasury Department but the government’s responsibility will be over a far smaller “universe” of tax collection points making compliance oversight far less costly and far more effective than the current system which costs $265 billion a year in compliance costs and still comes up $350 billion a year short of what is owed.

Read more information about compliance in the FairTax white paper: FairTax Reduces Complexity, Compliance Costs and Noncompliance.

“The FairTax will not be revenue neutral (i.e. bring in the same revenue as the current system) at 23%”

The truth: The FairTax rate of 23% (when calculated inclusively like income tax rates) has been thoroughly researched to provide all the revenues now collected under both the income tax system and through FICA payroll taxes. Reports otherwise are largely based on the President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform which declared the rate would have to be much higher. What the Panel failed to make clear in an amazingly shameless sleight-of-hand is that they never studied the FairTax legislation as it exists in pending legislation. They ignored $22 million of FairTax research and, instead, quietly devised their own national consumption tax which they loaded with the exemptions and deductions they felt were “politically realistic”. They also failed to calculate the effects of elimination of the FICA tax on annual taxpayer burdens or on the distributional effects of the FairTax across the income spectrum. Upon completion–and after declaring a national consumption tax flawed–they then refused to publish their underlying assumptions.

For more information on this topic, see these research papers.

Taxing Sales Under the FairTax - What Rate Works?
A Comparison of the FairTax Base and Rate
Comparing Average and Marginal Tax Rates under the FairTax and the Current System of Federal Taxation

“The FairTax is not politically viable”

The truth: Great public policy changes do not happen easily. We believe, however, in the promise of the Founding Fathers that this is a nation, “of, by and for the people”. In the last year we have seen more Congressional co-sponsors come on board faster than ever before. We have seen five of eight GOP candidates and one Democratic candidate embrace the FairTax. With increased media coverage, as at least one candidate has made this a central plank of his campaign, more and more Americans have come to understand the powerful benefits the FairTax offers the nation. They are, in turn, joining our growing citizen army and are beginning to communicate their wishes to their elected officials. All of this progress is a consequence of the body politic first learning about and then accepting the FairTax. As our ranks grow such pressure will increase on Members of Congress and at some point, the voice of the people will eclipse the voices of the relatively small number of Washingtonians who profit working the income tax system at great cost to the nation. Enactment of the FairTax will require an activist citizenry and a resurgence of what has been too often forgotten–public policy can and should be driven by the public. All that is required is that we all dare to be fair and remind our elected officials that they work for their constituents–not for the narrow self-interests of the tax writing committee, the lucrative tax lobby business or the academicians who have built careers around the complexity of the tax code.

For more information on this topic, see these research papers:

Tax Administration and Collection Costs
A Macroeconomic Analysis of the FairTax Proposal
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress and the American People
Fiscal Federalism - The National FairTax and the States

“The FairTax is regressive and shifts the tax burden onto lower and middle income people”

The truth: The FairTax actually eliminates and reimburses all federal taxes for those below the poverty line. This is accomplished through the universal prebate and by eliminating the highly regressive FICA payroll tax. Today, low and moderate income Americans pay far more in FICA taxes than income taxes. Those spending at twice the poverty level pay a FairTax of only 11.5 percent — a rate much lower than the income and payroll tax burden they bear today. Meanwhile, the wealthy pay the 23 percent retail sales tax on their retail purchases.

Under the federal income tax, slow economic growth and recessions have a disproportionately adverse impact on lower-income families. Breadwinners in these families are more likely to lose their jobs, are less likely to have the resources to weather bad economic times, and are more in need of the initial employment opportunities that a dynamic, growing economy provides. Retaining the present tax system makes economic progress needlessly slow and frustrates attempts at upward mobility through hard work and savings, thus harming low-income taxpayers the most.

In contrast, the FairTax dramatically improves economic growth and wage rates for all, but especially for lower-income families and individuals. In addition to receiving the monthly FairTax prebate, these taxpayers are freed from regressive payroll taxes, the federal income tax, and the compliance burdens associated with each. They pay no more business taxes hidden in the price of goods and services, and used goods are tax free.

How can the FairTax generate lower net tax rates for everyone and still pay for the same real government expenditures? The answer is two-fold. Firstly, the tax base is dramatically widened by including consumer spending from the underground economy (estimated at $1.5 trillion annually), and by including illegal immigrants, those who escape their fair share today through loopholes and gimmicks. In addition, 40 million foreign tourists a year will become American taxpayers as consumers here. Secondly, not everyone’s average net tax burden falls. For households whose major economic resource is accumulated wealth, the FairTax will deliver a net tax hike compared to the current system.

Consider, for example, your typical billionaire, of which America now has more than 400. These fortunate few are invested primarily in equities on which they pay taxes at a 15 percent rate, whether their income comes in the form of capital gains or dividends. In addition to having the income from their wealth taxed at a low rate, the principal of their wealth is completely untaxed either directly or indirectly. Assuming they and their heirs spend only the income earned on the wealth each year, the tax rate today is 15 percent. In contrast, under the FairTax, the effective tax rate is 23 percent. Hence, the very wealthy will pay more taxes when the FairTax is enacted. In a nutshell, those who spend more will pay more but low, moderate and middle income taxpayers will benefit from the greatest gains in reduced tax liabilities.

How is the tax collected?

Retail businesses collect the tax from the consumer, just as state sales tax systems already do in 45 states; the FairTax is simply an additional line on the current sales tax reporting form. Retailers simply collect the tax and send it to the state taxing authority. All businesses serving as collection agents receive a fee for collection, and the states also receive a collection fee. The tax revenues from the states are then sent to the U.S. Treasury.

How does the FairTax protect low-income and lower-middle-income families and individuals?

Under the FairTax Plan, poor people pay no net FairTax at all up to the poverty level! Every household receives a rebate that is equal to the FairTax paid on essential goods and services, and wage earners are no longer subject to the most regressive and burdensome tax of all, the payroll tax. Those spending at twice the poverty level pay a tax of only 11.5 percent — a rate much lower than the income and payroll tax burden they bear today.

Under the federal income tax, slow economic growth and recessions have a disproportionately adverse impact on lower-income families. Breadwinners in these families are more likely to lose their jobs, are less likely to have the resources to weather bad economic times, and are more in need of the initial employment opportunities that a dynamic, growing economy provides. Retaining the present tax system makes economic progress needlessly slow, thus harming low-income people the most.

In contrast, the FairTax dramatically improves economic growth and wage rates for all, but especially for lower-income families and individuals. In addition to receiving the monthly FairTax prebate, these taxpayers are freed from regressive payroll taxes, the federal income tax, and the compliance burdens associated with each. They pay no more business taxes hidden in the price of goods and services, and used goods are tax free.

What about senior citizens, retired people, and anyone on a fixed income?

As a group, seniors do very well under the FairTax. Low-income seniors are much better off under the FairTax than under the current income tax system.

Some erroneously believe that people who live exclusively on Social Security pay no taxes. They may not know it, but they are paying hidden corporate income taxes and employer payroll taxes whenever they buy anything. Under the FairTax, seniors pay $0.23 out of every dollar they choose to spend on new goods and services.

Plus, seniors, like everyone else, receive a monthly prebate, in advance of purchases, for taxes paid on the cost of necessities which more than pays for all of the taxes they would pay if they received the average Social Security benefit amount and spent it all. If seniors choose to work, they are freed from regressive payroll taxes, the federal income tax on wages, and the compliance burdens associated with each. They pay no more hidden taxes on goods or services, and used goods are tax free. There is no income tax on their Social Security benefits.

The income tax imposed on investment income and pension benefits or IRA withdrawals is repealed. Pension funds, IRAs, and 401(k) plans had assets of $12 trillion in 2004. An income tax deduction was taken for contributions to most of these plans. All beneficiaries and owners of these plans expected to pay income tax on them upon withdrawal, but are not required to do so under the FairTax.

All owners of existing homes experience large capital gains due to the repeal of the income tax and implementation of the FairTax Plan. Seniors have dramatically higher home ownership rates than other age groups (81 percent for seniors compared to 65 percent on average). Homes are often a family’s largest asset. Gains are likely to be in the range of 20 percent.

The FairTax makes the economy much more dynamic and prosperous. Consequently, federal tax revenues grow. This makes it less likely that federal budget pressures require Medicare or Social Security benefit cuts.

How does the FairTax help seniors who have paid taxes on their retirement savings or invested in Roth IRAs?

Simply put, the FairTax is a revenue-neutral proposal, raising no more money than does the current system. The FairTax only changes where the money is raised, not the amount.

Additionally, some erroneously believe that people who have invested in Roth IRAs will never pay taxes on this money again. They may not know it, but they are paying corporate income taxes, employer payroll taxes, plus the associated compliance costs that are hidden in the price of every retail purchase they make. Under the FairTax, these hidden taxes are driven out of retail prices. And note, they can determine the amount of tax they pay through their own lifestyle choices.

Furthermore, used goods are not taxed because they have already been taxed once — when they were new. Therefore senior citizens, like all Americans, do not lose purchasing power, but gain it instead. Moreover, the FairTax preserves the purchasing power of Social Security benefits, and seniors receive a monthly prebate so they don’t pay taxes on the purchase of necessities. Tax-deferred investments get a one-time windfall. Savings invested in any long-term, income-generating asset such as a stock, real estate, or a long-term bond that can’t be called, increase substantially in value. Finally, complex estate planning is an artifact of an earlier age.

Does the FairTax improve compliance and reduce evasion when compared to the current income tax?

The old aphorism that nothing is certain except death and taxes should be modified to include tax evasion. Tax evasion is chronic under any system so complex as to be incomprehensible. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), tax evasion in 2001 is beyond 2.6 percent, compared to 1.6 percent in 1991. This represents over 16 percent of taxes due. Almost 40 percent of the public, according to the IRS, is out of compliance with the present tax system, mostly unintentionally due to the enormous complexity of the present system. These IRS figures do not include taxes lost on illegal sources of income with a criminal economy estimated at a trillion dollars. All this, despite a major enforcement effort and assessment of tens of millions of civil penalties on American taxpayers in an effort to force compliance with the tax system. Disrespect for the tax system and the law has reached dangerous levels and makes a system based on taxpayer self-assessment less and less viable.

The FairTax reduces rather than increases the problem of tax evasion. The increased fairness, transparency, and legitimacy of the system induces more compliance. The roughly 90-percent reduction in filers enables tax administrators more narrowly and effectively to address noncompliance and increases the likelihood of tax evasion discovery. The relative simplicity of the FairTax promotes compliance. Businesses need answer only one question to determine the tax due: How much was sold to consumers? Finally, because tax rates decrease, tax evasion is less profitable; and because of the dramatic reduction in the number of tax filers, tax evaders are more easily monitored and caught under the FairTax system.

Is the FairTax just another conservative tax scheme? Or just another liberal tax scheme?

The FairTax has nonpartisan support from people in all walks of life. From both major parties and several third parties. Its supporters need only have one common belief: That it is a fairer, simpler, more efficient way to raise federal revenue. The FairTax delivers these benefits to all American people and more. More government accountability for taxpayer dollars, a tax system that is less susceptible to being manipulated by special interests, a tax system that will make it easier — not harder — for the average person to get ahead, and perhaps most importantly, a tax system that provides real, honest, and transparent tax relief for those who need it most.

Is there any provision in the FairTax bill to prevent both an income tax and a sales tax?

The short answer is that there is no provision in the FairTax bill (HR 25) that would prevent having a national sales tax and the income tax. However, the FairTax legislation does three things that effectively dismantle the income tax: (1) it abolishes the IRS, (2) it repeals all statutory language having to do with taxing income and payroll (i.e., the Internal Revenue Code), and (3) it eliminates the filing of annual income tax returns to the federal government for over 140 million Americans. The 16th Amendment does not “require” an income tax, it only “allows” one, and the FairTax will have broken that egg in a million pieces. It would be extremely difficult to put that egg “back together again.” Once the FairTax is enacted it would be an extremely daunting task for Congress to make people start filing income tax returns again. There would be a public uproar. Once the American public has experienced the freedom from filing income tax returns it’s hard to imagine them tolerating going back.

Furthermore, the sponsors of the FairTax are totally dedicated to the permanent repeal of the income tax. No current supporter of the FairTax would support the FairTax unless the entire income tax is repealed. There is a separate bill, HJR 16, which repeals the 16th Amendment to the Constitution but it must go through a different adoption process than HR 25. HJR 16 has to be passed by a two-thirds vote of members of both the House and the Senate and be approved (or ratified) by three-fourths of state legislatures (38). We are currently laying the organizational groundwork for this push and have already started the educational process at the state level.

Finally, the reality is that we already have both an income and a type of sales tax today. All of our U.S. produced goods and services are burdened with an “embedded” tax due to the cascading of income and payroll taxes paid by U.S. employers to the U.S. Treasury at every step of production. Of course, these costs are passed on to the ultimate payer, the customer. It’s fair to call these embedded taxes a “sales tax” because we pay it every time we buy any goods or services — we just don’t see it. The FairTax eliminates these embedded taxes, resulting in a single-rate national sales tax visible to all.

The prebate is EXACTLY like the tax refund we get NOW. BUT we get it everymonth. You don’t have to wait for your check to buy things. ALSO, you get a 35 % raise because you get to keep your entire paychek. The ‘little guy’ will be able to get out of debt and move into the middle class.

How is the govt. stealling 35% of your pay check NOT big govt??????

How about if the govt. didn’t even know how much you make or how much you have in the bank???

THAT IS SMALL GOVT!!!!

DOes anyone really think that if a “Fair Tax” was implemented, that these “built in Taxes”(payroll, disability, SS contributions) from suppliers and service providers would be removed from the cost of these goods and services? Dont think so……

I’m not impressed with the “Fair Tax” plan….NO IRS, ya right! just who is going to be issuing these prebate checks? Who will monitor Business Taxes……..are just going to change the name of the IRS?

As far as illegals earnings…….Tamperproof ID…and if you are caught employing illegals, you lose your Business, won’t take very long to create a reverse migration of these illegals….

DB”Retail businesses collect the tax from the consumer, just as state sales tax systems already do in 45 states; the FairTax is simply an additional line on the current sales tax reporting form. Retailers simply collect the tax and send it to the state taxing authority. All businesses serving as collection agents receive a fee for collection, and the states also receive a collection fee.”

EXACTLY what I said. This is the states collecting a federal sales tax….This is not done now. The states DO NOT collect federal taxes…the states collect state taxes..the federal collects federal taxes…PERIOD…The 10th amendment is the reason for this…it gives the states all power that is not given to the federal government in our US Constitution. The 16th amendment does not give the federal government power to mandate that the states collect this tax. They would have to change the US Constitution and that would start a precident of the federal government telling the state government agencies what to do…..This is wrong…and not what the founding fathers set up as our government….

diana….you are SOOO out of touch with realty. STOP swallowing what the tax lobbiest are feeding you

The states collect the tax so there is no IRS having their way with our paycheks…GET A CLUE!!!

Good posts DB….I agree we HAVE to change the current system. and the Fair Tax ROCKS!!!!

Huckabee is the ONLY fighting for it, so he has my vote 100%

Mrjimbo, TX

If business don’t remove the built in Taxes from the cost of these goods and services, their competitor will and will take ALL of their business!!! the Market will ensure this happens.

ITS AWESOME!!!!!

EVERYONE!!!!

Mike is willing to fight the IRS for US!!! LETS FIGHT FOR HIM.

Go to :
https://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Contribute.Home

and CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!!

EVERY little bit helps!!!!

STOP the rich elite from buying the presidency!! They can’t outspend us if we all come together and give a couple bucks!!

GO HUCKABEE!!!!

DB…you are very good and cutting and pasting. If you expect me to swallow this very large strange sounding animal…why don’t we take it one bite at a time because you are wrong about me swallowing what tax lobbiest are dishing out. So why don’t you answer a few questions….with facts…simple and short. Say I swallow the fact that I will live on a government ‘prebate’ check each and every month for the betterment of society. And say that the citizens of this country decide to give up states rights and work for the federal government…because you are wrong about that separation. The states ONLY now collect state taxes. So let us say that you amend the US Constitution to account for that…They did add the 16th amendment to give us the IRS. So we will start with that.

I live in California…for 25 years…nearly every motel and hotel…nearly every hospital laundry room and housekeeping department…nearly every minimum wage fast food restaurant has a very large majority of illegals working for them…all our hospitals emergency rooms are full of children with illegal parents…they sit in desks at our schools…illegals hammer the nails that build our houses…crew managers speak Spanish…The illegals work in the factories that process our produce…Some of my family live in Arizona. It is the same story only worse…Do you not know that their bosses are legal businessses? Do you not know that they receive paychecks that already take out taxes? Do you not know that they do this with fake SS cards with fake numbers or SS cards of dead people? Well…I have met them hundreds…and they talk about it. What you don’t realize is that you are counting on a huge influx of illegal tax money that won’t come in.

Dale:”If business don’t remove the built in Taxes from the cost of these goods and services, their competitor will and will take ALL of their business!!! the Market will ensure this happens.”

Business is in business to make money. The presumption of ’supply and demand” only goes so far. What actually drives the market is “What the market will bear.” And it is a false presumption to believe that the market price will decline completely in direct proportion to the removal of taxes. Surely, the market price will decline. But greed for that dollar will provail. The prices will not come down commenserate with the exact price tag of that tax. And the consumer will be totally in the dark. He/she will be paying more combined cost of goods and tax and will be totally supposedly happily in the dark. There is absolutely no guarantee that any government official can promise any otherwise. This is a huge undertaking. And government cannot promise the exact price decline of every good and service in this country…NADA…

DB:”The states collect the tax so there is no IRS having their way with our paycheks…GET A CLUE!!!”

I have a clue. That would mean the growth of a huge administrative machine at the state level that does not exist now…that would have to be paid for by the CONSUMER…in the federal sales tax…bottom line…if it is government ..it gets paid…by us…Call it IRS…call it a large state agency…it is overhead cost…daily…The states would be mandated to pay the money to the federal government every 5 days…and if the states did not hand over the money to the federal government after receiving it in 5 days…they would be charged a penalty of 150%…that is in print in the fair tax…you read it…Whereas before under the IRS, the business paid directly to the federal government…now you would have the states collecting it…taking out their part of the cut and then sending the balance along to the federal government….At the most what you might have here is juggling…It used to be called the IRS to collect the tax…now it will be the states…It used to be incorporated in the price of goods…now it will be directly on the individual…if it wasn’t for corporate greed and the fact that the prices won’t come down proportionately…you might be close to a trade off…However, you have me living on a monthly check…you are chopping down thousands of trees to do that…and you have the government in my pocket book every month.

Diana
Please read more on the fair tax. You can look it up on the WEB. The resson that food is not taxed is the prebate. Where everyone gets back tax money. On things needed food inclued.
But Mike DID say that. YOU was not HEARING. OR could not UNDERSTAND that.
PLUS is that everyone pays taxes. The illegal’s Paying more becouse that wont get the prebate. Makeing it less favorable to cross in to the US.
Also drug dealers and on and on…
AND our factorys WILL stay HERE…. go overseas.
WHY am I wasting my time??/ You did not understand Mike you sure wont me. Becouse it is far above you… Its common sense…

Derwin, I’m sorry. I have read a lot on the fair tax on the WEB. You are the one that is not understanding. I understand perfectly what you are saying. I disagree that it has a chance of working. I know that groceries are to be taxed when you buy them and then you get this ‘prebate’ check in the mail that is supposed to cover it. I just do not agreeee with the idea that I would have to live by getting a check from the government every month. I am too independent to want to exist that way. I donot like the mess of handing out hundreds of thousands…no that would be millions of checks every month…’cause Huckabee just told us on TV and I have seen it mannny times…that everyone gets a ‘benefit’ of some kind. This is just substitution government…first the IRS now the states…which I point out is at this time unconstitutional for the states to do federal business. I am not stupid enough not to know that the cost of this would be greater than the cost of the IRS handing out checks once a year. That is not above anyone….That is common sense.

Soooo you say that the difference would be that the feds collect more money from illegals and pimps and drug dealers being taxed. The economy is in trouble so pass a law so the illegals and drug dealers and pimps save our nation. Wow. Has this great nation fallen so far that the only way to save it is to depend on the pimps, drug dealers and the illegals getting more involved in our economy. Now that is a great argument for wanting to vote for this…Now that is common sense.

Then you say that our factories will stay here because they will no longer have to pay corporate taxes. I say that the drop in price will never be that same proportionately because of human greed. And I say that the consumer will pay more in sales tax and the price of goods and he will never be the wiser and will be unable to do anything about it. The factories started here paying corporate taxes and our economy was great. The taxes were elevated too high and the tarriffs were dropped suddenly allowing cheap goods to come here from overseas. That does not mean we have to throw out the whole system that made our country great.

Our corporations can sell overseas too and they will succeed. This is a world economy and business has to change. And taxes have to come down and they are doing that in Washington. The US does not have to adopt European economic ideas to enter the world market. I have common sense. This is what this is all about. You are trying to sell independence from the IRS by swaping it with dependence on a monthly allotment…that is not independence and that is not common sense. It is political spin.

The H.R. 25 fair tax has been around for years trying to garner support and it has failed. And you are right the economists and politicians that are trying to shove this down our throats are far above the common sense of the voter…these people have lost touch with the common person. They have traveled overseas too often. This is not Europe. And Washington is broken. This bill needs to stay buried because it stinks…Quit digging it up….

I think Mike Huckabee is great! He is the only one making sense. The media is completely ignoring him these days. Are they afraid of him, or hoping if they discuss his issues, it will make him more popular? It disgusts me that you can’t win an election in this country unless you have tons of money. How would Abraham Lincoln have survived a current election?
Vote for Huckabee!!!
Aleta

Derwin: “The illegal’s Paying more becouse that wont get the prebate. Makeing it less favorable to cross in to the US.’

Wow…another good argument for the fair tax…Now it is supposed to be good border control. NOT. The illegals get more in cash aid and food stamps for their children than that silly little prebate check. And yes, they all do this in California because their children are born here so their children qualify. They have free education and free lunches and free medical at the hospitals…You my friend DO NOT have common sense. You want me to believe that this so called fair tax is fair to me and good for me and you cannnot prove that on paper…you have made up figures of how much you think you can collect from pimps and drug dealers and illegals….most of whom are paying into the tax system now with SS cards that are fake or from dead people. The numbers of savings to me is also based on how much the price of goods and services will come down. I have enough common sense to know that you can not foretell that in your crystal ball…Human greed cannot be gauged…and YOU have absolutely a lot of book learning and reading and NO COMMON SENSE>>>>

Aleta Jorgenson:”I think Mike Huckabee is great! He is the only one making sense. The media is completely ignoring him these days. Are they afraid of him, or hoping if they discuss his issues, it will make him more popular?”

I’m sorry. Huckabee probably is a good person…not presidential material though. He has no chance of winning and I don’t say that to anger you. It just is obvious in the election counts and in the talk all over the Internet. Probably the biggest mistake he made was backing the fair tax. It has been around for awhile and is not at all that popular. It really is the economy and Huckabee just doesn’t know enough about it.

Who ever told this guy he should run for President? Wow, that’s exactly the response I think a President should give… right….

Jimmy Carter + Bill Clinton = Mike Huckabee

A liberal in sheep’s clothing. I’m sure he’s a nice guy… I think… but he suffers from the same disease John McCain suffers from… Liberalism

Jason Bradley
http://www.ExcellenceInAmerica.com

Diana,

You DONT GET IT. THe PREBATE IS NOT A HAND OUT. the prebate is EXACTLY like the tax return you get now from the IRS. You don’t have to take the check and it IS NOT meant for welfare…IT IS YOUR MONEY YOU ARE GETTING BACK.

We will not be depending on pimp to save us.

Look at it like this. The govt. is about to send everyone a check to ’stimulate the economy’. So they are saying give people their money back and they will put it back into the economy. JUST IMAGE if they got to keep their entire check EVERY WEEK. Think how THAT will grow the econmy!!!

How does this affect U.S. competitiveness in foreign trade?

Because the FairTax is automatically border adjustable, the 17 percent competitive advantage, on average, of foreign producers is eliminated, immediately boosting U.S. competitiveness overseas. American companies doing business internationally are able to sell their goods at lower prices but at similar margins, and this brings jobs to America.

In addition, U.S. companies with investments or plants abroad bring home overseas profits without the penalty of paying income taxes, thus resulting in more U.S. capital investment.

And at last, imports and domestic production are on a level playing field. Exported goods are not subject to the FairTax, since they are not consumed in the U.S.; but imported goods sold in the U.S. are subject to the FairTax because these products are consumed domestically.

Do corporations get a windfall with the abolition of the corporate tax?

Corporations are legal fictions that have not, do not, and never will bear the burden of taxation. Only people pay taxes. Corporations pass on their tax burden in the form of higher prices to consumers, lower wages to workers, and/or lower returns to investors. The idea that taxing a corporation reduces taxes on, say the working poor, is a cruel hoax. A corporate tax only makes what the working poor buy more expensive, costs them jobs, lowers their lifestyle, or delays their retirement. Under the FairTax Plan, money retained in the business and reinvested to create jobs, build factories, or develop new technologies, pays no tax. This is the most honest, fair, productive tax system possible. Free market competition will do the rest.

How does the prebate work?

All valid Social Security cardholders who are U.S. residents receive a monthly prebate equivalent to the FairTax paid on essential goods and services, also known as the poverty level expenditures. The prebate is paid in advance, in equal installments each month. The size of the prebate is determined by the Department of Health & Human Services’ poverty level guideline multiplied by the tax rate. This is a well-accepted, long-used poverty-level calculation that includes food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical care, etc.

Diana,

Let’s look at a billionaire under the FairTax — if he spends $10,000,000 dollars he pays a tax of $2,300,000 and gets a prebate of $4,697 (assuming he is married and has no children). His effective tax rate as a percent of spending is 22.95 percent.

Now, let’s look at a middle-income married couple with no children under the FairTax — if they spend $50,000, they pay $6,803 net of their prebate for an effective tax rate of 13.6 percent. The effective tax rate increases as spending increases, but never exceeds 23 percent!

In contrast, if this same couple earns $50,000 in wages today under the current tax system, they pay $4,093 in income taxes and $3,825 in payroll taxes for a total of $7,918 in taxes (15.8 percent) — a tax burden 14.1 percent higher than under the FairTax. In addition, their employer pays another $3,825 in payroll taxes. Most economists agree that the employer payroll tax is actually borne by employees in the form of lower wages. Looked at this way, this couple is paying $11,743 (23.5 percent) in taxes today, which doesn’t even include the hidden taxes they pay every time they make a purchase.

Finally, let’s look at a low-income couple that spends at the poverty level under the FairTax — they pay no net FairTax at all. Today, under the income tax system, they not only pay 15 percent in payroll taxes, but they also pay hidden taxes — arising from corporate taxes, private sector compliance costs, and payroll taxes passed on to consumers and embedded in the price of everything they buy

DB:”Do corporations get a windfall with the abolition of the corporate tax? 1…..Corporations pass on their tax burden in the form of higher prices to consumers, lower wages to workers, and/or lower returns to investors. 2….. Under the FairTax Plan, money retained in the business and reinvested to create jobs, build factories, or develop new technologies, pays no tax. This is the most honest, fair, productive tax system possible. Free market competition will do the rest.”

1. Ok, we agree. A business man pays $1 on a box. The price of the box would have been $2. I buy the box for $3. The profit on the box is $.75. The man has $.75.
2. The $1 tax is dropped under the fair tax. The man is greedy. He drops the price to $2.25. The profit now is $1.25 plus he has his original $1 saved in taxes. He invests that $1 and goes to Hawaii.
Everyone sees the business grow and I am non the wiser as to the price.
3. That $1 has to be paid to the government so it is divided up among everyone. Everyone is sure that it is fair so the government sets my fair share…$.75…It is not $1 since all those pimps, drug dealers and illegals make up a larger base…same logic I just said…it all depends on if the government is accurate enough to calculate how many pimps and drug dealers and illegals there are in this country…

I still think this is a Chinese fire drill and the taxpayer is left outside of the car…because I think that sneaky business man is gonna sell me the box for $1.25 and go to Hawaii.

OOOOOps typo…that sneaky business will sell me the box for $2.25 and go to Hawaii…

DB:”Do corporations get a windfall with the abolition of the corporate tax? 1…..Corporations pass on their tax burden in the form of higher prices to consumers, lower wages to workers, and/or lower returns to investors. 2….. Under the FairTax Plan, money retained in the business and reinvested to create jobs, build factories, or develop new technologies, pays no tax. This is the most honest, fair, productive tax system possible. Free market competition will do the rest.”

1. Ok, we agree. A business man pays $1 on a box. The price of the box would have been $2. I buy the box for $3. The profit on the box is $.75. The man has $.75.
2. The $1 tax is dropped under the fair tax. The man is greedy. He drops the price to $2.25. The profit now is $1.25 plus he has his original $1 saved in taxes. He invests that $1 and goes to Hawaii.
Everyone sees the business grow and I am non the wiser as to the price.
3. That $1 has to be paid to the government so it is divided up among everyone. Everyone is sure that it is fair so the government sets my fair share…$.75…It is not $1 since all those pimps, drug dealers and illegals make up a larger base…same logic I just said…it all depends on if the government is accurate enough to calculate how many pimps and drug dealers and illegals there are in this country…

I still think this is a Chinese fire drill and the taxpayer is left outside of the car…because I think that sneaky business man is gonna sell me the box for $2.25 and go to Hawaii.

DB…ahh…but you say I am no worse off because the fair tax was lower on me and I broke even…But maybe the next couple of guys are greedier and greedier ….and when the federal government figures out that there really weren’t that many drug dealers and pimps out there…they will raise that federal sales tax….

I say we build the fence to keep out the illegals…and hire enough law enforcement to get rid of the drug dealers and pimps…and lower corporate taxes a little not all…and get rid of all those politicians in Congress that cannot get big enough calculators and haven’t the brains to figure out just how much money the rest of us are making…since they are foolishly spending OUR money…let’s just kick them all out…It would be a whole lot easier

Diana,

Again you miss the point. If that man doesn’t drop his prices the extra .25 cents his competotors will…..so that is corrected on its own. Pimps and drug dealers are only a small piece of the puzzle stop harping on that

ahhhh….I am so tired of all this number punching that I really blew it…the man’s profit in the end would actually be $1.00 cause he greedily did not lower the price enough…but you get the general picture…

And I really think that’s about what these fair tax people do in the first place…they spin and spin the facts around so much that the voter gets to believing the pipe dream that somewhere somehow the poor taxpayer is gonna win…and the voter is so tired of all the spin that he trusts in the political hoopla…The bottom line is that 2 + 2 is still 4….The corporate share of the bill has to be paid…the voter portion of the bill has to be paid and the federal government needs the total. The total tax bill HAS to be the same no matter what. This whole huge monstrosity is based on the fact that the fair tax people’s idea of solving our economic and tax problems is to push some of the burden on the pimps and drug dealers and illegals to pay their fair share. Personally I think the pimps and drug dealers will start a black market for goods…and that will lesson some of that forecasted tax portion. I live near the Mexican border…could happen…but that is neither here nor there. To go through all this cost of a change over…to step on the separation of state and federal separation…IT STILL SHOULDN”T AND WON’T HAPPEN…Good DB if you are basing your future on it.

DB…I really don’t think you are being realistic. I have seen the price of gasoline by the barrel go up and down many times. And the price at the pump fluctuates also…However, never does it go down proportionately. There is always someone in between that is greedy…always…or the price of gas would be different…If you multiply that by the millions of items in this country it will be a huge loss to the vulnerable consumer…and I really meant to say Good Luck to you as I guess you will never quite understand how many people there are out there that are taking advantage and getting rich over the consumer.

DB…sorry, guess it did sound like harping…

Diana,

You argue like the current system is some how fair, Of course there will be things you can nit-pick, but it is FAR better then what we have now. There will ALWAYS be people that find ways to beat the system….LIKE THEY DO NOW!!!!

The FairTx levels the playing field, in regards to our current system

DB..The very fact that prices continue to rise year after year is the perfect example of the fact that business is always wanting more in their pocket. Greed is and always will be a factor in the equation…