[quote=SD Realtor]pr I did some research and now do agree that a flat tax will not provide a matching revenue that the current progressive tax supplies. I am also not in the camp of a VAT or fair tax so with that said, I do agree with you that the progressive tax rate is the most beneficial methodology to date.
With that said I also believe we need to cut spending pretty substantially.[/quote]
SDR,
That was an awesome post. You took the information, did your own research, and changed your position, rather than sticking to your position as many other people (most?) would have done when confronted with information that doesn’t agree with their beliefs. Very impressive. 🙂
Although I don’t need to convince you of anything, one other very major argument in opposition to a flat tax is that it would create an even greater wealth disparity in this country. While some appear to be fine with that, I can’t think of a single country with such a large wealth gap that didn’t suffer some major negative consequences as a result. A flat tax is very regressive.
Realize that the people who would most benefit from a flat tax are those in the top 1%, and they are the ones trying to get the message out there that a flat tax would somehow benefit our economy. It wouldn’t.
As to the reductions in spending, I personally believe we could reduce spending rather drastically without really affecting most people’s quality of life. There is a LOT of corruption in government, with so many backroom deals being made on a daily basis. Billions are being wasted every year (trillions, if you include the financial industry), and the average citizen is not seeing any benefits as a result of this spending. If you eliminate the corruption in government, you could probably cut 10-15% (at least) from our budget, IMHO.
