POLITICAL: Address “taxes” as the first priority

Friday, November 15, 2024

https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2024/11/14/trumps-chance-to-change-taxation-n2647729

Trump’s Chance to Change Taxation
Cal Thomas | Nov 14, 2024

*** begin quote ***

If any constitutional amendment can be hated, it would be the 16th Amendment.

Passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified by the states in 1913, it allowed Congress to “levy income taxes without apportioning them among the states based on population.” At first the collection of revenue came from the very wealthy and in a small percentage, but World Wars I and II put the country in debt and Congress, using the power given to it by the 16th Amendment, began spreading the burden around until we arrived at our present moment when half the country and corporations are paying taxes (when state, local and other taxes are included, that amounts to more than half their income in states like California and New York). Half the people pay little or no federal income tax at all.

*** and ***

Younger workers would have freedom of choice (a phrase Democrats like when it comes to abortion, but oppose if it involves schools and the stock market). Workers could choose a new retirement system Forbes called Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs).

Under his calculation, in 1999, younger workers could deposit 4 percentage points of their Social Security taxes into their own PRAs and increased their contributions as follows:

  • In 2003 – 5 percentage points.
  • In 2004 – 6 percentage points.
  • In 2005 – 7 percentage points.
  • In 2006 – 8 percentage points.

Forbes wrote that if his idea had been adopted, a single working mother who was 25 in 2000 and retires in 2040 could have earned a nest egg of $1.2 million in her PRA. She could then purchase an annuity that pays her$100,000 annually, nearly twice as much as she would receive under Social Security. A high school graduate who was 18 in 2000, Forbes wrote, and retires in 2040, would have a nest egg of $2 million.

Among the reasons Democrats have refused to reform Social Security and Medicare, both of which are projected to become insolvent in the 2030s without reforms, is politics. If they solve the problem, they lose the issue.

*** end quote ***

Let’s do both:

(1) Repeal the 16th Amendment and substitute tariffs.  (The Taxpayer pays for either.  But it changes the incentives.)

(2) Let “We, The Sheeple” put a small portion of their Social Security taxes  into the proposed Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs) and allow a tax free rollover to an annuity at any future date,

This way we’ll get the best of both suggestions.

And, let’s enact the Flat Tax while we are repealing the 16th.

Then, we can repeal the 17th too.

—30—

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: “Free Stuff Isn’t Free”

Monday, November 1, 2021

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/free-stuff-isnt-free?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29

Free Stuff Isn’t Free
BY TYLER DURDEN
THURSDAY, OCT 28, 2021 – 04:27 PM
Authored by Cal Thomas via The Epoch Times,

*** begin quote ***

It’s open enrollment season for Medicare.

Local TV stations and cable networks are flooded with ads for various insurance supplements. They promise “free” dental care, free transportation to doctors, free drugs, free dentures, and lots of other free stuff.

Paid spokespersons speak of “benefits” and “entitlements.”

They say subscribers could receive as much as $100 a month back into their Social Security checks.

Even the phone number to call to sign up is “absolutely free.”

Read the small print and you’ll find that some of the plans vary by region, some by ZIP code. Sometimes there’s a nominal cost, so it’s not actually “free.” Call a “licensed” insurance agent for more details. Licensed by whom? Probably the companies selling the plans.

Some of the ads pay aging celebrities like quarterback Joe Namath, basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and comedian Jimmie Walker to pitch their products.

Notice the use of certain words and how they also are used by politicians to dupe people into believing they are not getting what they “deserve” because “the rich”—those predatory, stingy, and greedy people—are not paying their “fair share” in taxes.

*** end quote ***

TANSTAAFL (“There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” From Robert Heinlein’s classic)

And, all you have to do is follow the money.

That commercial is paid for by somebody somehow.  Like those “charity” commercials that beg for “pennies a day” or “19 dollars per month”, someone is paying for those slick commercials too.  AND, do you think those old “celebrities” are doing the commercial out of the goodness of their hearts because they “care about you”?    (If you do, I have bridge or two for sale!)

“Seen and unseen” occurs to me as I tap out this post. {What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen1 By Frederic Bastiat Abridged version for Common Sense Economics}

Imagine for a moment that when LBJ created “Social Security” that the nation would have rallied in opposition to it and insisted that the Gooferment was not Constitutionally to do this wealth transfer.  There were good economists who predicted all sorts of bad future effects.  My uncles, sitting around the dinner table, would argue about it and what I would come to understand as “the moral hazard”.  Old relatives were taking their “social security checks” and moving from the old neighborhoods to Florida. They were on the take of the Democratic “dole” and would never vote to take away or reduce “their social security”.  Hell, they even demanded it increase because “how could some one live on such a small check”! Argh! The Democratic politicians and bureaucrats created the first “self licking ice cream cone” of votes.

From there is was a short putt to put EVERYONE on the dole in one way or another (i.e., “welfare”; Medicaid; Medicare).

 

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