Tr**p Was Talking About Ending Income Tax.....

[global1]

I'm thinking that he thinks that tariff's will replace the Income Tax - and he wants his legacy to be that he was the pResident that ended Income Tax.

Problem is - he doesn't understand tariff's and he doesn't understand Income Tax either.

But when he gets a bug up his behind - there's no telling him that he's wrong.

All his toadies just go along with him.

[markodochartaigh]

1. As I understand it

the federal government was chiefly financed by tariffs before the income tax was started in 1913. Of course the federal government was much smaller and did not offer the same range of services that we are accustomed to today.

I imagine that a lot of people would think that it is a great idea not to pay income taxes. But the only ones who would really do well are the very wealthy who spend a much lesser proportion of their money than the poorer 50% or so who often spend all of their income, since the more you buy the more tariffed goods you are buying. There is no tariff on savings.

[Justice matters.]

3. This.

Tariffs (sales taxes), without income taxes, are a unfair way of financing government functions.

Tariffs widen the gap between the haves and the have nots.

The rich get richer while the poor get poorer (or never get ahead).

[Doodley]

2. That is the plan. You are right, he has no understanding of the basic concepts. He's a moron.

[TiberiusB]

4. That would end S.S. and Medicare

Eliminating income tax would almost certainly be the end of Social Security and Medicare, not that Trump isn't already working on that...

[moniss]

5. The tax schemes of the GQP and

Libertarian (aka freeloaders) types has always been about shifting to a "consumption" sort of base like a Value Added Tax or sales tax scheme. Having traveled around the country for decades I can make the observation that in states that brag of no state income tax normal items in stores are noticeably higher in price even if the retail sales tax percentage isn't that high. I think they must hit the middleman too.

For example people in some states marvel at me telling them I buy a gallon of milk for around $2.79 normal price at my grocer and often they run sales for $1.99 and $1.89. They tell me that they pay $5 -$6 a gallon. The differences add up and basically the wealthy shift the tax burden on to the average person.

One chain by my home has a great thing they do on Monday mornings when they open where perishables like milk that are maybe one or two days before the "Best By" date they will mark at 75% off so they're sure it moves. I think they know that Monday/Tuesday is slower than Friday-Sunday and so they want to be sure they move perishables rather than pull them. So if you go early when they first open they'll have 3 or 4 gallons that are marked way down. So I buy a whole gallon of milk for around 75 cents. I get fresh salmon cuts the same way. They'll wait until it's about 2 days to the "Use By" date and then they'll have 3 or 4 nice foil pans and they mark it down so I pay around $4.00 for about 13 ounces in each pan. They get salmon shipments in 3 times a week so there's always a good chance some stock is within a day or two of the "Use By" date. Butter, cottage cheese, yogurt etc. all the same way. If you hit them right it's a good haul and you get your cash points on the store card to boot.

I've seen them do 75% off with things like "heat and eat" mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, 50% off on burgers( need to be more careful on that), pre-sliced deli meat and of course bakery. Good reason to get up early on Monday morning.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I can't imagine how the transition from income tax to tariffs would play out.

There would have to be a period of time where there isn't enough revenue coming in to pay for the Budget and the Debt -- and uncertainty about estimated future revenue.