So what do you think of Bush's alleged plan to abolish the IRS?

[noahmijo]

REPUBLICANS PLAN PUSH FOR ELIMINATION OF IRS

**Exclusive**

A domestic centerpiece of the Bush/GOP agenda for a second Bush term is getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The Speaker of the House will push for replacing the nation's current tax system with a national sales tax or a value added tax, Hill sources tell DRUDGE.

"People ask me if I’m really calling for the elimination of the IRS, and I say I think that’s a great thing to do for future generations of Americans," Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert explains in his new book, to be released on Wednesday.

http://www.drudgereport.com/rnc.htm

Of course you gotta consider the source, I bet it's bullshit, but what scares me is if this is true how many people would be duped into voting for * just cause they hate the IRS and ignore everything else that is evil about this "man"

I wouldn't care if Bush promised the "Eliminate taxes for noahmijo's life" bill I would still vote against his ass 10 times if I could.

Flat Tax? yea great idea, Let's see then the rate would have to be at least in my opinion anywhere from 15-20%

Sure the rich would love that but I dunno 15-20% out of a middle class income sounds like robbery to me.

[Kagemusha]

1. It sounds like Hastert's long-standing opinion.

There's nothing here that says Bush or Rove etc signed off on this. DeLay must back it all the way, sure... but what does that have to do with anything?

It's their personal opinions as mere congressmen.

[cosmicvortex20]

2. Personally I think our system is horribly inefficient

Id love to be able to toss the gazillon pages of regulations.

[BrewerJohn]

10. It could be a hell of a lot simpler

if corporations and the extremely well-off didn't have to be cajoled, bribed, and teased into doing the right things via the tax code.

Kerry wants to give corporations a tax break to keep their jobs in the US. I guess the "patriotism thing" just isn't enough to motivate them. Back in the '70s we had tax incentives to develop renewable energy sources. As soon as Reagan did away with all that, all the alt-energy activity died back. Gee, and I thought our CEOs were all such visionaries, looking to the future with great innovation.

I still remember when I didn't make enough to have any options at all on my return. No way to itemize deductions and save anything. Just add up all the income and look up the result in the table. I guess I wouldn't mind seeing everyone having to do the same thing. But they'll never let that happen with an income tax; it would mean they'd have to pay their fair share.

[Bluebear]

3. No tax = no services, yes?

No Social Security, no Medicare, every man for himself... very Republican!

[shraby]

4. They'd have to keep the

Social Security and Medicare deductions from the paycheck. Either that or old people will be beating them up personally.

[thebigidea]

5. can you imagine what a bore you'd have to be to buy a Hastert book?

[Bluebear]

6. OMG like watching paint dry nt

[izzie]

7. We will need to keep it for the service to take over the worlds oil

How will he get the money for that? You can not hold power with out the service behind you.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. An incredibly half-assed idea that will...

ruin the country if it happens.

But, it is a wingnut wet dream, so it just may with another Shrub term and Republican congress.

With the median national household income around $50,000, plenty of people will find slightly larger paychecks, but will find that what they save in income taxes pales comapred to what they pay in sales taxes. And they still have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, along with the people down near the botton who often pay no income tax at all.

Without that mortgage deduction, the housing market will drop like a rock.

And there is is the huge bureaucracy to collect the sales taxes, the lack of corporate taxes being made up by the new taxes... it goes on and on.

One would hope that the adult contingent in Washington would put a stop to this talk.

[CaTeacher]

9. how many adults are there in Washington?

The adults may be seriously outnumbered....This will definitely rally his base though.

[FeebMaster]

11. It's nothing but a scam.

Nothing will come of it, they're just worried that some of the small government Republicans out there might decide not to vote for the lesser of two evils come November.

[lottie244]

12. The question should be what will replace it?

I guess after the wealthy has all the money they could ever spend the government needs no more revenues to help the poor. They charge a surcharge to every family to support the military and let the rest go to hell. No more IRS means simply no more taxes on the wealthy. Folks we may be headed toward a revolution. It's not enough to destablize the rest of the world, the neocons must destablize America too.

[Eagle_Eye]

13. No IRS = No Tax for the Rich

The IRS is one of the few government programs that evens the gap between rich and poor. I hope Kerry changes the tax system to have the rich pay their fair share (something like 75% of everything over $250,000) plus a tax on assets. I do not like it that the rich use their money to get richer!

[JCMach1]

14. Repackaging of the FLAT TAX

Read, ANOTHER huge tax cut for the rich and corporations...

FORGET about deducting your mortgage, etc.

It' just SOUNDS better if you call it 'Getting Rid of the IRS'

[ASanders84]

15. Do these people not know their history?

The progressive tax rate is what got us out of a depression. I can't even imagine how sh!tty our country would be if that were eliminated.

[Bowline]

16. Fan-f**king-tastic idea!

The IRS has too much power over citizens. Their ability to seize property without due process or just compensation is patently criminal.

Until 1913, with the exception of a short period during the Civil War, this country functioned just fine without an income tax. It was unconstitutional until then.

If we limited the Federal government to doing ONLY what it was constitutionally authorized to do, and left the other issues up to the individual states, the federal government would shrink to such a small size that it would be able to fund itself solely on profits from tariffs on imported goods, much as it did from 1817 - 1862.

When I'm President the IRS is the second agency to get axed, right after the Homeland Security Nazis bite the dust.

A flat tax is far more fair than the current system because and a national retail sales tax would be even better. NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX would be even better still. I don't believe, however, in punishing people because they earn more money than I do. That just seems to me like sour grapes.

[indigobusiness]

20. Flat tax isn't what's proposed

It is a value added tax.

Dems want to abolish income tax up to 50k---much better.

[Bowline]

21. It's not actually a value added tax. It's a national RETAIL sales tax.

My understanding of the difference is that in a VAT system, such as that in the UK, a tax is added each time money and goods change hands.

In the National Retail Sales tax system only the final, retail sale of a product would be taxed but not the intermediate sales that take place prior to the final retail sale of a product.

I still think that total elimination of Federal income tax is the best plan of all. It has worked before and it could work again if only the federal government were scaled down to it's Constitutionally authorized functions only.

[Bridget Burke]

22. Let's get rid of all those unnecessary government functions...

Social security, Medicare, Medicaid....

Make people pay to educate their children, forget all about the EPA.

Sounds wonderful!

[Bowline]

25. Strawman alert! Strawman alert! Bogus argument warning!!!

What the heck are you talking about? I said nothing about getting rid of social security, Medicare, the EPA, or any of the things you mentioned. I said make the federal government live up to it's responsibility as it's outlined in the Constitution. Everything else should be the responsibility of the individual states.

[indigobusiness]

24. Hastert Quote

"By adopting a VAT, sales tax, or some other alternative, we could begin to change productivity. If you can do that, you can change gross national product and start growing the economy. You could double the economy over the next fifteen years. All of a sudden, the problem of what future generations owe in Social Security and Medicare won’t be so daunting anymore. The answer is to grow the economy, and the key to doing that is making sure we have a tax system that attracts capital and builds incentives to keep it here instead of forcing it out to other nations."

[kentuck]

17. Securing a large base of voters that hate the IRS...

ANother special interest group discovered by the Repub Party..

[indigobusiness]

18. VAT is tax relief for the rich

And an increased tax burden for the poor and middle-class.

This sounds good, and plays on the general IRS dread, but it is crap.

[GOPisEvil]

19. Nearly impossible to pull off logistically, but it sounds good for

the unintelligent masses...

[Ronnie]

23. What it would mean to me:

I would think a loooooong time before I bought anything---house, car, pack of gum.