In a recent article concerning tax reform, Steve Forbes writes
A flat tax would unleash a stupendous economic boom.
Apparently Steve Forbes, although a very successful business man, appears to be politically naïve.
The problem America faces is a Congress out of control; a Congress which will be happy to use the Forbes flat tax, or the Boortz Fair Tax, or even a value added tax to engage in its ongoing reckless spending and borrowing practices which have created a national debt which now exceeds
$ 50 TRILLION and is the big problem which America faces.
Neither the Forbes flat tax nor the alleged Fair Tax or a value added tax does anything to control the wasteful spending and borrowing practices of Congress; does anything to encourage Congress to start following sound fiscal and economic policies beneficial to America’s businesses, industries and labor; nor does any of the above proposals compel Congress to extinguish annual deficits in a manner in which members of Congress would be quickly held accountable by their State Governor and Legislature for their reckless spending and borrowing habits!
Sad thing is, in this respect, the Forbes flat tax, just as the Boortz plan [H.R. 25, the alleged Fair Tax] and the value added tax plan, are nothing but cleverly concocted plans to allow Congress to skin the goose which lays the golden eggs and continue in its unaccountable profligate borrowing and spending habits which is the worm at the root of the tree . . . all the above are variations of a plan offered which is intentionally designed to support existing big government and the countless
political plum jobs on Capitol Hill, many of which have six figure salaries.
So, what should the people be supporting to end the existing oppressive system of taxation which unjustly burdens our nation‘s industries, businesses and labor? Support those who are promoting a return to our Founding Father’s original tax plan by adding the following words to our Constitution:
The Sixteenth Amendment is hereby repealed and Congress is henceforth forbidden to lay “any” tax or burden calculated from profits, gains, interest, salaries, wages, tips, inheritances or any other lawfully realized money.
Adopting the above wording into our Constitution will bring us back to our Founding Father's original tax plan.
Now, how does our founding father’s original tax plan differ? Well, it was designed by “tax rebels”, people who fully understood the subtleties and oppressive nature of taxation and how taxation was formally used to benefit the King and not the people. And so, they carefully constructed a tax plan favorable for the people and their business interests. They created a plan which granted sufficient power, almost unlimited power to raise revenue to the new government they were creating, but carefully and intentionally designed it in such a manner to not only disburse the costs of government in a fair and equitable manner while removing various known tools of oppression from the hands of government. They likewise included a number of checks and balances to control the actions of Congress.
Let us now examine just one important part of the Founder‘s plan, an intended method to extinguish deficits in a manner creating a moment of accountability for every state’s Congressional Delegation!
Under the founders plan, if insufficient revenue was brought in from imposts, duties and excise taxes [Congress normal taxing powers] and Congress borrowed to meet its exigencies, Congress was then intended to lay a
direct tax apportioned among the states for the total sum of the deficit created. I call this the Founding Father’s
FAIR SHARE FORMULA
Under the direct tax each state was intended to contribute a share of the total figure being raised by Congress to extinguish the deficit based upon its number of votes in Congress___
representation with proportional obligation, something which our big spenders in Congress dread! But under the Founders plan there are no loopholes, no manipulation, and, those state congressional delegations with the biggest mouth in Congress, who would dare use their large voting strength to squander federal revenue, create big government or send our money to distant lands through a united nations [a money laundering operation] were to bring home to their state’s Governor a bill for the largest share of the direct tax ___ a very important check and balance of our founding fathers encouraging each state’s legislature and governor to keep a jealous eye on their congressional delegation’s spending habits while in Washington, which is no longer being practiced, but if practiced, would be an immediate cure for today’s irresponsible spending habits of Congress who have enslaved our nation’s younger generation with a national debt which now exceeds $50 trillion!
There is no smoke and mirrors with the 'FAIR-SHARE' method of balancing the budget. The emergency direct tax ought to be statutorily imposed whenever Congress closes a fiscal year with a deficit. The structural mechanism which would immediately bring fiscal sanity to Congress is the requirement of having Congress send a bill to the Governor of each state, notifying him/her to remit their state's apportioned share toward extinguishing the deficit created during the year by Congress___ the governors and state legislators being left with the burden of having to raise this money, only then to then send it off to Washington, D.C.
Picture for a moment the expression on the faces of the Governor of New York and the New York State Legislature, if New York should receive a bill for its apportioned share [29/435] of the 2005 federal deficit. This threat would create a compelling incentive for the Governor of each state, and the various state legislatures, to keep a jealous eye on the spending habits of their Congressional Delegation . . . it would require the fiscal accountability which the state governments once demanded from their Senate and House Members!
For a $20 million direct tax being imposed upon the states in 1861, and the amounts required to be paid by each of the various states, see
HERE and use the buttons at the bottom of the page to go forward and backward.
As to Mr. Forbes, I don’t think Mr. Forbes is really politically naïve. I think Mr. Forbes is doing a very important job very similar to that of Boortz, Linder, and those who offer various other tax reform plans to the public which do nothing to control the actions of Congress and merely divide the people into various tax reform groups which diminishes their strength. We all know that there is a 70 - 80 percent approval rate among the American People to do away with “income” taxation and repeal the 16th Amendment, which would ironically bring us back to our founding father’s original tax plan. And so, our clever folks in Washington have found a way to make such a large segment of our population impotent____ they have conned the people into thinking a replacement tax plan is needed if the 16th Amendment is repealed, and they have offered various government friendly tax reform plans for the people to argue over as a replacement to income taxation, which separates them into various tax reform advocacy groups and diminishes their overall strength. But the truth is, the only tax reform needed is to return to our Founder’s original tax plan, and that can be accomplished if the people unit and demand their employees add the following words to their Constitution:
The Sixteenth Amendment is hereby repealed and Congress is henceforth forbidden to lay “any” tax or burden calculated from profits, gains, interest, salaries, wages, tips, inheritances or any other lawfully realized money.
To see what real conservatives in America are promoting with regard to raising a federal revenue,
CLICK HERE
For those who are unfamiliar with our Founding Fathers original tax plan, as they intended it to work, a plan which
also includes a specific method to extinguish an annual deficit, CLICK HERE and scroll down to :
American Constitutional Research Service Before the
Committee on Ways and Means
United States House of Representatives
June 1995
Mr. Chairman and Members of this Committee:
JWK
Regards,
John William Kurowski, Founder,
American Constitutional Research Service
“He has erected a multitude of new offices , and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance” ___Declaration of Independence
[Permission is hereby given to reprint this post if credit to its author and the ACRS appears in such reprint. No copyright is claimed for quotes within the article which are public domain materials.]
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