[IWE] Galbraith's OpEd on what should be done about the Bailout.

[William Oxley]

fair tax or flat rate income no deductions not even for primary  
residence interest or kids
all gains capital or otherwise treated as income.
no corporate tax at all as corporate profits are either divested as  
dividends and taxed or reinvested


On Sep 28, 2008, at 3:17 PM, D. Scott Katzer wrote:

> Hey Bill,
>
> Bill Patient wrote:
>> That does not change my position that I think corporate taxes are  
>> too high,
>> that our personal income tax scheme is brain dead, or regulatory  
>> environment
>> governing manufacturing forces jobs out of the country and that,  
>> in general,
>> having Washington politicians try and solve our problems is, more  
>> often than
>> not, a bad idea.
>
> I think Obama had a good counter to McCain's comment about  
> corporate tax rates - The effective rate is among the lowest in the  
> world due to all of the loopholes and exclusions.  Do you disagree?
>
> (IIRC, you do, and you referenced Ireland.)
>
> Ireland's personal tax rates don't seem all that low to me:
> http://www.irishlinks.co.uk/income-tax-ireland.htm
>
> Oh, and the total tax burden as a percentage of GDP is higher in  
> Ireland than in the USA.  (Scroll down to Table A):
> http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/ 
> article_1011514.shtml
>
> For 2006 - USA 28.2%, Ireland 31.7%
>
> (It's not clear to me whether that figure somehow includes state  
> and local taxes or not, but presumably they're treated the same in  
> all the countries.)
>
> Three quick questions:
>
> 1) What do you think a fair Federal tax system would be?
> 2) Recognizing the House's Constitutional responsibility to raise  
> revenue and write the tax laws, How long do you think such a system  
> would last?
> 3) How likely do you think it would be that your proposal would be  
> enacted?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Cheers,
> Scott.
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