Has anyone heard of Mike Gravel? He is a presidential candidate for 2008. Watch a couple short vids from his site to see what he is all about. This guy wants to declassify over %80 of what the government currently thinks we shouldn't know about. YOU CAN JUST TYPE MIKE GRAVEL IN GOOGLE AND HIS SITE WILL BE NUMBER ONE. I SUGGEST WATCHING THE VIDEO CLIP ON THE HOME PAGE THAT READS "MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX" THIS GUY WANTS TO BRING THEM DOWN. YEAH!!!! I hope this guy wins, he will change everything. I am so sick of being lied to by our current leaders. This is the one person that I think we can trust to look out for the average person. This is the one person that would fight to end shadowy government doings. Please get this guys name out there however you can. Plus he is for legalizing marijuana also. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! :m:
Mike Gravel's website Eliminate the income tax in favor of sales tax? I think that's a bad idea. I like some of his other ideas though.
I think it is a great idea if it is structured like a VAT with no tax on necessities and the tax level is based on luxury and carbon footprint.
spidergoat, What do you think is wrong with replacing income tax with sales tax? It seems to me that it makes sense to charge those who have the greatest impact on society - those who consume the most. Also, corporations should pay much more in taxes than they currently do (less than 1%).
He mentions a tax rate of 20-25% on sales, less a monthly rebate to some families for certain things. When you consider that VAT in Europe averages 18-20%, on top of income tax and that VAT is of course just another form of tax, which governments need, then I think that his estimated figures are way off course for the kind of things he wants to create with this alternative to income tax, sales tax would be more to the order of 40-50%. I'm not saying that it is a bad idea, in fact this is what I've been saying should happen for the past 15 years, I'm just saying that his figures are too optimistically on the low side. Gravel seems to have some fresh and radical ideas, what most of us might consider as common sense ideas, but what I can't help thinking, is America ready for such a shift in political perception, indeed, is the world ready? Political mavericks usually get assasinated before they can make a change.
Not if necessities are not taxed. The same way many states administer sales tax now. For example, food is not taxed, unless it is junk food or prepared food (like restaraunts).
I think a national sales tax in the range you mention (25%) would encourage the development of a black market and of bartering. 25% is a lot when you're buying, say, a $25,000 car. I think it would encourage organized crime almost as much as our current "war on drugs" does. I'd prefer a flat tax, no deductions. Or perhaps a lower flat tax combined with a lower national sales tax. Almost anything would be better than our current nightmarish system.
What about Coprorate tax reform - not allowing them to write of such expenses as advertizing, executive housing, helicopters and losses due to poor management decisions?
Just watched some youtube footage of Gravel. Im glad hes adding some fresh thinking to the debates. He wont win of course...if he does he'll problably be assassinated.
Check out this long interview for more on Gravel's tax reform: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KyFRyxZp-s&NR=1
You can write off executive housing? Fuck, I need to talk to my accountant. Here I was paying for it myself, like a chump.
Some of Gravel's accomplishments as a senator: "In 1971, Gravel played a key role in the release of the Pentagon Papers — a large collection of secret government documents pertaining to the Vietnam War — which were made public by former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg. Gravel inserted 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his Senate Subcommittee on Buildings and Grounds. These pages were later issued by the Beacon Press as the "Senator Gravel Edition" — the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Also in 1971, Gravel embarked on a one-man filibuster against legislation renewing the military draft. Using various parliamentary maneuvers, Gravel was able to block the bill for five months before President Richard Nixon and Senate Republicans agreed to allow the draft to expire in 1973. Six months before US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the PRC."
