Maybe a flat tax isn't such a good idea after all...

[Phoenix Rising]

My uncle actually pointed this out the other day, he said he was inspired by Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan. You see in a flat tax system, let's say you have a 9-9-9 plan, what is to stop the devious liberals from turning that into a 10-10-10 plan or a 11-11-11 plan? You know the liberals are going to find some sort of way to force their big government agenda on the American people, so they're going to try to use our own tax system against us and subsequently, against the American people. Eventually we're going to be like the European socialists and have a 90-90-90 plan, or worse. As an alternative, my uncle proposed the idea of a national sales tax to replace all other taxes, granted sales tax would be a bit higher, but this combined with cutting spending massively would put America back on track. If people received the income that they were supposed to receive, but didn't thanks to income tax, then they would spend more. Anyone have any thoughts or comments?

[Alpha]

...what is to stop the devious liberals from turning that into a 10-10-10 plan or a 11-11-11 plan? You know the liberals are going to find some sort of way to force their big government agenda on the American people, so they're going to try to use our own tax system against us and subsequently, against the American people.

Because there are no social democrats in America? Because anyone who supports any degree of marginal taxation is not an American citizen? Honestly, you talk as though you live in a dictatorship, not a democracy. If American people vote for candidates who represent certain policies, then it is sensible that those policies are then enacted to reflect their democratic mandate. If you judge policy based on how little influence "liberals" can/can't have over it, all you're doing is devising a way for democracy to stop functioning. I find that repugnant.

Also, a flat level of taxation is a terrible idea, that's why it doesn't exist anywhere (to the best of my knowledge). "European socialists" don't support 90% taxation. Sales tax is the most regressive form of taxation, and I'd much prefer it to be scrapped in favour of higher income taxes.

Wealth and income are assumed (sensibly) by economists to have a declining marginal utility. That is, $100 to a poor person is worth more than $100 to a very rich person. While a flat tax rate in dollar terms still takes more from rich people than poor people, if you take proportionally more from richer people to compensate for a lower proportion among poorer people, total utility will still be higher; marginal taxation is more efficient than a flat tax.

Moreover, it's fundamentally more equitable, both horizontally and vertically. Richer people can afford to surrender more of their income without sacrificing their essential standard of living than can poor people: that is, people in different circumstances should be treated differently.

A sales tax is horrible as a tax, and positively harmful as a primary revenue-gathering measure. It places a much greater burden on poor people than on rich people -- that is, as a proportion of income, poor people will pay MORE in tax than will rich people. I could support it if it exempted 'necessary' expenditure, such as rent and food, and would doubly support it if it was exempted on healthy food but not unhealthy food. However, not only is that difficult to implement (is the lettuce in a McDonald's burger exempt?), I still wouldn't be happy about it.

[Order]

Alpha,
Holy informed comment, batman!

Now I'm going to agree with the sales tax statements and the proprtionality of income tax. The extinction of tax on nessesities like rent and food would definately be a good thing for all citizens.

However,
For the united states specifically, I don't like the fact that income tax is compounded by sales tax, ect, ect...
Income tax alone would be fine, but once that is taken, there is tax for just about everything else you can do with money.

The situation in america is not exactly terrible, but when I look at the dollar ammount that I am sending to the fed and the state, my heart sinks.
Especially knowing where the bulk of that money is going,
Straight into other people's pockets.
Between state and federal workers, senate, congress, the DMV, the education system and wlefare and unemployment recipients,
I look at the whole group in general and I feel like I'm being ripped off as an honest, hardworing citizen who follows the rules and pays his taxes.

The car I drive and my living situation is laughable, comapred to that of a state or federal worker.
My monthy income is shamefully low, even compaired to those who recieve financial aid for college and unemployment.

Where is the sense in that?
If it weren't for the benefits I recieve for being at veteran, Id be struggling.

That's what's wrong with the american system.
The solution starts with a smaller fed which spends less money and asks for less of mine.
The way to get there is to organize all federal programs in order of cost, then consider their actual productivity based on the goal of the program.
Those that do not consistantly meet goals, and therefore can't justify the cost, should be considered low productivity and should undergo thorough investigation to determine legitimacy of the program overall.

Edit:
Put me in office,
Order 2014.