works for me.

Here's what I'd do: Scrap the goddamn income tax and go to a national sales tax with necessities, like basic groceries, being exempt. This is what we have in place of income tax in WA state - and it is one thing I think this state does right!

Also - taxes would be simplified, and it would be harder to scam the system. People would be more inclined to save than spend.

Besides, what do you suppose would happen if politicians did their own returns? Honest income reporting?

I agree with Peggy. A national sales tax of 5% with necessities exempt. The system to collect it is already in place via the county tax collector all they would have to do is send the feds the check quarterly.

Johnny Carson had a brilliant idea years ago to straighten out the US Post Office system. Mail their checks! I always liked that idea.

It would be terrific if EVERYONE paid income tax. It would also be helpful to those of us who do pay if there were no such thing as an earned income tax credit, because those parasites who qualify pay nothing and receive money from, hmmmm US. Sounds like socialism to me.

Denny's point No. 2 doesn't go far enough. I say take 20% out of each and every employee paycheck. Period. End of story. For those with investment incomes or are self-employed, pay the government 20% every quarter. Period. End of story. No more deductions. No more write-offs. No more loopholes. You pay 20%. State revenues will be collected from sales tax and property tax. All other taxes and fees are to be eliminated. Period. End of story. What do you think about that, Denny?

For those earning $1,000,000, you pay $200,000 annually. For those earning $20,000, you pay $4,000 annually. Notice how the rich pay more. So don't give me this crap about how the rich don't pay their fair share. And for you folks at the bottom, you have to become part of the solution. You use and rely on government services just like the rest of us. Sons and daughters are serving in the military to protect your punk asses. So pay up and shut the fuck up. You don't like it? Move to Mexico and take a few illegals back with you. Don't let the national border hit you in the ass on your way out.

I'm tired of people sucking our society dry. I'm tired of government getting closer and closer to me. The only change Obama is interested in is what's in your pocket. That's the Democrats, and the Republicans aren't much different either. Fuck 'em all.

Privatize social security. Dismantle Medicare and Medicaid and place those programs in the private sector where they belong. End agriculture subsidies. Tell the corn lobby to fuck off. Drill in ANWR but also promote alternative energy development through tax incentives and grants. Build refineries, and increase nuclear energy. Dismantle the UN. Sell the UN property, and give the proceeds to the poorest schools. Which reminds me: dismantle the Dept. of Education. Dismantle public school districts. Return those tax dollars to the people. Education belongs in the private sector. Outlaw government employee unions.

Put me in charge. I'll bring the change. It's time to return the government to the people. The government serves the people. The people do not serve the government.

I've had it. This country was doing just fine until Woodrow Wilson ushered in the Progressive Era. This liberal freak show just won't end.

Fairtax.org is the way to go.

AMENDMENT XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever sources derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. (whatever that actually means)

Repeal, Repeal, Repeal this Summa Bitch.

I read in The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History that this Amendment was never legally ratified. But details like that are not imporatant enough to pursue.

In seventeen hundred and seventy six,
A group of American mavericks
Renounced the yoke of tyranny –
The tax on stamps, the tax on tea.
Those founders felt that we were fit
To tax ourselves, and you’ll admit
We have become quite good at it. (author unknown, at least to me)

As Einstein once said, “The hardest thing to understand is American income tax regulations.” And when it comes to tax reform in this country, generally what happens is that taxes are lowered a penny or two on one thing and new taxes of nickles and dimes are levied upon things never taxed before.

Many old proverbs, some thousands of years old, address the subject of taxes. An old Roman saying is that any shepherd knows how and when to shear his sheep, but a good one knows how not to skin it at the same time. A Greek proverb says it’s necessary to milk the cow to stimulate production, but don’t rip off the udder. I read somewhere, probably Jefferson or Adams or someone like them, that the most insidious form of death for a nation of free men is an extensive and complicated system of unfair taxation coupled with a great and growing national debt. Check, and check! We seem to have that one down pat, DNC.

My addition to that list of sayings would be that taxation to produce stability is much the same as bulimia to achieve health. Our government, despite all the speechifying and jawing about how unfair our system is to the middle class, still manages to keep its hand about 6 inches up the golden goose’s ass every year. It’s as if the whole idea of “progressive” government is to take huge sums of money from people who actually earn it and give it away to people who don’t.

For over a hundred years now American has been engaged in a desperate race to exhaust its natural resources. Seems to me at the pace we going now the thing we might run out of first is middle-class taxpayers.

Good post, ET. And to add to it, I believe it was Augustus Caesar who uttered the most famous and probably first tax quote ever, "All the world should be taxed." Hell, the statement was so powerful, it was even quoted in the Bible (I believe the book of Luke or something). And so it began in Rome. It is appropriate to note the irony here, for Rome fell shortly after it had exhausted its middle class and was overrun with barbarians (illegal immigrants).

In this day and age you can travel the world on your visa, mastercard, or Amex. Stay in various hotels in myriad locations. Drive rental cars. And otherwise, eat, drink and be merry all on your card...When you get home, your bill shows up on time and is correct to the penny...With this technology, why in the hell do we need a ten thousand page tax code which requires most of us to hire professional assistance to complete a return just to pay the government their due??? If you need need/want three trillion dollars then just take it thru national sales tax at the time of purchase...We can put the IRS and H&R block out of business at the same time. It will save the taxpayers trillions that we now pay accountants not to mention the lost productivity due to all the personal bookeeping. What we are doing now is supporting a wasteful ananchronism, and paying tens of thousands of beurocrats and accountants on the backs of working Americans...

Taxes are here to stay. Face it. We CAN'T do a damn thing about it, 'cept piss 'n' moan a little. But the deck's stacked against us so bad, it's not even funny, and there's a LOT of people in Washington that don't think we pay enuff as it is. More than likely ONE of them will be our next President.

1. Every member of Congress has to do his/her taxes without a tax accountant, a tax prep company, or tax software.

Denny, I've been preaching that for years - glad someone (almost) famous is promoting it now.

I have been in the middle class range all my life and only had to pay in once. Under Dubya's watch of course. And I don't take hand outs from our government, thank you Paul. You are a new breed. I will call you a special kind of arrogant stupid. Seems fitting.

I second Willie's post. Repeal that Evil Amendment. Our founders knew what they were doing when they forbade the new federal government from taxing income. I know it'll never happen, but I can dream.

While I'm dreaming, though, Denny's suggestion that Election day and Tax Day coincide more closely isn't as far-fetched. I'd move Tax Day to the first Monday in November. The added pressure of holiday shopping could only help. :p

Option #3 would take care of everything. There needs to be no other option.

Taxes are here to stay. Face it. We CAN'T do a damn thing about it, 'cept piss 'n' moan a little.

There most certainly is something we can do about it; please refer to the Second Amendment.

“A little rebellion now and then...is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”
Thomas Jefferson

Denny, I feel your pain.

"pay in once. Under Dubya's watch of course"

So that meant you were overpaying under Clinton's watch. See, Dubya's been good to you. He let you use your money in the way you best saw fit and at the end of the year said "ok here's how much you owe." Do you understand that concept?
And could you elaborate on Paul's new breed of arrogant stupid. I don't see the connection?

I read in The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History that this Amendment was never legally ratified. But details like that are not imporatant enough to pursue.
Posted by Willie at April 14, 2008 04:04 PM

The Supreme Court disagrees with you.

Teresa (TDO) - Congrats. You rally are as dumb as a box of boxers if you don't realize how much you pay in taxes and think that if you have to pay April 15th you are paying taxes and if you get a refund you're not. I really feel sorry for your patients. How exactly did you make it through nursing school?

Holy crap Denny, I didn't know if that was Teresa the dumb one writing that ridiculous comment or not, so I didn't address her properly. I should have recognized her dumbness with the BDS flaring up again. Sorry, that won't happen again.

Okay, sick and god damn tired of morons like Teresa spouting bullshit.
Go here http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

You cannot argue with the numbers. Middle class people paid a higher percentage of their income to the government during the Clinton Years than during the Bush Years. Period.

So to Teresa and her "had to pay in under Dubya" (That's Mr. President to you,) Choke on it.

Teresa TDO.......

Still haven`t learned a damn thing I see.....You do not even recognize you have been paying taxes all along thru payroll withholding. Here is a hint ....The one time you paid in more under Dubyas watch is because you made more due to his better economic policies which are working for everybody.

By the way do not play that unemployment is on the rise BS......I already addressed that on this website courtesy of Don Surber....Unemployment is lower now under Bush then during Clintons Tenure & income is up.

I have been in the middle class range all my life and only had to pay in once. Under Dubya's watch of course.

Uhhh, Teresa ... There's this little thing called withholding! There's also the Social Security and Medicare portions ... Please tell me you are kidding!

And BTW, the fact that you "paid in" under Dubya's watch could easily have as much to do with how you adjusted your withholding or prepared your return as to the actual tax rates. Seriously, woman, if you want an explanation of how this works drop me a line!

I remember my daughter's first eagerly anticipated paycheck and the discussion that ensued after she read all the info on the pay stub. She was aghast at how much was taken out. Yes, honey, that's why we're conservatives ... we believe you ought to be able to keep most of what you earn!

How many people have missed this moment of awakening? I think I just saw one.

Incidentally, Teresa, even if you got back all of the withheld amount, the government still had use of YOUR money for an entire year INTEREST FREE!!! May I get a loan from you under those terms???

The first time I ever heard my daughter cuss was when she gaped at her sister and said, "who the fuck is this asshole FICA? WHAT THE HELL???"
(She had worked off the books for the farm all her life, was 17 and didn't hear me outside their bedroom -- priceless)!
She's a scholarship college student BTW, and despite this outburst a really great kid.
Teresa's comment is the SECOND funniest and most ridiculously naive comment I've ever heard regarding taxes.
May I reiterate -- my k-bug was 17?

I used to think that maybe you people had a little comman sense. Holy Fuck did you ever prove me wrong.

Teresa: Please explain your comment.

Whatever Teresa. You can't debate because you are ignorant to the issues. You probably can't even find your way out of a brown paper bag.

This sort of crap upsets me also .
I had a great job before I became disabled . My wife never had to work . She stayed home and took care of our 2 kids .
Now I have this disease that is causing my body to shut down . Our income was cut from 80+ a year to around 30 a year . We still are current on our house payments , still current on all bills and I am teaching my kids they can do anything they want . My son who is 13 is mastering Algebra, learning brail because he wants too. He is also a very active Boy Scout and volunteers for many community projects and dose a lot with our church .

I am tired of these welfare junkies complaining how life is hard and they need a break or help .
I also do not mean to brag about my kid or how fortunate I am . It is all do to being educated and learning to deal with what you have .
Nice subject Denny . I could not think today so I did not write .

My Grandfather and Father always said ,

"The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home".

Third funniest:

I used to think that maybe you people had a little comman (common) sense. Holy Fuck did you ever prove me wrong.
God, that's just funny. Don't we all love being questioned on our "cawmmin since ...."

Priceless! You can't make this shit up! At least my kid was examining her very first pay stub when she spouted obscenities ...

Teresa the dumb one, I see you are back with such thought, such insight, and such specificity that once again your post makes perfect sense---not.

Teresa, I have a little lesson for you if your are up to continuing your obviously piss poor education on life. Here it is ready "Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt"?

Now tell us, what did GWB do to you today that has caused you great harm and distress?

Ray,
Shhhhh....be vewy vewy quiet...I am hunting wabbits and eagerly awaiting the next hilarious brain fart that may emerge from TDO's keyboard...wait for it...

TDO & LOB......

The Dumb One & Lack Of Brains.......How in the world can anybody be as freaking stupid as TDO & be allowed to wander around unsupervised is beyond belief.. To post she has only had to pay taxes one time & it was Bush`s fault not knowing she has been paying taxes all along is bad enough but consistantly being pilloried & ridiculed by everybody should be at least a clue for her to suspect maybe just maybe her point of view is off base.To then post we are all stupid & she is right defies any common sense....Liberalism is nothing more then a case of Political Ahlsheimer`s Disease.

What the Hell.....Even DanS when he posts some really dumb crap has enough sense to shut up & hide for awhile until the dust settles.Maybe he is not as much of a flaming liberal as we think.

I am now working with a tax account to avoid prosecution and jail time (see Wesley Snipes).

Wesley "fraudulently" had not filed his taxes for 2 years and may get 2 years in jail.

I have Wesley beat by a year but the fraudulent issue in not an option.

For some reason the damn IRS just won't let it go.

I make good money and DO NOT qualify for any of the tax cuts, rebates and BS handouts they give to satiate the middle class folks (I know I sound like a snob, but that is only because gummint peasant brainwashing and fear works), so instead I just refuse to pay anymore than they already raped out of me.

It doesn't matter, the tax structure is set up to make everyone (except the ultra rich) middle class.

You excel, they take it. PERIOD.

I'll let you know if I get away with it,but if not, I'm sure there is internet access in prison these days.

Frankly, I know taxes are necessary to support some things, but give me a fucking break the way our "useless", "elitist" gummint treats its citizens and spends our money.

GWB is the worst.. Yeah, let's give Africa another 45 billion dollars for AIDS.

Nevermind, just venting about having to work so much "for others."

Willie......

45 billion is chump change....Obama has a bill circulating for senatorial support which will allocate some 815 Billion over 9 years to fight poverty around the world..."Read as not in the United States for Americans ". This is to be paid by American Taxpayers on top of the existing tax burden plus the other 500 to 800 billion in increased domestic welfare entitlements he has proposed.

Isn`t Liberal Socialism Grand. Hope you win your case.

Willie: This year the accountant told me we were in the 25% tax bracket. That figure got me to thinking. There are six people in our family. The government takes one fourth of our adjusted gross income (and the deductions have been dwindling!). Wow. It's like having an extra family member at the dinner table, so seven family members ... one of whom is fatter and greedier than the others! We hate it when Uncle Sam comes for dinner ...

Last year Teresa (TDO) was spouting off about Cheney getting a huge tax refund. We tried to explain to her that he got that because he overpaid his estimated taxes. Somehow no matter how hard we tried we could not explain that concept to her. I guess Ron White mist have been talking about Teresa (TDO) when he said, "You can't fix stupid." What's amazing is this women who claims to have "comman sense", is an RN and is actually responsible for the care of sick people. Scary!