Posted: Oct 24, 2005 By: David King

Subject: Tax reform

Comment: With all due respect, I believe the members of the Tax Reform Panel should review their own home page, which clearly states the expectations placed upon the panel. It states that the panel's recommendations should:

simplify Federal tax laws to reduce the costs and administrative burdens of compliance with such laws;
share the burdens and benefits of the Federal tax structure in an appropriately progressive manner while recognizing the importance of homeownership and charity in American society; and
promote long-run economic growth and job creation, and better encourage work effort, saving, and investment, so as to strengthen the competitiveness of the United States in the global marketplace.

Quite simply, the reported panel recommendations miss the mark by a country mile. If this is the best this panel can do, it should immediatly be dissolved and replaced by one that will follow the guidelines as laid out by the president.
The only tax proposal that completely fulfills the president's guidelines is the Fairtax (House Bill HR25 and Senate Bill S25). The Fairtax is incredibly simple compared to the current system, and it would slash compliance costs to a fraction of current levels. It is the most progressive of the proposals, as it would completely remove any and all federal tax burden from the poor. Furthermore, the Fairtax would foster possibly the greatest period of economic growth ever through it's encouragement of saving and investment.
If the panel thinks that America isn't ready for such a revolutionary change, I say they should think again. The Fairtax Book has been on the best seller's list for weeks and the more people learn about it, the more support it gains. The current income tax is universally despised and the time has come to replace it with a system that treats everyone fairly, expands the tax base (it includes tourists, visitors, illegal aliens and even criminals) and grows the economy! If this panel cannot see that, they should be replaced by one capable of innovative, open-minded thinking. PLEASE, give the Fairtax a fair shake. Thank you.