Subject: Recent panel deliberations Comment: Chairman Commie Mack III and Vice-Chairman John Breaux: I have just read a public statement of the work conducted by your Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform and it is clear that your group is just rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Federal Income Tax System. Your draft proposals to tinker with the Alternative Minimum Tax, home mortgage deductions, etc. is just a waste of time when the real answer to our needs is the FairTax. During your panel's deliberations it was reported that "as for a national sales tax, the idea was dropped after a commission member, Edward P. Lazear, a labor economist at Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, a public policy research center, reported that the sales tax would have to be as high as 87 percent on most goods and services if items like medicine, education, food and clothing were not taxed." This line of thinking totally misses the point that the FairTax has a provision called a "prebate" that will provide all American households funds to cover the taxes paid on all basic needs. Because of that the FairTax would be broad based and be included on all new consumer goods and services ... even medical expenses, food and new clothing. Because of this an inclusive tax of 23% would fully offset the current tax collections at a much lower cost while the consumer price of goods and services would not increase significantly due to the elimination of huge hidden and imbedded taxes and costs. As recently as this Spring, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan stated, "many economists believe that a consumption tax would be best from the perspective of promoting economic growth - particularly if one were designing a system from scratch - because a consumption tax is likely to favor saving and capital formation." I strongly urge you to support the FairTax Act (H.R. 25 & S. 25) as it was introduced by Congressman John Linder. In his public statement, Vice-Chairman Breaux stated, "we've got to make bold recommendations without regard to politics." Yet, the panel's not willing to make those 'bold recommendations' that would have a dramatic and positive effect on the American economy, jobs, personal savings, investment rates, exports, interest rates, recaputuring the "underground economy" and much of the trillions of dollars in offshore tax shelters, etc. It's time to stop bowing to the special interest groups and once and for all be more concerned with the common interests of all Americans. Only then will your "bold recommendations" be truly considered by President Bush, Congress, and the American people. Sincerely, Richard P. Ley Wexford, PA |