Ted Cruz’s flat tax couldn’t even work in your imagination

[cali]

Imagine there's no IRS. It isn't hard to do. No Obamacare to pay for. And no budget deficits too. Imagine all the people, living with a flat tax.

You may say Ted Cruz is a dreamer, but he's not the only one. He hopes some day—especially if you live in Iowa—you'll join him, and, well, he'll be president. That, at least, was the message during his announcement, oddly redolent of John Lennon, that he's officially seeking the highest office in the land. It was a conservative wish list to not only repeal the 21st century, but the 20th, too. About the only thing missing was a call to bring back the gold standard, although Cruz pretty much has that covered now that he's joined Rand Paul's crusade to curb the Federal Reserve.

Now it isn't easy to single any of this out as particularly unrealistic—that's like asking whether unicorns or centaurs are more real—but the flat tax might be it. That's the idea that everyone should pay the same tax rate. It's been the white whale for conservatives who not only want to go back to pre-New Deal levels of taxation, but also think this would super-charge the economy. Steve Forbes, for one, made this the centerpiece of his two presidential campaigns, and says that instead of the 2 to 2.5 percent growth we've gotten, a flat tax would make economic growth would explode up 6 percent the first few years and 3.5 percent thereafter.

But reality is a lot tougher than some tax models. A flat tax would just be a colossal giveaway to the rich—and maybe even take away for the poor—and that doesn't help the economy much. Just look, for example, at Rick Perry's version of this. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that, on average, it would have raised taxes on the bottom 40 percent between $150 and $450, at the same time as it slashed them for the top 0.1 percent by $1.5 million. Or, in percentage terms, that's a 1.5 percent tax hike on the bottom 40 and a 27 percent tax cut for the top 0.1. In all, 34.2 percent of the money would go to the top 0.1, 62.2 percent to the top 1, and 86.6 percent to the top 5 percent.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/24/ted-cruzs-flat-tax-couldnt-even-work-in-your-imagination/

[herding cats]

1. I'm sick and tired of some idiot Teahadist/Libertarian trying to sell the US on a flat tax.

Their minions, who don't understand how it works, all think they're so smart when they bring it up in conversation. Then you explain all the reasons to them why it's regressive, they just get smug and say you're wrong and can't be taught. I hate willfully ignorant people. They've sucked up the last bit of patience I have left for them.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Maybe take away from the poor? I'd say definitely take away from the poor.

First, they'd get hit paying taxes they don't already pay now, and secondly, they'd lose all sorts of safety net programs we could no longer afford.

A flat tax is a deliberate attempt to 'cull the herd' and let the poor die off quickly.

[mopinko]

3. simple minds. too simple to grok simple fairness.

like any republican in the country would pay their taxes w/o fear of enforcement.

[Capt. Obvious]

4. That idea is surefire winner

[B Calm]

5. LOL +1 who could ever forget that idiot!

[53tammy]

6. I see flat tax as dangerous

All I can think of is the Irish potato famine. My understanding is product manufactured for export will carry no taxes to encourage exports while domestic is taxed. It also eliminates incentives to engage in socially positive behavior such as solar and alternative energy that is so needed at this time'

[Thespian2]

7. Out of the Mouths

of Grifters and Fux "news" consumers.

[RoccoR5955]

8. Spare me this drivel.

They have been touting this for years, and for just as many years, we have been telling them why it's not fair.
Now some of them even call it a "fair tax." I call it a fare tax, because it puts the burden of taxes on the poor and middle class. No matter how many times you tell them that it is harder for a poor or middle class person to come up with x percent of their income to pay Uncle Sam, the more they keep telling you that you are wrong.
Give me a break with this already!