Chris Kelly: John McCain's Flat Tax October Surprise

[muriel_volestrangler]

I think John McCain has one more trick up his sleeve. (One last hand from the grave? Some metaphor about shock and clutching.) I think John McCain is planning our terror. I think John McCain is going to pitch the Flat Tax.

Dangerous? Erratic? Crazy? You mean, as opposed to Vice President Miss Wasilla?
...
When it comes right down to it, what Joe the Plumber hates is the very idea of progressive taxation, whether he pays his or not. J the P knows his taxes won't go up under President Obama; it's the principle that rankles.

The flat tax has a powerful allure for people who think Rush Limbaugh works harder than they do, and a girl deserves a few nice things.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/john-mccains-flat-tax-oct_b_135601.html

It is the idea at the base of Joe The Plumber's attack on Obama - "why should the rich pay more?" And as Kelly say,s it would be a 'mavericky' thing to do, when all else has failed. Worth reading the article for the jokes, even if the suggestion doesn't have too much hard evidence to back it up.

[Poseidan]

1. is human stupidity truly infinite?

Anti-tax people must be 100% ignorant of government. Do they want no government, so we live like animals? That model already failed, which is why we have government. Tax-structure is not particularly complex or difficult to understand.

People pay taxes, and they bitch about taxes, and they vote based on paying taxes, yet they know nothing about taxes, and they don't bother learning.

[LiberalFighter]

6. They can't think beyond their space.

[Believing Is Art]

2. Oh dear Lord Almighty in heaven

If he does this I will spend every waking moment hiding in a corner, holding myself, rocking back and forth with silent tears, until someone hopefully finds me on November 5th to tell me Obama has won.

[iamjoy]

3. We Can Hope

In fact, why not challenge McSame on this - why doesn't he support a flat tax? After all, if he believes providing more money to the upper tier will help them create jobs, if he bitches about how high America's corporate tax rate is...well, why doesn't he just come straight to the point and go with a flat tax?

Obama has already stated he believes in "share the wealth" and that some one earning less than $250,000 needs the extra money more than he does. (Sadly, I don't quite think the message of "bottom up" has caught on - or that enough people realize what is "pork" in another district is your Congress person "bringing home the bacon" and funding infrastructure projects that improve quality of life in the community).

Anyway, back to my point. Obama has been quite clear - share the wealth, give assistance where it is needed. Why doesn't McSame show a little political courage and admit he thinks progressive taxation is socialist?

[billyoc]

4. The term "flat tax" has been distorted so badly as to have lost all meaning.

McCain would be lucky to have it mentioned on Fox. :rofl:

[Cresent City Kid]

5. Flat tax? How 'bout flat salaries?

[colonel odis]

7. first of all, i love the king crimson album cover. beyond that, wouldn't a flat tax

put the IRS virtually out of business? or at least require much less of their efforts?

wouldn't it also eliminate the entire profession of tax accounting?

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. The IRS would still have to collect all the data on what someone's income is

Many people conflate the idea of "eliminate all the tax loopholes and unjustifiable deductions" with "have a flat tax". In fact, the idea of a progressive tax, in which your marginal tax rate increases in stages, is quite simple, and can be expressed in a few lines, and calculated for any income in a few seconds. The complicated part of any tax return is the options you have about trying to claim things as expenses, write-offs, and so on.

That would be one of the dangers of McCain doing his last Hail Mary pass with a flat tax - he'd claim "it's simple - and it eliminates bureaucracy". Tempting, to people who don't like their tax returns. But misleading.

[bulloney]

9. If we would ever adopt a real flat tax, we'd eliminate deductions like mortgage interest.

Joe the Plumber and people of his ilk would be the first to bitch about it.