How to beat the Repugnants on "low taxes."

[mumon]

Simple.

When asked silly questions like "How would you re-do the tax code?" answer: Set the clock back to 1968, and index those rates for inflation.

Everything you need to know to buttress this position is given here:

http://taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/tfdb/TFTemplate.cfm?topic2id=20

with a couple of exceptions, maybe:

1. People had a higher share of the nation's wealth then.

2. People were, according to polls (see the "Affluenza" documentary- google it), happier.

Now, on to the numbers:

Here: http://taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/TFDB/TFTemplate.cfm?Docid=228

is the "Historical Combined Income and Employee Tax Rates for a Family of Four."

Check out the 1968 row vs. the 2001 row.

Next check out: http://taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/TFDB/TFTemplate.cfm?Docid=263

Notice the Corporate income taxes are 1/3 what they were in 1968! The lucky duckies!

Sooooo... all ya gotta do is raise corporate rates (and enforcement) back to reasonable levels, change the rates to a more progressive structure, and

a) you've got a budget much more in balance than *'s crappy lying sack of poop budget

b) most people get a tax cut.

Social security & medicare? Put that on the corporate tab.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Oh, I like that approach!

(as well as your Japan-inspired name).

Anyway, my response to taxcutters is, "What government program that you personally benefit from are you willing to cut?" It's easy to rail against "welfare cheats" or "pork barrel projects," but when you start talking about cutting their bennies, it's a different story.

By the way, I'm old enough to remember when $5,000 a year was a middle class income.

Even in the early 1970s, I lived on $350 a month as a graduate student, sharing a comfortable 3-BR apartment with two roomies and never feeling deprived.

[mumon]

2. Worked with a couple of conservatives where I am...

when I showed 'em they get a tax cut under my scheme, they were speechless!

[Touchdown]

3. And, never fall for that tax "relief" frame either.

Call it what it is...Service Cuts! If they insist on calling it "tax relief", change the framing away from that.

If you argue the con position, then you are for "burden", not "relief"...Don't fall for it.

[mumon]

4. Tax cuts for Republicans are tax increases for normal people...

There will be a hue and cry as people start hitting the Alternative Minimum Tax.

My taxes went UP under Reagan after Kemp-Roth.

It ain't indexed. The best solution I've come up with is just go back in time...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. My taxes went up after Reagan's "reform," too

because consumer interest was no longer deductible, and fellowships for non-degree programs were now taxable. Furthermore, charitable contributions were no longer deductible for non-itemizers :grr:

According to the book America: What Went Wrong, these items were eliminated to make the corporate tax cuts "revenue neutral."