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The Spectacle Blog
Mary Katherine Ham has the comments from Congressional Budget Office director Doug Elmendorf, who told reporters today that the his office has been receiving questions from members of Congress about imposing a value added tax, which is typical of European nations.
The idea had been floated by White House adviser Paul Volker as a way to get out of our nation’s fiscal mess. Of course, if history is any guide, the existence of new taxes just promps Congress to spend more, and in the case of a VAT tax, which has such a broad base, the temptation would be great to constantly raise it to generate revenue.
If they were to back such a tax, Democrats would be moving away from their traditional support for tax progressivity, as a VAT tax is a regressive measure that disproportionately affects lower income individuals who consume a higher percentage of their income and have less left over for savings.
View all comments (22) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/04/08/more-vat-rumblings
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John W.| 4.8.10 @ 12:31PM
"... a VAT tax is a regressive measure that disproportionately affects lower income individuals who consume a higher percentage of their income and have less left over for savings. "
Not a problem. Look for some sort of means tested VAT compensation handout bundled in to any VAT they propose.
Xavier| 4.8.10 @ 12:49PM
Time for a Constitutional Amendment: "A VAT or any other national sales tax may be imposed by the United States if, and only if, all other federal taxes of whatever type are eliminated."
S. F. | 4.8.10 @ 12:58PM
Elmendorf has already conceded that.."If we were to adopt a VAT tax in this country, it would be subject to many of the same (tax) preferences the income tax is subject to." he said. "The VAT tax itself could become very complicated."
The free ride will continue for half the country with or without the VAT.
Al Adab| 4.8.10 @ 1:03PM
Xavier is on the right track although even with such an action a VAT remains destructive of free markets. In effect a VAT resembles compound interest in that it is imposed at every transaction not simply at the retail level. The cumulative cost is huge and regressive. Just what a faltering economy needs. The current state of the national economy is fast becoming the accdeptable baseline, at least to the central planners and statists making policy these days.
Eric Cartman| 4.8.10 @ 1:18PM
I have a great idea! Lets start the VAT tax at, let's say, 2%. No big deal. Then, every year we can raise it until its 20-25% and no one will notice! It's the frog in the water technique! I'm a GENIUS! HAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH! And they called me MAD at University! BOOWA BOOWA BWOOOWAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
RightKlik | 4.8.10 @ 2:46PM
How many times does Obama intend to break his tax promises?
the Shrike| 4.8.10 @ 5:22PM
You mean to say he actually kept one? ;-)
This should be no surprise...for many years VAT has been the source of more than a few watery tongues in our government......now that it's officially being "floated" out there watch as it becomes a full scale slobber fest.
VAT = progressive crack
Pingback| 4.8.10 @ 3:39PM
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Oldefarte| 4.8.10 @ 4:02PM
A VAT is not rocket-science, if one considers the traiditional TAX-AND-SPEND Democrats. In this case, they reverse their personae and become SPEND-AND-TAX Democrats instead. It was inevitable after 11/4/08 that these liberal Democrats were going to WEALTH REDISTRIBUTE the incomes of taxpayers to their indigent constituents, and they are effectively doing same. No surprise. Had enough, folks? Then you and your families, friends, co-workers, fellow church attendees, etc had better get your backsides to a voting/polling station in November and vot out any/all Democrat and/or Republican politicians that are destroying this country!!!!!!!!!!!
PCC| 4.8.10 @ 7:17PM
Just in case none of you have lived in a VAT country, the administrative hassles (and costs) are enormous. As a business, you have to keep a receipt and keep track of the VAT amount of every single purchase order, and the VAT amount of every invoice, claim refunds for the VAT you paid versus handing over the VAT you've collected for the government, figure out the exemptions, etc. etc. It's a nightmare!
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Queen Pelosi’s Delusional Magical Refrigerator & Gallup Poll for Dems in the Royal D links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Andy| 4.8.10 @ 9:14PM
The cumulative cost is huge and regressive. Just what a faltering economy needs. The current state of the national economy is fast becoming the accdeptable baseline, at least to the central planners and statists making policy these days. reebok easytone shoes reebok easytone shoes
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tonypal| 4.8.10 @ 9:51PM
I thought the new healthcare plan was going to save us money and cut the deficit. Therefore, I must confess that I'm a bit confused as to why we need a VAT. It doesn't make much sense. This will require the services of either an Obama supporter or perhaps just some garden variety liberal to provide a (convoluted) explanation. Where oh where is LiberalReader when we need him most?
Pingback| 4.9.10 @ 7:01AM
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