-
James Gandolfini, R.I.P.
June 19, 2013 | 6 comments
-
Let Pitchers Throw Complete Games
June 19, 2013 | 16 comments
-
Thoughts on New U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks
June 18, 2013 | 8 comments
-
Do Beyonce & Jay-Z Understand The “Complexities” of Syria?
June 18, 2013 | 2 comments
-
What’s So Moderate About Iran’s New President?
June 15, 2013 | 9 comments
The Spectacle Blog
This morning, Ross Kaminsky critiques the merits of Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” plan. Kaminsky particularly objects to the introduction of a national sales tax stating, “Here’s the important history lesson: Sales taxes almost never fall.”
Kaminsky is wise to qualify that statement because Canada’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) has fallen - twice. Canada’s Conservative government lowered the rate on the GST from 7% to 6% in 2006 and from 6% to 5% in 2008. The Tories campaigned on this during the 2006 federal election.
Now Kaminsky is certainly on legitimate grounds when he takes issue with Cain’s assertion that future administrations wouldn’t propose increases to a national sales tax and future Congresses wouldn’t implement them. But depending on who we elect and depending on how vigorous the electorate would be against future tax increases this isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion. The fact that our closest trading partner has decreased its national sales tax from 7% to 5% should give us cause for hope.
View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/09/30/a-note-on-canadian-sales-tax
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Clint| 9.30.11 @ 2:29PM
Total tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product:
Canada 32.2 Percent.
Teflon93| 9.30.11 @ 2:47PM
Twice in how many years?
"Almost never fall" is a worthwhile warning if Canada's has been in place for a significant amount of time, isn't it?
What evidence do you have that total tax rates in the U.S. fall as often as they rise?
Peter Martin| 9.30.11 @ 3:06PM
This was brought in by a Conservative government to replace a host of hidden taxes, notably a manufacturers sales tax which would just be passed on to the consumer in the final price. By "outing" the formerly hiden tax, any future government would face the wrath of the consumer who could see the impact with every cash register tape. Show me a Canadian government that would raise the GST rate and I will show you a Canadian government on its way out.
Occam's Tool| 9.30.11 @ 4:09PM
Come on---Cain's proposal would be debated. He's a reasonable man.
Pecos Pete| 9.30.11 @ 5:33PM
Nothing wrong with a national sales tax IF the income tax is killed.
axbucxdu| 10.1.11 @ 11:41PM
A lone voice of reason. Absent the income tax, the revenue producer for government, i.e., its ostensible owners, finally regain control over what they ostensibly own.
Ross Kaminsky | 9.30.11 @ 7:19PM
Aaron, you're right, but it's also worth noting that most states also have sales taxes there and the most populous parts of the country pay a total of 12-13.5 percent in GST or something like GST.
Interesting vote on this in British Columbia just in the past week, by the way. Worth reading about.
Aaron Goldstein| 9.30.11 @ 8:44PM
You're referring to the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Five of the ten Canadian provinces have it. Three of the Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland) implemented it in the late 1990s while Ontario and B.C. implemented it last year. Interestingly, it was the B.C. Liberals (who are the conservatives in that province) who implemented the HST. All other Canadian provinces have their own sales tax with the exception of Alberta. In Quebec and Prince Edward Island, the PST is piggy backed onto the GST.
For the taxpayer there really isn't a substantial difference between a GST/PST and HST system in terms of taxation rates. The reason half the provinces have adopted HST is because the federal government collects the tax through the Canada Revenue Agency and remits the money back to the provinces.
c. j. acworth| 9.30.11 @ 8:49PM
Beyond the very real danger of giving government a sales tax in addition to an income tax, there is the issue of regressivity of a sales tax, that is, since lower income people spend a higher fraction of their income than the wealthy, they pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes.
Bob K.| 10.1.11 @ 11:52PM
That is the real purpose of a sales tax. To get some taxes from people who don't pay taxes otherwise.
yisong| 10.25.11 @ 8:46PM
Slewing bearing is also called slewing bearing, some people called: rotary support, swing support.