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The Spectacle Blog
At The Business Insider, Michael Brendan Dougherty rips Rick Perry’s plan for an optional flat tax rate:
But Perry doesn’t have all that much faith in his scheme, as he would allow anyone who wants to file under the current code the option to do so.
This is an admission that for many Americans the status quo is actually better than anything Rick Perry’s team can devise.
Perry’s tax plan would preserve all the confusion, waste, and market distortions in the current code, and add another layer….
Perry’s plan is not as simple as Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan or even Jon Huntsman’s more progressive tax-simplification plan. Perry has managed to release a tax plan that is bad politics on top of bad policy.
It’s difficult to imagine that Perry has the capacity to explain his plan with any sense of confidence. Mitt Romney’s economic plan may be over 50 pages long, but Romney can recite PowerPoint-style presentations spontaneously. Rick Perry forgets his one-liners halfway through delivering them.
Perry’s editorial outlining his plan didn’t even mention whether his team believed it was revenue-neutral. Does he care? Probably not. Does it matter? Of course not. This plan is only good for disqualifying the candidate who bothered to suggest it.
As far as the news cycle’s concerned, though, Perry’s latest giant gaffe may totally drown out the introduction of his tax proposal.
View all comments (8) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/25/criticism-of-perrys-tax-plan
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Al Adab| 10.25.11 @ 1:40PM
Hey at least the GOP side is discussing plans. It is sure better than "Tax the Rich."
W| 10.25.11 @ 3:30PM
Perry presented a good plan for a flat income tax, with deductions for home mortgage and charitable contributions, and a $12,500 standard deduction for each person. This would correct the flaw in Cain's plan that taxes the lower income group.
But Perry then gives you the option of filing under this plan or the current tax code. Thus you have to prepare two tax returns to see which one is more beneficial for you. You are doubling your cost and time to prepare a return. This increases the number of pages in the tax code, and increases number of IRS employees.
It seems like Perry, like Cain, doesn't think about his proposal.
Dai Alanye | 10.25.11 @ 5:53PM
I've no use for Perry, but I'd like to know how anyone can absolutely believe Obama's birth legend when he has yet to display an actual copy of his birth certificate, simply displaying one computer artifact after another, with the latest one showing enough scribbles and mark-outs that if it were a check it'd never be cashable.
Do I think Blessed Handsome (Barrack Hussein to those who don't know Arabic) was born in Kenya? Quite unlikely. But he certainly is hiding something, and there's a good story in there that I'd like to hear.
beebop2| 10.25.11 @ 6:31PM
Prince Mitt came here to Ohio today and dissed a very serious effort on the part of a REPUBLICAN governor. I guess Mitt plans to win without Ohio -- just like 0bama.
JGwen| 10.25.11 @ 7:41PM
As an individual, who is not a tax maven, does not use MSIE (all Windows tax software requires it) and can not afford an accountant ... I would appreciate filing my taxes on a post card. I’m sure both the IRS and the State would benefit too, from not having to rework my efforts. That said I have read the following reviews:
A Brief Guide to the Flat Tax - By Daniel Mitchell, Ph.D. for the Heritage Foundation
The most persuasive feature of a flat tax for many Americans is its fairness
A flat tax by dramatically lowering rates and ending the tax code's bias against saving and investment, it would boost the economy's performance when compared with the present tax code.
Tea Party Debates Fair Tax vs. Flat Tax -- Who Wins?
While praising both reforms as superior to the current tax system, Daniel J. Mitchell, an expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at the Cato Institute, favored the Flat Tax because "I don't trust politicians."
How Rick Perry's Flat-Tax Plan Would Accelerate Health Reform Avik Roy
If you calculate your effective tax rate in year one, you’re likely to know which plan will suit you best in the future as well. My take on the plan: it’s excellent. The supply-siders at the Club for Growth call Perry a “champion [of] pro-growth tax reform.”
I do appreciate Governor Perry’s plan goes beyond simple “Tax Reform,” supporting a “Cut Cap and Balance,” A reform that would finally begin to address the fundamental unfairness to younger workers forced to contribute to Social Security and other enhancements.
I don’t know what the “invested interests” are with those who would criticize. We sorely need programs a President and Congress can work together on, to reform the elements in our present system that stand in the way of our Nation’s recovery.
I highly commend Presidential Candidate Perry and those who would work constructively with him to get our Nation Working Again!
Nite| 10.25.11 @ 9:33PM
Governor Perry's plan is a good start. People should remember that nothing can be passed as far as tax code, without approval of Congress. Perry does have a lot of experience in getting people back to work. His energy jobs plan is the best of all the GOP candidates. I am waiting for the rest of his plans.
superbeagle1900| 10.26.11 @ 1:49AM
I think it would be better as a 10-20 plan. 10% up to so much maybe 1 million and 20% for above. It's simple and everyone pays. The super rich pay more and the smaller business owners pay less. Or even 10-20-10. The last ten as a corporate tax with a provision for a 5 percent increase after ten years and flat for that from then on. (With an amendment of a supermajority in order to change, and it can only be changed by raising all 3 taxes the exact same amount). THAT IS TAX REFORM!! Absoutely no estate tax if kept in the family. Add more good ideas.
Brian| 10.26.11 @ 3:05PM
Love the end of the death tax! Also keeping spending to 18% of gdp - excellent. It is indeed a mature and realisic plan. go Perry go!