Contestant #1:
The 50/30 Tax Plan
The darkest side of the current tax system is its negative impact on the
workers of America and our senior citizens. Taxes are denying our workers
economic growth and are driving down the standard of living for our senior
citizens.
Nothing that we can propose will solve all the problems inherent in our tax system. We began looking for a plan that could give immediate and permanent relief to the lower income families of our country. Here is what we perceive to be the problem and what we recommend as a solution.
In 1913 the 16th Amendment gave the government the right to tax citizen’s incomes. The Amendment was approved with a clause which excluded incomes under $4,000. At that time very few Americans earned that much.
Then came World War II and a temporary system of withholding taxes from workers income was initiated. When the war ended, government saw that the withholding tax was too good to give up. To no ones surprise it turned out not to be temporary.
Americans came to take it for granted that if they earned $100 they would never see $100.
Government now had what it always wanted -- an artesian well pouring forth a golden flood of money requiring no effort or direct responsibility on their part.
The tax code does more than bring in money, it enables the government to manipulate the behavior of the American public by giving tax benefits to encourage what the government likes and tax penalties for what it does not.
Political tinkering, in an effort to benefit friends, supporters, and givers of campaign money, along with social manipulation, has resulted in history’s most massive and impenetrable body of gibberish called the Tax Code. This has made the workers and elderly vulnerable to government intimidation and abuse.
Horror stories of the IRS crushing peoples dreams and hopes for a better life are common knowledge. Our program will build a permanent barrier that will protect the most defenseless in our society from further government exploitation.
As pointed out earlier, when the Income Tax system was first initiated income taxes did not kick in until a certain level of income had been reached. It was then possible for a working person to build up his own estate by saving and investing any surplus money he had left over after paying for necessities..
If all extra income of the working class is sucked up in taxes they have nothing left over for personal growth and the achievement of financial independence.
Politicians love to trumpet the idea that everyone should pay their fair share. This vague concept is open to any interpretation and can be used to justify any tax plan they can conceive. Our plan is precise and does not create opportunities for manipulation.
We support the progressive tax system. It recognizes the disparity in incomes in our system. A harsh reality in life is that a tax of three thousand dollars on a low income can be far more burdensome then a tax of three hundred thousand on a million dollar income.
The person with an income of a million dollars, even after taxes, has more than enough to maintain a luxurious standard of living and can keep saving and investing to further enhance his wealth. The worker who is just making ends meet needs very dollar just to cover his basic needs. Working Americans deserve better than this.
We propose that legislation be passed that exempts all joint incomes of $50,000 or less and all single incomes of $30,000 or less from Federal Income Taxes, no deductions, no credits, no government grandstanding. This will be the ultimate in simplicity, something that everyone can understand, something that can be written in one paragraph.
Some might interpret this as dumping on the "Rich". That is not the purpose of this plan. It’s purpose is to give the lower incomes a chance to work their way up the economic ladder. If taxes on the wealthy are excessive it is not because the lower incomes do not pay enough taxes. It is because the government spends too much. and who has more influence in government than the wealthy?
Democratic Leader Richard A Gephardt states that " we must make the tax code work for working families". Our plan will accomplish exactly what he says he wants and do it with amazing simplicity
Committee for the 50/30 Tax Plan