The IRS scandal is not going away. Thats good news, but I wish somebody would point out that the IRS is handmaiden to a greater villain the XVI Amendment.
Three brief videos are included in this article about abolishing the IRS:
Although the IRS should be abolished by Congress, I do not see how it can be accomplished without repealing the XVI Amendment. So long as the XVI Amendment remains in place every federal court will rule that a tax on income is constitutional irrespective of anything Congress passes. Since it is constitutional the government requires a bureaucracy to collect the money.
Take this one to the bank. The Constitution means squat to the SCOTUS as John Roberts demonstrated with the Affordable Care Act. Abolish the IRS without repealing the XVI Amendment and the High Court will uphold the income tax on constitutional grounds because government revenues are at stake. Every case that is even remotely connected to government revenues is decided in favor of the government. When it comes to dumping the IRS, I can safely predict that the verdict will be 9 to 0 reaffirming the governments Right to tax income.
Lets put repeal aside and look at the proposals being offered to replace the IRS.
A flat tax
A flat tax is still a tax on income. Working Americans will still be required to file a tax return with a federal bureaucracy of one kind or another if Congress abolishes the IRS. Worse still, a flat tax does nothing to wipe out the malevolent tyranny built into a tax on income.
Here is a practical truth about a flat tax. If a flat tax begins at one percent it will quickly rise to fifty percent or higher. The only way to prevent a flat tax on income from going right back to where it stands today is to place a ceiling on the percentage. No Congress will ever place limits on itself. Bottom line: Congress votes for floors not ceilings.
Interestingly, a flat tax ceiling brings the issue right back to the Constitution. It would take an amendment to the Constitution to keep the ceiling from being raised. Even there the High Court can, and will, cite the XVI Amendment in order to nullify a fixed flat tax ceiling.
Now, lets list the entities who support a tax on income:
1. Every unconstitutional government bureaucracy like the National Endowment for the Arts.
2. Every unnecessary government bureaucracy.
3. All of those government employees who bloat necessary bureaucracies.
4. The education industry. Most especially higher education, teachers unions, and the Department of Education.
5. Tax preparers. Then-speaker Denny Hastert once said that doing away with the IRS would save working Americans 2 billion dollars a year in fees. Im sure that number is much higher today.
6. Every private sector entity that is subsidized with income tax dollars. The entire entertainment industry is the most visible although this category includes groups like ACORN, Planned Parenthood, La Raza, federal grant recipients, NGOs, and so on.
8. Wall Street firms. Absentee ownership is propped up by income tax dollars in a myriad of ways.
7. The American Bar Association.
8. The United Nations and its supporters.
9. The media. Tax deductible advertising dollars are passed onto the backs of every American who pays an income tax.
10. Realtors. Property taxes are an indirect tax on incomes. Higher property taxes contributes to churning home sales; hence, increased commissions for Realtors.
11. Welfare state programs. Those programs embrace the largest, but least influential, group of people living on the labors of strangers. Their influence is limited to election day. Happily, their influence will be meaningless should repealing the XVI Amendment become a reality.
Except for welfare state programs, the number of people in the other categories amounts to a small percentage of the total population. I probably missed a few, but you get the idea.
A sales tax
A federal sales tax is better than a flat tax.
1. Increases in a sales tax will hurt business. The people who now push for tax increases on income will oppose every increase in a sales tax. Thats a good thing because they are well-organized.
2. Welfare state programs and coerced charity will be impossible to fund with a sales tax.
3. No matter the rate, a sales tax will never support foreign aid.
4. Retail prices must come down under a sales tax. The working poor will never be able to afford big ticket items, but their standard of living must rise when lower retail prices are more in line with incomes at the lower end of the economic ladder.
5. A sales tax allows working Americans to spend, or NOT spend, the money they earn as they see fit. That is the very essence of a fair tax.
Finally, I like to think all of the talk about abolishing the IRS is designed to get state legislators to start debating repealing the XVI Amendment. Surely, every discussion about abolishing the IRS must end with one conclusion: Lets just repeal the XVI Amendment and be done with it.
Three brief videos are included in this article about abolishing the IRS:
Although the IRS should be abolished by Congress, I do not see how it can be accomplished without repealing the XVI Amendment. So long as the XVI Amendment remains in place every federal court will rule that a tax on income is constitutional irrespective of anything Congress passes. Since it is constitutional the government requires a bureaucracy to collect the money.
Take this one to the bank. The Constitution means squat to the SCOTUS as John Roberts demonstrated with the Affordable Care Act. Abolish the IRS without repealing the XVI Amendment and the High Court will uphold the income tax on constitutional grounds because government revenues are at stake. Every case that is even remotely connected to government revenues is decided in favor of the government. When it comes to dumping the IRS, I can safely predict that the verdict will be 9 to 0 reaffirming the governments Right to tax income.
Lets put repeal aside and look at the proposals being offered to replace the IRS.
A flat tax
A flat tax is still a tax on income. Working Americans will still be required to file a tax return with a federal bureaucracy of one kind or another if Congress abolishes the IRS. Worse still, a flat tax does nothing to wipe out the malevolent tyranny built into a tax on income.
Here is a practical truth about a flat tax. If a flat tax begins at one percent it will quickly rise to fifty percent or higher. The only way to prevent a flat tax on income from going right back to where it stands today is to place a ceiling on the percentage. No Congress will ever place limits on itself. Bottom line: Congress votes for floors not ceilings.
Interestingly, a flat tax ceiling brings the issue right back to the Constitution. It would take an amendment to the Constitution to keep the ceiling from being raised. Even there the High Court can, and will, cite the XVI Amendment in order to nullify a fixed flat tax ceiling.
Now, lets list the entities who support a tax on income:
1. Every unconstitutional government bureaucracy like the National Endowment for the Arts.
2. Every unnecessary government bureaucracy.
3. All of those government employees who bloat necessary bureaucracies.
4. The education industry. Most especially higher education, teachers unions, and the Department of Education.
5. Tax preparers. Then-speaker Denny Hastert once said that doing away with the IRS would save working Americans 2 billion dollars a year in fees. Im sure that number is much higher today.
6. Every private sector entity that is subsidized with income tax dollars. The entire entertainment industry is the most visible although this category includes groups like ACORN, Planned Parenthood, La Raza, federal grant recipients, NGOs, and so on.
8. Wall Street firms. Absentee ownership is propped up by income tax dollars in a myriad of ways.
7. The American Bar Association.
8. The United Nations and its supporters.
9. The media. Tax deductible advertising dollars are passed onto the backs of every American who pays an income tax.
10. Realtors. Property taxes are an indirect tax on incomes. Higher property taxes contributes to churning home sales; hence, increased commissions for Realtors.
11. Welfare state programs. Those programs embrace the largest, but least influential, group of people living on the labors of strangers. Their influence is limited to election day. Happily, their influence will be meaningless should repealing the XVI Amendment become a reality.
Except for welfare state programs, the number of people in the other categories amounts to a small percentage of the total population. I probably missed a few, but you get the idea.
A sales tax
A federal sales tax is better than a flat tax.
1. Increases in a sales tax will hurt business. The people who now push for tax increases on income will oppose every increase in a sales tax. Thats a good thing because they are well-organized.
2. Welfare state programs and coerced charity will be impossible to fund with a sales tax.
3. No matter the rate, a sales tax will never support foreign aid.
4. Retail prices must come down under a sales tax. The working poor will never be able to afford big ticket items, but their standard of living must rise when lower retail prices are more in line with incomes at the lower end of the economic ladder.
5. A sales tax allows working Americans to spend, or NOT spend, the money they earn as they see fit. That is the very essence of a fair tax.
Finally, I like to think all of the talk about abolishing the IRS is designed to get state legislators to start debating repealing the XVI Amendment. Surely, every discussion about abolishing the IRS must end with one conclusion: Lets just repeal the XVI Amendment and be done with it.
