Barking Moonbat Early Warning System

Sarah Palin's enemies are automatically added to the Endangered Species List.

Monday - August 02, 2004

Monday Rant (see addendum below)

Should We Eliminate The IRS? (see addendum at bottom)

I just read on Drudge that Denny Hastert is going to propose the elimination of the IRS during President Bush's second term.

You're all thinking, "HOORAY!! YIPPEE!! ABOUT DAMNED TIME!!! F**KIN' A!!!!!"

Hold on a minute now. Let's not get too excited just yet.

Something like that, frankly, scares me. Remember, this is Congress you are dealing with. The same people that passed Campaign Finance Reform with loopholes in it so big you could steer an aircraft carrier thought it with room for its destroyer escorts.

Here's what I would want you to consider in such a move:

1. What will be the sales tax rate and HOW will it be calculated?

2. What assurances do we have that the methodology for RAISING those rates is one tied to the requirement to maintain a balanced budget----at all costs? If not, you'll find this to be a nightmare!

3. Here's the biggest one of all which I rarely ever see discussed: during what sort of economic times will we be doing this changeover? If our economy is depressed, it will get even more so. If the economy is vibrant, no president will want it to happen during his watch. Why? Think about it.

a. How many people are employed by the IRS? They will be UNEMPLOYED!
b. How many people specialize in tax law? They will be UNEMPLOYED!
c. How many people are independent contractors doing printing of IRS publications? They will be UNEMPLOYED!
d. How many independent contractors run things like web sites, doing QC on print jobs for the IRS? They will be UNEMPLOYED!
e. How many companies specialize in tax preparation? (H.R. Block, among others) They will be UNEMPLOYED!
f. How many companies print "How-To" manuals for tax form preparation (J.K. Lasser for one) They will be UNEMPLOYED!
g. How many small print companies are there making copies of forms for individuals, mailing them out, etc. Some of them will become UNEMPLOYED!
h. How many accountants do nothing but tax preparation? They will be UNEMPLOYED!

Now let's look at the economic implication all these unemployed have on those who sell real estate, cars, furniture, appliances, etc. Their business will turn down as there will be millions of folks with no jobs to make the money to buy these things. Home prices will tumble. Neighborhoods will be at risk as folks will need to move who no longer have jobs.

And when this ripple effect begins folks start laying off and it begins to affect restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, etc.

Bankruptcies will skyrocket. Inflation will shoot up. Cost of borrowing will make purchases prohibitive. People will consume less. GDP goes in the toilet. Wages follow. The vicious circle widens. Revenue to the treasury will PLUMMET (since people won't be buying) and sales taxes will need to be increased further exacerbating the now dire situation.

Just something for you to consider.

Hey, I think it is more than overdue that the IRS be abolished. But let's not get too excited about it yet, OK? We may think our Congressmen are nothing but a bunch of incompetent, power hungry individuals but stupid they are not. Once the public begins to grasp the enormity of such a change, you'll see how quickly it gets killed.

As for abolishing the IRS in small increments? Silly, silly people! Name for me when that's ever happened since every year Congress promises to make things simpler yet all they do is add more laws, more pages to the code, more complexity necessitating more accountants.

Sweet dreams, boys and girls!

ADDENDUM:

The comments have been spirited and lively. But I fear some have missed the point completely so let me polish a couple of points and add a couple more:

Some of you folks are missing the point on my "economic" numbers: remember, it is not JUST the IRS we are abolishing. It's the printers, printing companies, accountants, lawyers, etc. This group numbers in the MILLIONS!!! Do I care much for lawyers? No! Accountants? No. My recent dealings with them regarding financial planning for my parents reinforced that feeling. Will I feel sorry for them losing their jobs? No. But it is not just them.

Back on topic--How many people work JUST for J.K. Lasser and H&R Block?

Maj Mike brought up another point--states! In states with income taxes and treasuries to handle the returns, how many hundreds of thousands MORE people get the pink slip?

DO NOT GET ME WRONG! The IRS should be abolished. It is confiscatory in its dealings.

BUT......................there is TOO MUCH invested by trial lawyers and such types (too many special interest groups paying off Congressmen, too) for this to get much headway. The rhetoric is great but if done too quickly the economy WILL suffer. GREATLY. Much as I'd like to see them go away I believe the solution will devastate the economy and repercussions would last years. To the young this can easily be overcome. But what about the others approaching retirement? This isn't just a couple of thousand of people from a large corporation. This will be hundreds of thousandss, millions---at once! Can we survive something like that? What if our unemployment numbers were already high? It's too ugly to think about.

And yes, the cost of running government with these people is prohibitive and we'd shrink government by not having them but to do this in one fell swoop is political and economic suicide.

I'd love to see a consumption tax but you can be guaranteed there will be NOTHING simple about it. There will be gradients in it. Exclusions to it. Rebates for others. Higher taxes for some. This new beast will not die.

In this particular scenario I'd rather have an enemy I know rather than a new one, unknown and created overnight by people who do NOT have my best interests at heart.

One last thing: Remember, we are approaching 50% of people in the US who pay NO INCOME TAX whatsoever right now. How excited do you think they will be when they find out their next pair of shoes will cost them 15% more? Or the next car about $4000 more? How much you want to bet the democratic rhetoric will reach heights and pitches we've not even begun to imagine as they are informed about this? Believe me, their incentive to vote will be very high!

I predict: We will not see abolition of the IRS in my lifetime.

${lang:my_avatar}$

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler

on 08/02/2004 at 07:47 AM
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •
• Comments (17)

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