I haven't seen anyone else tie these two issues together, so I'm going to jump in there with it myself on my dusty, barely-read blog. That'll make a splash!
Pretty much every way I'm hearing to deal with illegal immigration seems very weak. Amnesty plans simply reward criminal behavior and new rules around deportation seem destined to fail because our government either can't or won't enforce the rules we have already. The biggest problems we face with the massive influx of illegal aliens is the drain they cause on schools, hospitals, and other services that are funded by the law-abiding, tax-paying citizenry.
FairTax, a proposed national sales tax that would eliminate and replace our national income tax, effectively combats that problem. FairTax gets paid by anyone that buys anything, regardless of citizenship status. Illegal aliens pay the FairTax. Only citizens, though, get rebate checks covering subsistence spending. If you haven't played by the rules, you don't get the check. Of course, there will be those that figure out ways to game the system, but for the vast majority of illegal aliens, they will be forced to contribute that something extra by not getting the rebate.
A congressman who jumps out there with a solution to both complicated taxes and illegal immigration stands to attract a heck of a lot of attention, and the FairTax (and the American people) stand to win an awful lot. If the Americans for Fair Taxation organization were to tie FairTax to a workable, believable way to limit illegal immigration, they would have way more muscle behind the effort.
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6 comments:
hmmmm interesting concept.. I'll have to read more about it.
What are the chances of the tax system actually changing?
The chances seem rather low to me, at least in the near term. The most difficult part about FairTax is that it would probably require a constitutional amendment to repeal the previous amendment allowing income taxes. Constitutional amendments are very hard to do (which I think is a very good thing.)
But connecting the tax code to other hot button issues, like illegal immigration, is one way to make it more likely.
This would not require a Constitutional amendment. However, most people's taxes would go up, and the richest people's taxes would go down, because the less money you have the higher percentage of your money you spend on consumption. Even with the rebate, it hits the middle class the hardest, and that's where the votes are. So, I don't think it will be very popular.
Why call it a "fair tax" instead of a sales tax? For propaganda purposes?
It wouldn't require a Constitutional amendment to enact, but it would be a lot safer for the citizenry to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment that legalizes income tax to make it much, much harder for us to end up with both a federal sales tax and a federal income tax.
Meanwhile, I'm not so sure it would hit the middle class harder. There are some pretty extravagant lifestyles out there amongst the richest in this country, and many of them end up paying smaller amounts, not larger, because of the various ways available for getting income shielded.
Finally, Noam, I think you hit the nail on the head with the reason for calling it "FairTax" instead of a sales or consumption tax. It's propoganda. Fortunately, I think most people see past that, just as we see past terms like "undocumented workers" instead of "illegal alien" or "Social Security" that doesn't really leave anyone secure in their post-working years, at least not by itself.
Man, The Fair Tax! Leo Linbeck a large General Contractor (out of TEXAS)I've had enough from Texas. Helped get this tax scheme started, yes middle class workers would pay more in taxes. Did Linbeck support this idea to be able to hire more illegals? Under our current system he has to provide a I-9 for these workers.(or suppose to) Most illegal immigrates buy there goods from store fronts set-up that's not paying taxes now. These goods are brought from Mexico and no taxes are being paid now. CAN WE SAY BLACK MARKET?
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