Boy Do I Love Flat Taxes.

What is it about flat taxes or the 999 proposed by Herman Cain that some folks like so much? Well let's look at the 999 first and that'll answer some of the flat tax questions too. The 9-9-9 proposed by Mr Cain reduces corporate taxes from 35% to 9%, but in fairness it eliminates many loopholes. It changes personal income to 9% from anywhere from 0% to about 28% but it eliminates most loopholes too. Then it adds a 9% sales tax on everything. So, for example, in Pennsylvania where we have a 6% sales tax, it would go to 15% total. So what? Well, a sales tax comes down hardest on the poor because both poor and rich pay the same for a quart of milk or a loaf of bread. So it takes a far bigger percentage of the wages from the poor then from the rich. Now you might think then, that a flat tax must be fair, right? Wrong. If I make $20,000 and pay 9%, that leaves me with $18,200. Hardly enough to live on. But some one making $500,000 would have $455,000 left. Even someone making $100,000 would have $91,000 left. Now I don't know about you, but I could get by on $455,000 easier then I could on $18,200. I could even squeak by on $91,000 easier. But what about the person making even less than $20,000? It has to do with fairness. The more you make, the more you should pay, as a percentage of your income. And here's the thing, the wealthy, like it or not, are the only ones with the where-with-all to pay more. Well why not cut the size of government? Of course there is waste, but nowhere near enough to make the difference needed. And it's beginning to prove out that  outsourcing jobs to private contractors doesn't help. In Michigan they're finding that the switch to private contractors paying much less for the same work, leaves the savings showing up as costs in other parts of the budget. Like unemployment, food stamps and medicaid and the like.