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I brought up the possibility of the US implementing a VAT last week and apparently now it is gathering steam as a GREAT !!! idea. I saw these two newspieces and one Opinion piece today and they got me thinking, that now the cat is out of the bag. 1. Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option 2. VAT's benefits outweighed by politics, experts say and 3. Will the VAT Lady Sing?What scares me is that now people are seriously talking about instituting a VAT, even if it is only pundits and think-tanks. Once we are start talking about “hey, this might work, but no we wont do it now”, it is not far to “hey this might work, and it will bring in a ton of money”, to politicians telling us that it will cure the defecit and allow us to take care of the “children and disadvantaged”. The VAT has entered the national conversation and I am afraid that it is the start of the slippery slope to actually enacting one. I dont trust anything a politician says, Bush I told us no new taxes and rasied 'em anyway, Clinton told us he did not have sex and lied about it in front of a jury, Bush II lied about WMD's in Iraq. Why would I beleive a politician when he says he will not enact a VAT. I actually suspect they are secretly salivating at the thought of all the revenue that it will bring in and how much debt it would finance.Sadly, I suspect we are no closer to a balanced budget now than we were in 1999 during the Clinton surpluses.
….I actually suspect they are secretly salivating at the thought of all the revenue that it will bring in and how much debt it would finance.….
Having said the secret word(s)….edit: That is to say I agree 100%.
What scares me is that now people are seriously talking about instituting a VAT, even if it is only pundits and think-tanks. Once we are start talking about “hey, this might work, but no we wont do it now”, it is not far to “hey this might work, and it will bring in a ton of money”, to politicians telling us that it will cure the defecit and allow us to take care of the “children and disadvantaged”. The VAT has entered the national conversation and I am afraid that it is the start of the slippery slope to actually enacting one.
Yeah, I get the feeling (and I'm sure this can be backed up elsewhere) that politicians float hefty ideas like this to both gauge reaction and psychologically prepare the public for the real announcement later on. That way it's easier to swallow.But what happened to Obama's promise that taxes wouldn't get raised for 95% of Americans? How can he get around that one with a VAT?
He will no doubt mouth some platitudes about it being the fairest way to tax and say something about everyone has to bear the burden of financing the benefits that are there for the less fortunate. Pandora's box has been opened again and the VAT flew out, it will not be easy, if its even possible, to stufff this horrible notion notion back in. The solution to America's government budget woes is not more taxes, but less spending.
…. The solution to America's government budget woes is not more taxes, but less spending.
And will remain so… but ignored. The idea that each program and agency gets funded based on what they spent the previous year does not enocourage thriftiness. As a teacher I saw that those that spent all their funding and begged more got an increase the next year (as well as bail out for the current year) and those that hectored their funds wisely, got the shaft (in most cases)… when I figured this out teaching a class that used lots of expendable materials got easier. 😉
