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This blog is becoming more of a weekly one than a near daily. If you follow this blog, check back on most Saturdays for a new entry. I'm just getting too busy promoting my book at http://markgelbart.wordpress.com/
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Re: "V-A-T spells disaster," from the Friday May 7th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan must have realized his opposition to a VAT was contradictory to his long-time support for the National Consumption Tax. He spells out the differences but is completely unconvincing. He points out that the European VATs tax items at every level of distribution. For this reason the National Sales Tax he supports is supposedly superior because it only taxes at the point of purchase. But what Mr. Ryan doesn't realize is that at least 21 western countries, including those in Europe, already tried taxing just at the point of purchase and every system failed because there were too many loopholes creating black markets. Taxing at just the point of purchase is a proven failed method of taxation. That's why European countries switched to the VAT.
He also points out another difference--that the National Sales Tax would supposedly replace income taxes, corporate taxes, and social security taxes. As I've demonstrated on previous posts, this is not at all realistic. A National Sales Tax is so regressive that even conservatives admit universal rebates would be needed to prevent mass starvation. Here's my simple chart debunking this stupid idea:
Income from National Sales Tax minus Universal Tax Rebates to make up for paying sales taxes=Zero revenue.
To make matters worse, Mr. Ryan adds a xenophobic criticism equating the VAT with "European" socialism. I think this is evidence of simple-minded bigotry.
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Re: "We've had enough--of this," from the May 2nd edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan asks what income ceiling should there be as if it's so unfair for government to put limits on how obscenely wealthy a person can get in one year.
How about $300,000? I see no reason why any one individual needs to make more than $300 K a year. I can't imagine why any one individual needs to make more than that. If they are, they are hogging money.
Mr. Ryan's defense of the freedom to make obscene amounts of money is that to take the right away would ruin people's dreams. Oh wow! So we explode someone's ridiculous fantasies in order to eliminate poverty? The horrors!
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I didn't save this edition but in one of Mr. Ryan's recent columns he was whining about how the liberal media hopes terrorists are right wing rather than Arab. And he goes on to attack Muslims the same way Archie Bunker would. He asks when there is going to be a Timothy McVeigh II.
How about Jim Adkisson who in 2008 shot up a church in Tennessee, killing 2 and wounding 6, because they were two liberal. Or how about the Hutaree militia in Michigan whose plot was thwarted just in time.
Does Mr. Ryan actually read his own newspaper?
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Lee Herron wrote another idiotic defense of the Confederacy on May 3rd.
He brings up the those two old standbys that supposedly disprove slavery caused the Civil War: tariffs and states rights. Either he wears a lead helmet to prevent logic from entering his brain or he is just stupid because both issues were directly related to slavery. The south was taxed because they made their profits off the backs of slave. And the only states rights southerners cared about was the right to own slaves.
Mr. Herron tries to justify the Confederacy by pointing out the miniscule number of African-Americans who fought on the side of the Confederacy, and the even smaller number who owned slaves themselves. I don't see how that justifies such a holocaust.
To make himself even more ridiculous, he accuses people of criticizing the Confederacy of racism.
Man, he makes Augusta look so backwards.
Showing posts with label VAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VAT. Show all posts
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Michael Ryan was for the National Consumption Tax Before He was Against It
Re: "A huge step backward," from the April 25th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
I can't believe this one. For at least a decade the Augusta Chronicle editorial page has written strong opinion pieces in favor of a National Sales Tax. They come up with propaganda favoring a national consumption tax on average about once a month, so they've printed an estimated 120 unsigned editorials in favor of the National Sales Tax.
In this column Mr. Ryan opposes a Value Added Tax, or VAT, which is the same thing as a consumption tax, but with a realistic closure of black market loopholes.
I agree with Mr. Ryan that a VAT would "suffocate" the economy (as would the consumption tax he's been in favor of for years).
Why would he be in favor of a consumption tax but opposed to a VAT when they're virtually the same thing?
Because democrats are in charge, and some may be in favor of this. So he's pretty much against it now because democrats might favor it. This is just like the health care reform bill that recently passed. It consisted of mostly republican ideas, but conservatives and republicans were against it because democrats were for it.
In any case there's no way a VAT would pass now. President Obama would never support this piece of political suicide, and the Senate did some kind of straw poll that showed 84 of them opposed it.
There was no need to comment on this, but Mr. Ryan did--I guess so he can illustrate his hypocrisy again.
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Re: "Cue the outrage," from the April 27th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan likens the outrage over the passage of Arizona's new racist anti-immigration law with President Obama's defense of Henry Gates, when this African-American professor was arrested for no reason.
Supposedly, President Obama was somehow in error when he accused the policeman of stupidity.
Guess what--Obama was right. Gates was never convicted of any crime. The policeman was wrong.
And people are right to be outraged over Arizona's new law which legalizes racism. It gives police the right to harrass people because of their skin color. This is something that's unbelievable in this day and age.
But Mr. Ryan supports it.
His support for a racist law makes him a...racist.
Mr. Ryan brings up a poll that shows 70% of the people in the state support the law. So what? Even higher percentages of people in the south opposed desegregation back in the 1960's. That didn't make it right.
BTW, don't forget, Arizona was also the last state to make MLK day a holiday.
I can't believe this one. For at least a decade the Augusta Chronicle editorial page has written strong opinion pieces in favor of a National Sales Tax. They come up with propaganda favoring a national consumption tax on average about once a month, so they've printed an estimated 120 unsigned editorials in favor of the National Sales Tax.
In this column Mr. Ryan opposes a Value Added Tax, or VAT, which is the same thing as a consumption tax, but with a realistic closure of black market loopholes.
I agree with Mr. Ryan that a VAT would "suffocate" the economy (as would the consumption tax he's been in favor of for years).
Why would he be in favor of a consumption tax but opposed to a VAT when they're virtually the same thing?
Because democrats are in charge, and some may be in favor of this. So he's pretty much against it now because democrats might favor it. This is just like the health care reform bill that recently passed. It consisted of mostly republican ideas, but conservatives and republicans were against it because democrats were for it.
In any case there's no way a VAT would pass now. President Obama would never support this piece of political suicide, and the Senate did some kind of straw poll that showed 84 of them opposed it.
There was no need to comment on this, but Mr. Ryan did--I guess so he can illustrate his hypocrisy again.
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Re: "Cue the outrage," from the April 27th edition of the Augusta Chronicle editorial page.
Mr. Ryan likens the outrage over the passage of Arizona's new racist anti-immigration law with President Obama's defense of Henry Gates, when this African-American professor was arrested for no reason.
Supposedly, President Obama was somehow in error when he accused the policeman of stupidity.
Guess what--Obama was right. Gates was never convicted of any crime. The policeman was wrong.
And people are right to be outraged over Arizona's new law which legalizes racism. It gives police the right to harrass people because of their skin color. This is something that's unbelievable in this day and age.
But Mr. Ryan supports it.
His support for a racist law makes him a...racist.
Mr. Ryan brings up a poll that shows 70% of the people in the state support the law. So what? Even higher percentages of people in the south opposed desegregation back in the 1960's. That didn't make it right.
BTW, don't forget, Arizona was also the last state to make MLK day a holiday.
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