Posted by
Andrews on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 11:38:19 AM
As soon as I wrote the lines about looking for a 90% or 75% solution in the post below this one, I could just hear the FairTax proponents saying to me "Aren't you guilty of the same thing with the FairTax? Aren't you criticizing the FairTax for being short of perfection?"
To a degree they have a point. When I tear apart every imperfection of the FairTax proposal, I DO give the impression that I am looking for a perfect tax system and I am rejecting the FairTax solely because it is not perfect.
However, that is not an accurate interpretation.
I am tearing apart the FairTax for two reasons:
1. Any proposal should be torn apart in order to fairly evaluate it. Even proposals I like (such as returning power to the states) should be subjected to harsh criticism so we know what the benefits and shortcomings are. Until we have an accurate view of the pros and cons we cannot make an informed decision. So, even were I FairTax booster I would be picking apart the flaws just so I could fairly report the costs and benefits involved.
2. I also attack many points of the FairTax because I think the proponents are "over selling" their idea. Their claims have always sounded a bit immoderate and it seems to me they are promising the moon to everyone while claiming there is no downside (or almost none) to the new system. Given the exorbitant promises, I feel the FairTax should be examined a bit more carefully, as such promises made me suspect they had not done sufficient critical analysis themselves.
So, I do not "attack" the FairTax because I think it needs to be perfect, but because I both want to understand it and because I suspect some of the claims made about it.
However, I also must admit that, having looked at the FairTax critically, I AM opposed to it at the moment. I am not saying that the present system is better, but rather that, in my estimation, the FairTax does not offer enough benefits to merit the huge changes required. In addition, I can see a number of problems with the FairTax that may make it worse than the current system in some regards.
Finally, I am also opposed to the FairTax because, if we are going to make the effort to reform our tax system, I see several other proposals that, for the same amount of effort, would be better choices. So why waste effort on a half-solution like the FairTax, if the same effort could give us a 3/4 or more solution.
In short, I do not oppose the FairTax for being imperfect, but because it is more imperfect than the alternatives, and because it is possible it will prove worse than even our present system.*
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* I know some will cringe at the suggestion that our current system is better than the FairTax, but if you read some of my fraud schemes listed below, as well as legal avoidance scheme such as foreign and Indian reservation purchases, I can see a possibility that the FairTax may raise prices by up to 30% while at the same time causing a massive DROP in tax revenues. So, yes, it is possible that the present system is better than the FairTax.