On Reagan's Greatness
On Reagan's Greatness Kudos to William Kristol for his fine article "Reagan's Greatness: Giving a President His Due" (Nov. 10). There are many who say that Winston Churchill is the most important...
...The Weekly Standard would do well to understand one of the themes of D'Souza's book: Simple, principled government policies are often the most intellectually and practically sound ones...
...The ensuing media barrage from the Democrats will make their 1996 "Mediscare" campaign look like a love-fest...
...The tax that hits most low- and middle-income Americans would be lightened...
...He slashed tax rates and simplified the code, and along the way convinced most Americans that opportunity trumps class politics...
...The way you can raise the same level of revenue, or even more, is by unleashing economic growth...
...The fact that the flat tax fails to resemble the current system is its greatest virtue...
...The Armey/Shelby flat tax simply attempts to treat these sources of income equally by removing the current penalty on savings and investment...
...You fall into the standard misguided, static, zero-sum-oriented trap that many critics of the flat tax find themselves in...
...Although Republicans will continue to promote and debate the issue of tax reform, I am confident that my party will ultimately decide upon the flat tax...
...Kristol replies correctly to D'Souza's warning against yearning for another Reagan: Why shouldn't we...
...Pointing out the pitfalls of individual tax plans is not class warfare and does not detract from reform efforts...
...10), it appears that the editors fail to understand the dynamic effect that tax policy has on the economy...
...There are many who say that Winston Churchill is the most important man of the first half of the 20th century because he saved Western civilization...
...The government would benefit directly from a national retail-sales tax—to the tune of an estimated 15 percent...
...I say we are in trouble if the Social Security payroll tax still exists in several years...
...It came from hardworking Americans who get up for work before the sun rises and get home after it sets...
...This must end...
...Why is it that most politicians are ignoring the national retail-sales tax idea...
...In addition, the elimination of the double taxation on dividends and interest will spur investment and thus create wealth...
...We are surely entitled to encourage one...
...Enough said...
...Therefore, because we have included a generous family extension, the more a taxpayer earns, the greater the share of his income he pays in taxes...
...Fortunately, there is an easy solution: allow a deduction at the corporate level for distributed earnings, and then tax those earnings at the individual level...
...Because the flat-tax proposals eliminate the double taxation of corporate profits (once on corporate tax returns, once on shareholders) by taxing only at the corporate level, Democratic House and Senate candidates next year would be able to exploit the issue...
...Currently, the size of a person's tax bill has less to do with his income than his ability to hire an accountant or tax attorney...
...You don't have to look very far to see evidence of this in practice...
...You are quite right to advise Republicans to contemplate the politics and scrutinize the details of such tax reform...
...Perhaps the candidate is already on the scene and has yet to emerge...
...Therefore the effect is that, when someone earns 10 times as much as someone else in income, he pays 10 times as much in taxes...
...That amiable person of very average intelligence had two things on his mind: damn the Commies and lower taxes...
...Whether one considers its economic virtues, the "fairness" issue, or the importance of restoring liberty to the people, the flat tax is clearly the best replacement of the current tax system...
...Now you worry about thresholds and payroll tax deductions while ignoring the larger goals...
...Several alternatives you mention are worthy of debate...
...On the contrary, being self-critical as a party will prevent us from taking a dangerous dive off the deep end, as the Democrats did with "Clinton Care...
...It is a commitment to the principles of hard work, saving, and ultimately economic growth that the flat tax supports through simpler and lower taxation...
...No one proposes to tax labor income both at the corporate level and again at the individual level, but doing so with income derived from capital is somehow acceptable...
...Let us advance that encouragement, for it is a worthy cause for this most worthy magazine...
...In the economic sphere, one of Reagan's first pronouncements was that he intended to crack down on those waitresses who don't declare their tips...
...Margaret F. DeChant Boca Raton, FL Flat-Tax Finagling Based on the editorial "Second Thoughts on the Flat Tax" (Nov...
...The current tax code provides the government with tremendous coercive and micromanagerial power over the American people...
...A more substantial point in your editorial is the prospect of a net tax increase for middle-class wage-earners...
...In addition to the economics of the flat tax, you raise the issue of fairness...
...You buy into the argument that if you cut taxes on one person, you by definition have to raise them on someone else in order to attain the same level of tax revenue...
...I support the flat tax because it will devolve power from Washington back to the American family...
...Is it because they don't want to give up the lever of exchanging tax breaks for political favors...
...The answer is not from Bill Clinton's tax increases, but rather from the private sector...
...But there seems to be an easy solution for this, too...
...Tax reform and simplification is indeed an issue upon which most Republicans will unite...
...Richard Shelby United States Senate Washington, DC In an issue in which William Kristol honors Ronald Reagan, it's too bad you feel the need to appease liberals and "intellectuals" who laugh at the flat tax's (or national sales tax's) simplicity...
...Whether this would actually occur as you describe, I don't know...
...Sound-bites and political rhetoric do not produce meaningful legislation or acceptable public policy...
...Where did all this revenue come from...
...Bret T. Swanson Alexandria, VA Your editorial on tax reform shows why many of my fellow Republicans cringe when hearing Steve Forbes or Dick Armey refer to the tax system in terms better suited to a bad horror movie (e.g., "Bury it, drive a stake through its heart...
...Now it is arguing about what to do with a possible budget surplus...
...In general, the public agrees with this notion and believes that this approach is "fair...
...There are many people who believe that Poland's Solidarity movement was the spark leading to events that ultimately brought down the Iron Curtain...
...Which brings me to another problem with the editorial—your portrayal of the elimination of the double taxation on capital gains and dividends...
...And your editorial is less disappointing in its analysis than in its anti-flat-tax tone...
...A third problem with the flat tax (or any tax reform) that you did not mention is the potential to look only at taxes and not at spending...
...This is not true...
...You intimate that when compared to the current system, the flat tax falls short...
...The economic issues involved are highly technical and need to be discussed in the legislative setting as Congress crafts a bill to reform the current system...
...Only if federal spending is cut will tax reform wind up being meaningful...
...If our party insists on rigidly proposing a set reform plan, the most profitable job in Washington will be as a Democratic media consultant...
...It would also benefit from the elimination of the entire IRS bureaucracy, a savings of $8 billion or so...
...Ted Babcock Janesville, WI You do an admirable job of explaining the glaring weakness of the flat-tax concept, but you do a grave injustice to your readership by dismissing the national retail sales tax proposal as merely a "cousin" of the flat tax...
...The Armey/Shelby flat tax starts with this axiom, then includes an element of progressivity as well...
...Certainly his leadership and doggedness in resisting a Nazi takeover of Europe puts him on the short list of candidates for that title...
...The current debate has many parallels to the ill-fated Clinton health-care-reform plan, including attempts to create an inflexible plan outside the legislative process while ignoring the concerns Americans have regarding the details...
...However, rather than caving in to political correctness, Republicans must explain why taxing all income once, regardless of its source, is the right thing to do...
...You argue that under the Armey/Shelby flat-tax proposal, taxes would "disappear" on income and interest from property...
...Steven L. Wiseman Baltimore, MD Iconsider myself an advocate of the flat tax, but I see the point you make...
...No current officeholders in the GOP are willing to take up Reagan's philosophy at this time, but perhaps in their constant search for what works, they will begin to see the light and adopt Reagan's ideas as their own...
...But implying that a flat tax is naively simplistic—and worse yet, unfair—gives liberals all the ammunition they need to perpetuate the current monster tax code...
...Otherwise, it's only half a loaf: better than nothing, but less than filling...
...It is reasonable to assume that when most of the old leftist historians and revisionists are long gone, Reagan will be afforded the same honor for the second half of what has now become the American century...
...Reagan never apologized for, or was defensive about, his fundamental beliefs...
...Several years ago, Congress was arguing over what to do about the budget deficit...
...David a Paul Atlanta, GA...
...The Armey/Shelby flat tax subjects every taxpayer to the same 17 percent rate...
...where we differ is on the details...
...Ed Wells Brentwood, TN William Kristol's piece on Ronald Reagan and Dinesh D'Souza's book is an important step in the right direction...
...The result: no rich people's tax returns with a zero tax bill...
...Although there is a high level of subjectivity inherent in its usage, let's consider what most people think is "fair...
...Stuart Scheer New York, NY As an independent who has subscribed to The Weekly Standard from the beginning and who often agrees with William Kristol's views, I take exception to his assessment of Reagan...
...Either lower the proposed standard deduction or raise the proposed flat-tax rate, and then lower the rate on the employee half of the payroll tax...
...Recently, several prominent conservatives have expressed doubts about a one-size-fits-all, take-it-or-leave-it approach to reform...
...This is a political problem of perception resulting from years of class warfare waged by liberals...
...A scary prospect, indeed...
...But perhaps even more important than the economics or "fairness" of the flat tax is the issue of freedom...
...The current tax-collection system is in no way, shape, or form "fair...
...Congress must restore liberty, not social engineering, to the top of its priority list...
Vol. 3 • November 1997 • No. 11
