LRC II.1 Taxation
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(This page is part of the Libertarian Reform Caucus. Please edit this page only if you are generally sympathetic to this caucus.)
VERSION A - most popular LRC proposed tax plank with minor tweaks; updated 7/25/06.
Issues:
Taxes are too many, too complicated, too burdensom, and too high. The Income Tax is fundamentally unConstitutional in that it ignores the individual's right to privacy.
Ultimately, all persons are entitled to the fruits of their labor. To the extent that government is necessary to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, taxes should be used to finance those functions only.
However, taxes are currently used to fund government functions that go far beyond this end, creating an excessive burden on the taxpayer. Taxing people and using the money for government funding for special interest groups is theft.
Solutions: We:
1) support the abolishment of all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes;
2) support the repeal of the 16th Amendment;
3) support the review of all cases where individuals have been convicted of, or who now stand accused of, tax resistance.
Potential replacement solutions for the Income Tax are: 1) cuts in government waste; 2) national consumption tax (an indirect sales tax); 3) pollution tax; 4) land tax; 5) corporate value tax; 6) other?
Benefits:
1) ease of starting a new business;
2) more competition/more business due to lower economies of scale;
3) lower health care costs;
4) cheaper housing for the poor (the mortgage deduction distorts the market);
5) more choice in spending money how you want to;
6) increased prosperity in general;
7) U.S. becomes competitive in manufacturing again.
VERSION B - Robert Capozzi's submission; updated 8/6/06
Note: While Version A has much to commend it, it calls specifically for tax policies that are not plausibly enacted in the “next term in office.” It also makes controversial statements about the income tax’s unconstitutionality, which are debatable, obscure, and seem contrary to other Amendments to the Constitution. While this may be a reasonable interpretation of the Constitution, it requires the reader to understand the nuances and historical references of that interpretation, which is currently beyond the comprehension of the average voter.
Issues: Taxes are too many, too complicated, too burdensome, and too high. The individual Income Tax is particularly contrary to liberty in that it ignores the individual's right to privacy.
Ultimately, all persons are entitled to the fruits of their labor. To the extent that government is necessary to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, taxes should be used to finance those functions only.
However, taxes are currently used to fund government functions that go far beyond this end, creating an excessive burden on the taxpayer. Taxing people and using the money for government funding of special interest groups amounts to a form of theft. Rather than promoting a peaceful, free society, government taxing and spending has become a kind of "shell game" in which the politically powerful use tax revenues to gain and maintain power over the vast majority of hard-working Americans.
Solutions: We believe that the overall tax burden should be reduced as quickly as possible. At the same time, we believe that government spending should be cut as fast or faster than taxes are cut. We also recognize that some forms of taxation, such as the individual income tax, are particularly injurious to the nation's economy and its citizens' civil liberties. Other tax revenue sources are less injurious in that they more closely approximate a fee-for-service model (user fees) or tend to protect rights (taxes on pollution).
Benefits: Lower overall taxes would enhance economic opportunity, growth, and choice. It would lead to a more peaceful and prosperous society, one in which individuals keep more of what they rightfully earn without government meddling and manipulation. Rather than "managing" how the nation's resources are allocated, government should be restricted to rights-protecting functions only. Instead, individual citizens would be free to choose how they wish to spend, save and invest.
