Posted by
Civis on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 6:59:00 PM
I truly believe that the Fair Tax plan is the most important federal domestic policy initiative due to its multi-faceted benefits. The quandary for candidates is communicating potential health care reforms (along with entitilement program reforms) based on their vision for the US tax code versus the realities of today's tax code.
For example, under today's tax codes, entrepreneurs are disadvantaged because they can not purchase health insurance with pre-tax dollars. A common sense and far reaching reform would be to allow all consumers to buy insurance with pre-tax dollars. However, if the Fair Tax was implemented, this reform would be moot. Also, talk of extending income tax credits to the poor to assist in purchasing insurance would no longer be applicable. How do candidates talk of extending tax credits to assist with health care reform and then talk of eliminating the income tax code and all its loop holes?
I do not claim to know the solutions. Personally, I would prefer the states take on the responsibility to come up with individual market based solutions for these issues as opposed to any universal federal program. However, in today's society, the federal government is expected to provide some assistance. An advocate for removing all federal assistance would probably be un-electable. The issue is finding a way to provide that assistance without the ability to provide income tax credits and deductions. Candidates must remember that the overall tax goal is implementing the Fair Tax.