Welcome to another edition in the economic philosophy of the Republican Party, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Today, courtesy of the Citizens for Tax Justice, it's the Herman Cain Robin Hood-in-reverse plan.
Courtesy of CTJ:
If presidential candidate Herman Cain’s proposed “9-9-9 tax plan” was in effect today, then the richest one percent of taxpayers would each pay $210,000 less in annual taxes on average, while the poorest 60 percent of taxpayers would each pay about $2,000 more in annual taxes on average, than they do now. Moreover, under the 9-9-9 plan, the United States government would collect about $340 billion less in revenue in 2011 alone.[emphasis added]
CTJ has a great chart to show the numbers. Enough to say:
Cain’s individual income tax would also result in a big tax increase on the poorest Americans, who would lose the benefit of existing tax breaks like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.
The national sales tax idea? Stupendously regressive:
Compared to income taxes, consumption taxes like sales taxes or value-added taxes are very regressive, meaning they take a larger percentage of a poor family’s income than they take of a rich family’s income. Unlike an income tax, a consumption tax does not apply to income that is saved or invested, and rich families are able to save and invest a much larger percentage of their income than less well-off people. Poor families are likely to put all of their income towards consumption; they typically have nothing left to save after buying necessities.
I suspect that his Republican competitors are going to tear his plan to pieces. But, in the world of Republican economic plans, Cain's plan fits perfectly in the realm of "more for the rich, less for the poor".
Ron Paul:
His "Plan to Restore America'' would end the estate tax and taxes on personal savings, "allowing families to build a nest egg.'' He would extend tax cuts on personal income, capital gains and dividends that were enacted under former President George W. Bush.
Mr. Paul has said he would support amending the Constitution to abolish the income tax, though that does not come up in his economic plan.
The corporate tax rate would fall under Mr. Paul's plan, to 15% from the current 35%, and corporations would be allowed to repatriate capital without paying additional U.S. taxes[emphasis added]
.
Mittens wants to cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent--no wonder he is raking in Wall Street cash that previously went to Barack Obama.
But, it's a mistake to ridicule Cain. The opposite: we need to make it clear that, when it comes to the bottom line, the Republican plans--taxes, federal spending--all have one element in common: give to the rich, take from the poor.