Why do we pretend 9-9-9 (whether drawn
from SimCity, some sort of permutation of "
lucky number 45" or, as I suspect, chosen because it sounds good) or "Hey - how about a 20% flat tax"
is a plan? You could flatter such proposals by calling them "ideas", but where is the evidence that any thought, planning or analysis went into them?
The plan would dramatically reduce taxes, particularly on wealthy Americans and corporations. It would reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent, eliminate taxes on dividends and many capital gains and essentially cap individual tax rates at 20 percent. Perry argues these tax cuts will spur economic growth by creating a more favorable environment for wealthy individuals and corporations to start or expand their businesses.
Which is to say that the real plan has nothing to do with a number that popped out of Rick Perry's posterior. The real plan is to continue the Republican strategy of cutting taxes for the rich and using the resulting deficits to justify both massive deficits and the cutting of government benefits for those who depend upon their paychecks to make ends meet. You can argue that strategy to be good or bad, but let's be honest about what it is.
No, seriously, Herman Cain spent many months crunching numbers before he determined that the optimal tax rate for everything is either 9% or 0%. And Rick Perry spent a lot of late nights building economic models and working with spreadsheets before realizing that a 20% flat tax would pay for everything important, balance the budget, and... Hey, stop laughing. I'm serious here.
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