Politics & Current Events
MommyLiberty5013
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Ben Carson Tied for 1st Place
It's still early but Ben Carson has surged ahead in the polls for the GOP Presidential nomination. He is tied for 1st place. Run Ben Run!
Re: Ben Carson Tied for 1st Place
Is he the one promoting a flat tax? I think I heard that on the MM Board...maybe by you, @MommyLiberty5013
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If so, he really peaks my interest.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/31/carson-defends-giving-paid-speeches-while-official-2016-presidential-candidate/
This article is interesting too. Apparently the speeches were prior engagements booked along time ago costing other people a lot of money.
Carson said, "People have gone through a lot of trouble getting sponsors and selling tables,” said Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon. “You don't just walk out on them. I think that is horrible."
I think this is honest. He isn't hiding the speeches and he is fulfilling his prior contracts and engagements. He runs two non-profits and with the prior medical experience he has, it makes sense he had speeches booked.
A flat tax is a terrible idea. It's regressive. Fair does not always mean treating everyone the same. A flat tax lowers the tax burden on the wealthy and increases it on the poor. Not only that, but because the majority of the wealth in our country is currently concentrated in the top 20% of the population, a 10% flat tax as Carson advocates would result in a huge deficit in tax income which would have to be made up with additional cuts to spending.
The flat tax is akin to a couple splitting all expenses 50/50 when one person makes significantly more than the other. For example, you make $2000 a month, your spouse makes $20,000 a month. You each contribute 50% to a joint account for rent and utilities, whatever you have leftover is for your own bills. 50% of your income leaves you with $1000 a month to pay your car payment, student loans, credit cards, medical, etc. Your is left with $10,000 and he's not sharing. It disproportionately leaves you with the higher tax burden.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/14/1209013/-Why-a-Flat-Rate-Tax-is-Unfair-A-Quick-Overview-of-America-s-Wealth-Inequality-and-Tax-Structure
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/flat-tax-progressive-tax_b_1026339.html
A big concern of how taxes are done in this country is how ridiculously complicated our system is. "A write off for X this year, but not the next year. Special write-offs for A,B, and C, but not D,E,F." Every year there are hundreds of pages of tax code changes.
Americans spend millions (probably billions) on tax services every year to help them file their taxes. It costs billions every year just to run the IRS.
So much waste that is primarily caused by having such a complicated system, with thousands of different "write-offs" and exceptions.
I know I will be super unpopular with this opinion and it would never fly. But, in my world, there would be few to no write-offs...even the popular, common ones. A person wants to buy a house? Great! But no more interest deductions. A person wants to have a child? Great, but why must we all be forced to support that choice by giving parents a break on their taxes for having a dependent(s)?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all blaming anyone for taking whatever deductions they can...I do, even considering how I feel about them...I just think they are an unfair advantage to given to specific groups of people, often for no or not much good reason.
Thanks for the fantastic quote from James Madison!
I was just thinking about this same idea, different topic, when I was on the Money Matters board the other day. The forum post was about recommendations for setting up a will and living will. Some of the posters recommended hiring an attorney vs. using an online form because laws are so state specific. I'm not saying that's bad advice, it's probably good advice. But how sad is it that I need to hire an attorney JUST so my husband and I can make sure our worldly possessions are left to each other? I guess it would be more complicated if we died at the same time, but still.