2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate: on Tax Reform
Alan Keyes:
FairTax turns off spigot that funds political ambitions
Q: Does our country’s financial situation creates a security risk?A: I think it’s obviously a national security problem, but you have to understand what national security is. The Constitution defines it as securing the blessings of liberty.
It has to do with the freedom of our people. If you want to secure the blessings of liberty for the American people, you cut off the spigot that funds the political ambition of our leaders by abolishing the income tax and restoring control of
100% of their income to the American worker. That means you replace it with a FairTax system that puts the American people in control of their money.
By doing that, you will encourage the politicians to stop spending to fund their little political cliques and only limit their spending to what actually produces results for the American people.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
Dec 12, 2007
Duncan Hunter:
The IRS and current tax system cost too much
The tax that we’re all paying that doesn’t help anything--it doesn’t go to defense, the roads, medical care--is the $250 billion-plus that we pay each year not to the federal government, to the Treasury, but to prepare our taxes, defend our taxes, and
for the massive cost of the IRS. What we ought to do is have a system--the fair tax system is a good one, or a flatter tax or a simpler tax, because that young couple that pays 1,450 bucks in taxes may pay $450 to their tax preparer. That’s a second tax.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Duncan Hunter:
FactCheck: Cost of IRS compliance is $150B,not $250B
Hunter overstated the compliance burden of the federal tax system, saying we pay “$250 billion-plus each year not to the federal government or the Treasury, but to prepare our taxes, defend our taxes, and for the massive cost of the IRS.
That’s all overhead--250 billion-plus dollars.”We’re not sure where Hunter gets that figure. The President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform puts total compliance costs at around
$140 billion per year, a figure that includes the value of individual taxpayer’s time spent filling out forms, which strictly speaking is not money “that we pay.” Add to that the “more than
$10 billion” that the government spends to administer the tax system, and the figure comes to $150 billion, not $250 billion. The advisory panel report says other estimates of compliance costs fall between $100 billion and $200 billion.
Source: FactCheck on 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
Dec 12, 2007
Fred Thompson:
Preserve the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003
Five percent of Americans pay over half the income taxes in this country. 40 percent of Americans pay no income taxes at all.
I think we need to concentrate on preserving the tax cuts of ‘01 and ‘03. That’s going to be a monumental battle that’s going to be coming at the end of 2010.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
John McCain:
Reform the tax code that nobody trusts and believes in
I’m happy to say low-income Americans, except for payroll taxes, don’t pay taxes, but we’ve got to reform the tax code. Nobody understands it. Nobody trusts it. Nobody believes in it. And we have to fix it. And we can’t raise taxes as our
Democrat friends want. So I don’t know exactly who’s paying the most of the burden, but I would say that the American people need a tax code they can understand and that they know is fair.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Mike Huckabee:
Support FairTax with a tax credit for the poor
Over 80 percent of the American people know that the tax code is irreparably broken. I would lead one to a FairTax, and that means that the rich people aren’t going to be made poor, but maybe the poor people could be made rich.
That ought to be the goal of any tax system--not to punish somebody, but to enable somebody so that they can have a part of the American dream. The FairTax does just that.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Mitt Romney:
Reduce the tax burden on middle-income families
I don’t stay awake at night worrying about the taxes that rich people are paying. I’m concerned about the taxes that middle class families are paying. They’re under a lot of pressure. Gasoline’s expensive. Home heating oil, particularly in the
Northeast, is very difficult for folks. Health care costs are going through the roof. Education costs and higher education are overwhelming. And as a result, we need to reduce the burden on middle-income families in this country.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Ron Paul:
The most sinister of all taxes is the inflation tax
The most sinister of all taxes is the inflation tax and it is the most regressive. It hits the poor and the middle class.
When you destroy a currency by creating money out of thin air to pay the bills, the value of the dollar goes down, and people get hit with a higher cost of living. It’s the middle class that’s being wiped out. It is most evil of all taxes.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Rudy Giuliani:
Support a flatter and simpler tax and less corporate tax
A flatter tax, a simpler tax that you could file on a one page, as an option, would be a good idea. Reducing the corporate tax, as I suggested. Reducing income tax rates across the board, which would mostly benefit the middle class.
That’s where the focus should be. But we’ve got to reduce taxes across the board, and we should give the death penalty to the death tax. It really is a very unfair tax.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Tom Tancredo:
Believe in a fair tax system
Everyone that is presently paying tax, you could be--you can make a case that they’re paying too much. The reality is, of course, you need a different system entirely.
We do need to move away from this archaic--a system that taxes productivity, which is what we do, to a system that allows for a fair tax. I believe in that.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018