Scott Walker: Abolishing Federal Income Tax 'Sounds Pretty Tempting'

[DonViejo]

Posted: 03/14/2015 2:12 pm EDT Updated: 5 hours ago

WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Saturday that eliminating the federal income tax sounded like a pretty appealing idea.

"I haven't proposed that, although it sounds pretty tempting right now. Particularly in this state, I'd love that," Walker said, speaking to a group of Republicans in New Hampshire.

But the likely 2016 presidential contender did not outright endorse the idea, which remains popular among fringe, libertarian voters in the Granite State. (New Hampshire is one of only nine states in the country that does not have a state income tax.) Instead, Walker ably pivoted to a discussion of lowering income tax rates, an alternative more consistent with mainstream views in the Republican Party.

"Certainly I think lower rates, we've talked about that. We've looked at that," Walker said, adding, "should I get in this race, that's something we'll take on in that growth category out there."

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/14/scott-walker-income-tax_n_6869936.html

[PowerToThePeople]

1. PTTP: "Creating a Federal Wealth Tax sounds like a grand idea." n/t

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. How would you fund the government, bake sales? /NT

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Car washes, raffles, a version of the ice bucket challenge....

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Nationwide lottery, dunking booths, fairs, ...

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Well, I'm not buying any tickets when they raffle off John Boehner!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Would you pay to dunk him?

[greatauntoftriplets]

8. $5 tops.

[DonViejo]

9. LOL!!!..

Good one!

[Salviati]

10. That depends...

What's in the tank?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. If it's Boehner it's probably liquor./NT

[Salviati]

13. No deal - he'd be crying tears of joy for the opportunity.

If it were raw sewage on the other hand...

[HereSince1628]

14. possibly just as bad...how do you control the oligarchs?

Game theory suggests that without taxes above 50% selfishness is favored and there is no motivation to advocate policies that raise everyone in the economy

[pampango]

22. We could go back to the days before the income tax when tariffs raised most revenue.

The income tax was the most popular economic justice movement of the early 20th century.

Our ancestors knew this was not true. The income tax was the most popular economic justice movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. This truly grassroots movement forced politicians to act in order to stay in office, leading to the 16th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. That’s right, the income tax was so popular that the nation passed a constitutional amendment so that the right-wing Supreme Court couldn’t overturn it.

Income and Tax Inequality in the Late 19th Century

Everyday Americans hated the tax system of the Gilded Age. The federal government gathered taxes in two ways. First, it placed high tariff rates on imports. These import taxes protected American industries from competition. This allowed companies to charge high prices on products that the working class needed to survive while also protecting the monopolies that controlled their everyday lives. Second, the government had high excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol, two products used heavily by the American working class.

These forms of indirect taxes meant that almost the entirety of federal tax revenue came from the poor while the rich paid virtually nothing. This spawned enormous outrage. The poor had a model in creating an income tax—President Abraham Lincoln, who instituted the nation’s first income tax to pay for the Civil War. Lincoln’s Revenue Act of 1861 created a graduated tax on everyone who made at least $800 a year, allowing him to pay for the war. Although a grand success, Republicans pulled away from it as they backed off of racial equality in the late 1860s and it was overturned in 1872.

At first, Americans did not protest much against the end of the income tax, but with skyrocketing income inequality of the Gilded Age, grassroots movements sprung up to find solutions. Many Americans were attracted to simple one-size-fits-all ideas like Henry George’s Single Tax, intended to pay for all government expenditures by taxes on land transactions that supporters also hoped would draw urban dwellers back to the farms.

"skyrocketing income inequality" happened during eras of high tariffs and no income tax (the Gilded Age and again in the 1920's) as well as during eras of low tariffs and low/regressive income taxes (today). Countries with the best income equality all have high/progressive taxes.

There is a lesson to be learned there though I seriously doubt that Mr. Walker is willing to learn it. Tariffs do not create income equality. Progressive income taxes and other progressive policies do.

[Thinkingabout]

5. If he is elected we could start with his salary and go down from there.

We could do away with the secret service, people working in the White House, grounds keepers and Air Force One. Yea, boy we could cut the income taxes.

[Initech]

12. Abolishing Scott Walker sounds pretty tempting too.

[gateley]

15. Bullshit. Pandering to potential voters is what's tempting him. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. The guy is Herman Cain. just a lighter hue./NT

[malokvale77]

17. No federal income tax?

What does he propose would pay his salary?

Maybe we can pass a bill where corporations (who seem to be the only ones who benefit from our government anymore) split the cost of running the government.

I'm sure these corporations would have no problem supporting the giant military industrial complex they so love.

[hatrack]

18. Scott Walker: "Pandering To Voters With Flip-Flop Of The Week Sounds Really Tempting"

What a phony bag of pus.

[Release The Hounds]

19. If aliens landed tomorrow

Walker would suggest enslaving the human race.

[Telcontar]

20. It is an idea worthy of consideration

How much, as a percentage of total revenue, does the IRS collect from individuals. I, for one, would rather place the burden on the massive profits corporations are generating these days. How is it gas companies are paying zero in taxes?

If that is what he proposes (yeah, I dint think so either), then I'm on board with it.

[flobee1]

21. what he's not telling you is

Sales tax goes to 25%, every road becomes a toll road, and speeding tickets cost $2000
Scotty is not about to give up HIS paycheck!

[hobbit709]

23. Locking up Snotty Scotty sounds pretty tempting to me.