Individual Liberty - 101 From The Ludwig von Mises Institute - Price of Liberty
11/20/08
Individual Liberty - 101
From The Ludwig von Mises Institute


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October 23, 2006

The Fraudulent Tax
By Laurence M. Vance

Advocates of replacing the income tax with the FairTax — a consumption tax in the form of a national retail sales tax (NRST) on new goods and services — regularly point to the complexity of the tax code, the millions of hours and dollars wasted on compliance costs, the evils of the withholding tax, and the abuses of the IRS to bolster their case for the FairTax.

The twin truths that taxation is theft (no matter how the money is collected) and that the US government should never be given a budget that is in the trillions (no matter how the money is collected) are concepts that FairTax proponents have never grasped.

The FairTax is intended to be revenue neutral; that is, the federal leviathan and all of its programs will receive exactly the same amount of funding as under the current tax system. Federal spending will remain at the same obscene level that it is now. This means that, although conceivably some people might pay the same amount in taxes under the FairTax plan that they do now, some will pay more and others will pay less.

Or, if we accept without reservation the claim of FairTax supporters that tax evaders, tax avoiders, workers in the underground economy, and others who don't pay their "fair" share will now be "caught," therefore increasing the tax base, we can, for the sake of argument, say that some people might pay the same amount in taxes, many will pay less, and the few that will pay more are the ones who were paying little or no taxes to begin with. (Read the rest here. Click the "back button" to return to The Price of Liberty.)


Editor's Note: Follow the links to a greater understanding of the real free market and individual liberty. Unless you understand these concepts - which are impossible to separate - you can't be an effective voice or example for liberty and justice. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose, except some of the misconceptions learned in government "schools" and the puppet media.

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The Ludwig von Mises Institute is the research and educational center of classical liberalism and the Austrian School of economics.

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Offers online education, a bookstore, and links to its seminars.

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Institute seeking to promote the philosophy of Objectivism via educational and cultural programs....

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National Center for Policy Analysis
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A national public policy think tank based in Los Angeles.

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Promotes a free society informed by religious faith and moral absolutes.

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Archives

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The Revolutionary War and the Destruction of the Continental
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