Liberal Talk Radio

Well well well. Good to see Mr. Bruno has come around to the idea of a flat tax after all. And well argued, to boot.

To add just a little … If we progressives are to be better than our opponents, then we must not fear to give credit for good ideas to those with whom we otherwise disagree. From Adam Smith to Jerry Brown to Steve Forbes — such a broad array of proponents have championed a flat tax that we must at least give this radical notion its time in the spotlight. For your edification, here’s a little ditty by Dick Armey* (aside: remember the halcyon days of the mid-’90s when Dick Armey was public enemy number one and Ashcroft was a midwestern sideshow? Ah … may such times return with all haste) published by the American Enterprise Institute*.

The real trouble with our current income tax, or a flat tax, or any other tax of income earned from labor, is that they don’t really address wealth, which is what we really want to redistribute. Wealth taxes, such as the property taxes used to fund government and schools in many locations, are a much more effective way to redistribute the means of production. The challenge with these is that wealth taxes present cash-flow problems for people without much of an income (for instance, the elderly). I leave further examination of this issue for a later date.

Thanks again to Bruno for bringing this up once more.

* May these two never appear, lauded, in this virtual space again.