Monday, July 09, 2007

RUDY GIULIANI

So, uh, Which Tax Plan Was Rudy Jeered Over?

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani ran into a buzz saw of opposition Saturday when he explained his opposition to elimination of the federal income tax and replacing it with a so-called "fair tax" based on consumption.

Hm. The AP on Newsday:

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani ran into a buzz saw of opposition Saturday when he explained his opposition to a flat federal income tax.

So, which tax plan did he oppose?

A thought for those fair/flat-tax supporters who jeered Rudy Giuliani in a recent campaign appearance...

The moment any major candidate comes out and says, "I support the fair/flat tax," they will turn into Steve Forbes. By that I mean that this one idea - one that I think its supporters would agree represents a radical change in the country's tax policy (of course it's radical, that's why they like it!) - becomes the dominant issue in that candidate's campaign, with endless skeptical questioning from far and wide from Democrats who like taxes as they are and want them higher; special interests who want to protect their current tax loopholes and shelters, and folks who just can't get their heads around replacing income tax with a consumption tax, etc.

This is not to say candidates shouldn't support bold, sweeping changes to the tax code, but considering the enormity of the changes the switch-over would bring, "I have to study it some more," does not strike me as an unreasonable answer.

07/09 12:10 AM Share