Democrats slam GOP plans to impose state sales tax, repeal IRS

Comment

Democrats are seizing Republican proposals to impose a national sales tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service as a stick against Republicans, even though the bill has little support even among Republican lawmakers.

Fair Tax Act sponsored by Congressman. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.), launched this month, will eliminate income, payroll, estate and gift taxes and replace them with a 23 percent national sales tax. It would also eliminate funding for the IRS after fiscal year 2027.

carter tell fox business On Tuesday, people “preferred to have a GST if given the choice”.

“You’ll actually see … what you’re actually getting in your paycheck each week,” said Rep. Another supporter of the bill, Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), said this month.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) seems to respond Asked if he supported a fair tax law, he simply replied “no.” Representatives for Carter and McCarthy did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

In an op-ed in The Atlantic this week, anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist criticized the reintroduction of the Fair Tax Act as a “free gift to Democrats” and warned the GOP against allowing a handful of House Republicans to force a vote it.

Norquist also expressed concern that such a state sales tax, and the accompanying monthly sales tax rebates for U.S. citizens, would essentially create a universal basic income.

“You can run an ad that so-and-so wants to add 30% sales tax on top of [prices], which would be devastating for middle-income people. It was a very rough ad,” Norquist told The Hill.

The ads effectively began as a line of attack from Democrats and the White House. In a joint news conference Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blasted the Fair Tax Act, He said that this would lead to a sharp increase in taxes for almost every American, impose a special burden on the elderly, and “detonate” social security.

“The so-called ‘fair tax law’ is unfair, unconscionable and un-American. It will do harm to 90% of Americans, working families, middle class, seniors and those who aspire to be middle class, the poor, the sick Big tax hikes for people and people who are suffering,” Schumer said.

Older Americans who have already paid income taxes in their lifetimes will be “double taxed” by the state sales tax, Jeffries noted.

This legislation is extreme, and it’s functionally a second installment of the Republican tax scam,” Jeffries said. “We’re going to expose it and … do what we can to stop it. “

Schumer said such a “stupid” plan would never pass the Senate as long as he is the majority leader. He also defended Democrats’ enthusiasm and early warnings — even though the bill would almost certainly fail — saying the plan could still gain support within the Republican Party, with support from far-right Republicans.

“Everyone thought Leader McCarthy would never run for speaker with the MAGA Republicans,” Schumer said, referring to the concessions McCarthy made to the far right in his bid for speaker. “I wouldn’t underestimate the leverage on McCarthy or these extreme MAGA Republicans. We have to oppose this plan now before it gains more momentum. Too many Republicans support it.”

President Biden is expected to make the proposal a major topic in a speech on the economy in Virginia on Thursday. The White House has routinely blasted Republicans for proposing changes to Medicare and Social Security in an attempt to paint the GOP as out of touch with ordinary Americans.

“These people, they’re financially insane,” Biden said of Republicans during Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech. A day of activity last week.

Republicans’ fragmented support for a fair tax law is reminiscent of tensions within Senate Republicans last year. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) released an “11-point plan to save America,” including a proposal to require all Americans to pay some form of income tax, after the senator. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) proposes eliminating Social Security and Medicare as federal entitlement programs and instead turning them into programs approved annually by Congress as discretionary spending.

Both proposals have drawn criticism from several high-profile Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters bluntly that the GOP “is not going to move a A bill that would raise taxes for half of Americans is on our agenda” for Social Security and Medicare within five years. “



Source link