Before I get ahead of myself, I'll post some information about what a VAT is. This is opinion-free content:
VAT:
Normally, VATs are usually assessed when a good moves through production. The tax hits the raw material, the intermediate, and the finished product - and eventually the consumer.
At each step, the next person/manufacturer deducts the tax from the previous stage adding a level of security (hard to dodge) to the tax. In the end step, the final tax is assessed on the consumer.
150+ foreign countries use a VAT to raise revenue.
Why:
The US will have a standing debt at the end of the year of almost $13.8 trillion, with a yearly deficit standing at $1.4 trillion.
VATs are hard to dodge and work in a proportionate level to all consumers.
Current tax rates are unable to account for spending, even with large reductions in current spending.
Now, for the opinion.
It should not come as a surprise to you that Fox News is using this concept to level their guns at the current administration and their "liberal spending sprees", but we should keep in mind that it was the Bush administration that started 2 wars with no funding (borrowing as they went).
The Obama administration is slowly attempting to end the war in Iraq, and HOPEFULLY end the crap in Afghanistan too.
But while we're on the subject, do you know what the largest drain on our tax revenues is? The Military / National Security - hauling off roughly 67 cents on the dollar. Here's a fun image showing you where it goes.
In fact, war and the military in general are little more than very fabric of this country, ingrained so deeply that it is nearly impossible to separate this country from our own military. And before you say anything, realize that my position isn't "Anti-Troop", it's "Anti-Military". The people who are in the military do a job, and I respect them for the that, but it's the over-arching system at-large that is the real problem.
Don't take me the wrong way; the military serves a purpose and it would not serve our country well to go without, but the course we're on, unaltered, will never allow us to recover from severe and crippling fiscal debts.
To drive home this point, I would beg you to read the farewell address from President Dwight D Eisenhower as he ended his term in the White House. He warns us of the Military Industrial Complex and the effects that it would/has had on our economy. If that's too long for you, please at least read this, his "Chance for Peace" speech:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
So What's the Point?
The point is that we're being led astray. Our fiscal situation, as a country, is dire and unsustainable and the Right's buckpassing of fiscal irresponsibility has been on BOTH sides of the aisle for years. It is important that we realize that the deficits are not entirely on the backs of "social welfare" programs and "spendocrats" and pork barrel projects, but on an inherently unsustainable downward spiral that has been propagated by people at the top who stand to make a lot of money by maintaining the status quo.
So, Fox News viewers or not, please get your facts straight and realize that we cannot continue to do what we do as a country without tax increases, and EVERYONE is responsible for that.
Two Santa Claus-es?
Let me end this bit of rambling with an idea colorfully called the "Two Santa Claus Theory"
The Two Santa Claus Theory maintains that the American people (and frankly all people) like getting things. So when the GOP is in office, they lower taxes (at least for the upper class), and when the Dems are in office, they spend money and give the people more their money.
Obviously, this is an unsustainable situation because BOTH scenarios are furthering the problem and neither party can stay in power if they discontinue their respective tactics.
So What's the Point?
The point is that we're being led astray. Our fiscal situation, as a country, is dire and unsustainable and the Right's buckpassing of fiscal irresponsibility has been on BOTH sides of the aisle for years. It is important that we realize that the deficits are not entirely on the backs of "social welfare" programs and "spendocrats" and pork barrel projects, but on an inherently unsustainable downward spiral that has been propagated by people at the top who stand to make a lot of money by maintaining the status quo.
So, Fox News viewers or not, please get your facts straight and realize that we cannot continue to do what we do as a country without tax increases, and EVERYONE is responsible for that.
Two Santa Claus-es?
Let me end this bit of rambling with an idea colorfully called the "Two Santa Claus Theory"
The Two Santa Claus Theory maintains that the American people (and frankly all people) like getting things. So when the GOP is in office, they lower taxes (at least for the upper class), and when the Dems are in office, they spend money and give the people more their money.
Obviously, this is an unsustainable situation because BOTH scenarios are furthering the problem and neither party can stay in power if they discontinue their respective tactics.
