As both David Ferguson at Raw Story and Jason Easley from PoliticusUSA explained, Sen. Ted Cruz and Fox guest host on Cashin' In this Saturday, Eric Bolling, both think that lowering taxes on the rich, while raising taxes on the poor and the middle class is just a wonderful idea.
Cruz is just the latest in a string of Republicans to be piling onto the IRS in the wake of the recent scandal mongering, where they're using the debacle over the 501(c)(4) so-called "social welfare" groups and their tax exempt status to make the IRS into the big boogeyman on everything from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, to every conservative who has ever been audited coming out of the woodwork to claim that they were a politically motivated target of the IRS. And now we have genius Ted Cruz calling to just abolish the IRS altogether and for a flat tax.
From Raw Story: Ted Cruz pushes for flat tax but wants to abolish the IRS:
“We ought to abolish the IRS and instead move to a simple flat tax, where the average American can fill out our taxes on a postcard.” Cruz told Fox’s Eric Bolling in an interview.
“Put down how much you earn, put down a deduction for charitable contributions, for home mortgage and how much you owe. It ought to be just a simple, one-page postcard,” he continued.
Cruz insisted that taking “the bureaucrats” out of Washington and the process of collecting taxes would curtain abuses of power by the IRS.
Cruz did not mention what agency will take the place of the IRS when collecting these tax revenues, nor did he allow for the fact that creating a single tax rate on every dollar earned would go even further toward increasing income inequality in the U.S. by lowering taxes on the wealthy and raising them on the poor and middle class.
And PoliticusUSA: Ted Cruz’s Petition to Abolish the IRS Goes Horribly, Laughably, Ridiculously Wrong:
Cruz explained his plan to abolish the IRS to Fox News, “I think we ought to abolish the IRS and instead move to a simple flat tax where the average American can fill out taxes on postcard. Put down how much you earn, put down a deduction for charitable contributions, home mortgage and how much you owe. It ought to be a simple one page postcard, and take the agents, the bureaucracy out of Washington and limit the power of government.”
If there are no IRS agents, who is going to know if you are telling the truth about your income? By using the phrase moving the bureaucracy out of Washington, Sen. Cruz is suggesting that the power to collect taxes will be moved to the states. (Cruz is trying to dupe conservatives into thinking that they are getting rid of the tax man, when it reality, he is just moving the tax bureaucracy out of DC.)
As Ezra Klein pointed out, Cruz’s plan actually makes the case for why we need a federal tax collection agency. We all know how much red states hate government. What if a red state governor doesn’t staff the tax collecting agency? Who will collect the taxes? Who will make sure that people are paying their taxes? Who will enforce the law? How will Sen. Cruz explain to soldiers that they won’t be getting paid, because red states didn’t pay their taxes this year?
The truth is that Republicans have no interest in ever passing a flat tax, because the flat tax doesn’t work. Sen. Cruz tried to spice up the plan with a few snazzy deductions, but it is still the same bad theory that doesn’t work. The big secret behind the flat tax is that it raises taxes on the poor and middle class, while lowering them for the wealthy. The flat tax is only fair if you are rich. Flat taxes massively shift the tax burden downwards, so that those who have less pay more. [...]
Senate Republicans are hoping this petition catches fire, because they have an email/donor list to build. Republicans have no intention of ever abolishing the IRS, but they are happy to fleece the the rubes out of their hard earned money. Ted Cruz is the latest right wing snake oil salesman who is trying to sell Republicans a dream that will never be.
Cruz’s plan to abolish the IRS wouldn’t really get rid of the tax collector. They would just be relocated to a new neighborhood. His plan is so poorly thought out that it actually makes the case for why we need the IRS, and it would increase the tax burden on the vast majority of his fellow Republicans.
Ted Cruz is trying to convince Republicans to sign a petition supporting raising their own taxes, and so far tens of thousands of them have been foolish enough to do it.
And it won't stop as long as we've got Fox around to "catapult the propaganda."
