http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml

$25,000 is the national median income (somewhat) for single person NOT poverty guideline.

how about fact checking before discussing?

And the too good to be true reference might be true when its a stranger offering a good time but have you looked at anything on the FairTax? Its real. Over $22M of research, a Congressional bill and thousands of grassroots volunteers. You can’t dismiss it that easily. Our current tax code is too bad to be true.

The Fair Tax is getting a lot of press these days, but relatively little information about the impact on American families is being distributed. The implementation of the Fair Tax is predicated upon several assumptions:

Assumption #1 – All active businesses entities in the US, including US corporations, sub-chapter S corporations, limited liability corporations, sole proprietorships, trusts, and partnerships have embedded costs that average 23% and prices for all services and new products will decline by 23% if the Fair Tax is implemented.

Assumption #2

Unfortunately, its pretty much a farce. For one thing, it taxes the federal government — to pay the federal government.

Neal Boortz wrote (page 148 in FairTax Book) “The federal government itself will become a MAJOR TAXPAYER.”

Fairtax depends on about 500 billion dollars from the federal government “paying” its own taxes.

Fairtax paying itself is like me paying myself 10,000 to cut my own grass. Oh yeah, I can write the check, and I can even deposit the check. Even if I do this every day, I don’t get 300,000 a month. I just get short grass.

Since the federal government has to PAY the Taxes to itself, it doesnt really GET any money. The effect would be exactly the same, if the government DIDNT pay the tax. Therefore, the 500 billion fairtax pretends to collect — can’t possibly be collected.

That one fallacy alone means the fairtax rate would have to be much higher, to make up for that 500 billion- probably raise to about 40%.

Are there any other things that Fairtax depends on taxing, but can not?

Yes. Health care for example. Fairtax assumes it can collect 540 billion from this market segment.

But can it really make people pay 560 billion in taxes on their health care?

While some people may be able to pay a 40% sales tax on their cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, and hip replacement — many could not possibly pay it. How could the parents of a child with leukemia pay a 40-60,000 sales tax on their efforts to keep their child alive?

Insurance surely isn’t going to suddenly pay 40% more for health care. Insurance only pays for certain procedures — and tax isn’t one of them. Plus, insurance invariably caps out. So the Fairtax would give a whole new meaning to the term “co-pay”

SOme people have 100,000 medical costs — but only make 25,000. Their insurance pays the difference, or the government. Who will pay all these taxes?

I think its clear, there would be a huge uproar over the tax on health care, and this market would rightly get an exception.

That would make the tax rate more like 50%, to make up for that 500 billion that wouldn’t be collected.

Few people realize that all utitlies will be taxed — your electric bill, your gas, and even the gasoline that goes into your car.

Plus — rent is taxed – do you think renters would be able to pay an extra 50% sales tax?

I don’t see how a high sales tax could work – not for cancer patients, not for people who have rent.

Since tonight is the final State of the Union address for Dubya, who’s made tax cuts a focal point of his presidency, it only seems right that this, our 29th Carnival of Taxes, be our official State of the Tax Union. Cue Hail to the Chief! Now, since …