BUCK SEXTON RESPONDS TO OUR ROGER BUCHHOLTZ
Roger Buchholtz
Don’t think your outreach to a national talk show host is a futile exercise. Our Roger Buchholtz of Cocoa Beach, Florida, has proven otherwise.
Roger recently wrote a note to Buck Sexton’s Money & Power Column about the FAIRtax. The note had to be short to accommodate Buck’s website's restrictions, so Roger couldn't fully explain the FAIRtax to Buck. However, he apparently said enough to solicit a discussion on Buck’s investment advisory service newsletter.
Here is what Buck wrote his readers in response to Roger’s note:
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Headline: Would replacing the income tax with a national sales tax help America?
… Roger Buchholtz asked about replacing the federal income tax with a national consumption tax, often referred to as the FairTax.
You've raised one of the oldest debates in economics. But it's actually an important one.
One of the strange things about our tax system is that we've spent decades designing it to punish the very behaviors we claim to want more of.
Work harder and you pay more.
Start a business and you pay more.
Save your money and you pay taxes on that.
Invest it wisely? Pay taxes again.
Leave it to your kids? We'll tax that too.
At some point you start wondering whether Washington's favorite economic activity is collecting revenue rather than creating prosperity.
That's what I find appealing about the FairTax concept. Instead of taxing people every time they produce something, earn something or invest something, the burden shifts toward consumption.
There's a certain common sense to that.
If you build a company, create jobs or invest in America's future, why should the government take a bigger bite simply because you were successful?
Rewarding production and taxing consumption is a pretty straightforward philosophy.
The other thing I like is simplicity.
The IRS has become an institution that almost nobody enjoys dealing with.
Every spring millions of Americans spend weeks digging through receipts, hunting for forms, paying accountants and hoping they didn't accidentally check the wrong box on a return that seems to require a law degree to complete.
That's not productive.
Imagine how much time, money and talent gets diverted every year simply trying to comply with a tax code that's now measured in thousands upon thousands of pages. That's an enormous hidden cost on the economy that rarely gets discussed.
Now, that doesn’t mean the FairTax is a magic wand.
Any major tax reform creates winners and losers, and transitioning from one system to another would require careful planning. You'd have to think through the impact on lower-income households, retirees and families already dealing with higher prices. Those aren't trivial issues.
[Editor’s note: see Roger’s follow up below.]
But I do think Roger is asking the right question.
Instead of constantly debating whether tax rates should be 22% or 24% or 28%, maybe we should step back and think about what exactly we’re trying to encourage.
If the answer is hard work, entrepreneurship, investment and economic growth, then maybe we ought to stop taxing those activities quite so aggressively.
I don't know whether the FairTax is ultimately the right answer. But I do know our current system has become so complicated that even the people writing the rules sometimes struggle to explain them.
That alone tells me it's probably time for a serious conversation.
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Buck Sexton
Roger sent a follow-up to Buck’s “winners and losers” remark, highlighting special interest groups as the FAIRtax losers. Roger also stressed that the FAIRtax un-taxes the poor. The FAIRtax, says Roger, is almost impossible to evade and is visible and well-researched.
Let’s hope Buck gets the message - again.
Our Tennessee supporter and former South Carolina State Director, John Steinberger, commented on Buck’s Facebook page that Buck’s son would not have to pay capital gains tax from his Trump account.
You can find the Clay and Buck Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck. You can follow and comment as appropriate or leave a message.
Since Buck is also on the radio daily on the nationally syndicated Clay & Buck show (which replaced The Rush Limbaugh Show), it opens the door for FAIRtaxers to call in to the show to add to the arguments and answer questions. The show airs from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can find out which local radio station carries Buck at https://www.clayandbuck.com/stations. The show’s website is https://www.clayandbuck.com/. If you receive a response from Buck, or someone like him, I would love to hear from you.
Roger Buchholtz is a member of our Credentials, Organization, Rules and Structure Team and has been active in the FAIRtax for over thirty years. Roger is the proprietor of the import-export company Orient American Ore, LLC, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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