> "If the working class possessed
> the political power to institute a given reform, would it also have the
> power to overthrow capital? And if no less power is needed, then why
> even discuss that particular reform."
>
> IMO the answer to the above is an emphatic and bewildered--
> NO! I can think of a lot of reforms that have been or could be
> accomplished that the working class needs desperately, not theoretically.
Bravo.
> How about getting people excited about the huge payroll tax break they'd
> get if the cap was lifted ? Desperately needed, easy to understand.
Actually elimination of the cap would reduce the overall rate less than a percentage point.
> How about a property tax that only appeciated with the value of a house
> upon the sale of that house. Right now, people in metro Atlanta are being
This would discourage people from moving up because a house would be harder to sell. On the whole the prop tax is not the worst one out there, and local govs do need the dough. A simpler device would be to prolong reassessment periods.
> Speaking of taxes, would the sales tax apply to the purchase of investment
> products? I mean, that's the only spending that's ever going to be done
Not in principle. In practice sales taxes do hit some business purchases, but this is not a healthy practice in general. A tax on all purchases is called a turnover tax, and it would encourage firms to buy their suppliers and grow larger, fostering more monopoly and oligopoly and higher prices for consumers.
> with a large percentage of the money of the wealthy.` Would services be
> taxed, attorney's fees? Are attorney's fees taxed now?
There is a legitimate effort in states to ensure that the sales tax captures all consumer services, including some of the above. These would make the sales tax moderately less regressive.
I want to respond to Mark and Carrol's tripped-out posts, but right now the weather's great and the golf course beckons.
Cheers,
MBS