“Value added tax” on The Daily Caller

There’s one message from the 2010 elections that many so-called policy makers, political elites and analysts did not hear. Namely, the American people are not as uninformed and stupid as they think we are. (more)

The biggest issue in the coming lame-duck session (and perhaps the next Congress) is what to do with the 2001 and 2003 tax relief expiring at the end of next month. (more)

This year our national debt climbed to more than 60 percent of our annual gross domestic product. If our federal government keeps on spending the way it does now, this will climb to 90 percent by the end of the decade and more than 100 percent soon after. (more)

It’s been a week since the great electoral tsunami of 2010, and the exit polling is coming in.  This bi-annual ritual allows us to dig into the real thoughts and feelings of voters.  ATR commissioned a poll by Kellyanne Conway’s The Polling Company, inc./Woman Trend to see what voters thought about a value-added tax (VAT).  The results are a stunning rejection of a VAT for America. (more)

I have four young grandchildren, and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the country I want them to inherit. Each generation must confront unique challenges, and while we don’t know exactly what the future holds, we do have a choice about what type of problems we leave for future generations. (more)

In the past, readers of this column received reports about the real causes underlying the problems affecting the credit markets, the housing situation, the general economy, and more. (more)

There is no chance of Congress implementing a value-added tax (VAT), a top House Democrat said Thursday. (more)

Congressional Democrats don’t always legislate as though they understand human nature. In fact, legislation in theory often deviates from its practical implementation. Senator John Kerry’s recent attempt to avoid the high boat-use tax rates of the Bay State shows that when a legislative body aims to alleviate its fiscal morass by imposing ever-higher tax rates on its people they often only succeed in producing unintended consequences. Those advocating the expiration of the Bush tax cuts should take note. (more)

Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission, said Wednesday that while he wants most of the government’s budget deficits to be closed by cutting spending, he also thinks a value-added tax is called for. (more)

We all know, liberals and conservatives, that the growth of the U.S. national debt is, to use a favorite word of our time, unsustainable. (more)

This Thursday will mark the beginning of a series of tax increases on the American people in order to pay for Obamacare. Over the next several years, about twenty new or higher taxes will go into effect. Many of these tax increases are well-known. There are the “individual mandate” and “employer mandate” excise taxes. There is the infamous “Cadillac plan” tax. There’s a new surtax on capital gains and dividends. There’s new taxes on health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). The list goes on. (more)

Earlier this month, President Obama announced his desire for a second bailout of state governments to the tune of $50 billion. The president argued that the “emergency package” was necessary to stabilize state budgets and avoid cuts to public employee payrolls. Conservatives rightly rejected the proposal, citing the need for states to operate under the “new normal” – smaller, more efficient government reflective of the fact that overspending in periods of economic growth led to budget growth of unsustainable proportions. Spending cuts, public employee compensation reform, and targeted privatization are the proper methods for bringing state spending in line with reality. Allowing the federal government to artificially prop up state budgets merely kicks the can down the road to the next crisis. (more)

Chancellor George Osborne increased VAT from 17.5% to 20% and cut welfare spending as he moved “decisively” to tackle Britain’s record debts. (more)

By Rep. Joe Pitts and Rep. Jim Gerlach (more)

Riots in Greece and a stock market spooked by the growing risk of government default has increased attention in the United States on the need to reduce our own national debt. The President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility launched this month and commission members took turns describing the gravity of our economic situation. Concern about the level of U.S. debt is certainly warranted, but it shouldn’t be used as an excuse for passing tax increase, or even worse, for creating a whole new extra system of taxation, like a value-added tax (VAT). (more)

There is an “emerging consensus” that we are headed for a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States. But the more optimistic among the experts and pundits believe it won’t come until after the 2012 election and then only if President Obama is reelected. There is no doubt that something will have to be done about the financial crisis and the federal debt—even if ObamaCare is repealed—and many believe the “hidden” VAT is the politically viable solution. Many openly say that the VAT, with its costs hidden in the price of commercial products, is the only way to get the money to pay for ObamaCare. (more)

As someone who has run a manufacturing company, I’ve seen the many stages of production that go into a finished product. I understand how taxing each stage of production will add to the end cost of the product, and how that will kill jobs and increase costs for families, and that’s why I’m opposed to implementing a European-style value-added tax (VAT).
In simple terms, a VAT is an invisible type of national sales tax. Instead of being collected at the cash register, it is imposed on the value added at each stage of the production process. The VAT dramatically adds to the cost of everything from food, clothing to housing. For example, under a 15 percent VAT—the minimum standard amount allowed for members of the European Union—a $3.70 gallon of milk would sell for $4.30; a $2,000 MacBook Pro would cost $2,380. A 15 percent VAT would pump nearly $750 billion into the government’s coffers, taking thousands from every American family and raising production costs for manufacturers. (more)

More than two thirds of Americans oppose the imposition of a Value-Added Tax, according to a new poll released Tuesday which also shows that voters, by a two-to-one margin, think the government needs to rein in its rate of spending. (more)

A tax even a Republican can like: A hot topic in certain circles is the possibility of the federal government enacting a “value-added tax,” or VAT, as one solution to America’s fiscal mess. Basically, a VAT is a more easily enforced (and collected) retail sales tax. Democrats tend to love it and Republicans tend to hate it, because it adds revenue to fund more federal programs. Paul Volcker, head of President Obama’s economic advisory board, said a VAT was “not as toxic an idea” as it used to be. In April, Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, offered a “sense of the Senate” resolution expressing opposition to a VAT, which passed in the Senate by an 85 to 13 vote. So it interesting that five Republican House members are co-sponsoring a bill by Rep. Pascrell, New Jersey Democrat, that would impose a VAT on imports from countries that use the tax. In the Senate, Republican Senator Voinovich, Ohio Republican — who was the sole Republican vote in opposition to that sense of the Senate resolution — now has suggested that replacing income taxes with a VAT could be one way to streamline the tax code. (more)

The idea of a value-added tax, attacked by national Republicans ever since it was floated by a White House adviser, has some GOP allies in Congress. (more)