Taffwatch

According to the Kansas City Star, Adam Taff came out in favor of ending income taxes and imposing a national consumption -- i.e. sales -- tax at a recent debate.

While this sounds like a good way to simplify the tax code, studies have shown -- and common sense tells us -- that ending the progressive nature of the federal tax code (yes, it is still somewhat progressive, despite conservatives' ongoing efforts) would result in dramatically higher taxes on low and middle income Americans.

As anyone who lives in a state without a state income tax knows, the sales tax has to be very high to make up for it. Tennessee, for example, has combined state/local sales taxes approaching 10%.

The poor pay a higher share of their income in taxes under such a system, as opposed to now where they pay no federal income tax (though they do pay payroll taxes, unlike the Taff campaign.)

Taff's support of a national sales tax might be a winner in the Republican primary, but for the majority of Americans, such a tax would make them the losers.


More on the national sales tax from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Since affluent Americans pay a much higher percentage of income in federal income taxes than other families do under our current, graduated income tax structure — a reality the Tax Foundation's figures obscure — virtually all proposals to shift to a flat or national sales tax would result in windfalls for those at the top of the income spectrum and require either increased taxes on middle- and low-income families or substantially reduced revenue collections. Reductions in revenue could usher in a new era of budget deficits or lead to large reductions in programs upon which the middle class relies.

Justin McFarland, harsly censured by the Kansas College Republicans for making false statements and using the organization to back Taff's primary campaign, was re-elected by the KU College Republicans, showing that Republicans will accept any wrongdoing so long as the person doing the wrong doesn't have a "D" behind his/her name.

University Daily Kansan story