Forum Post: Moving Forward for Redress of Grievances Regarding the Tax Structure
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 30, 2011, 8:40 p.m. EST by Sertorius
(1)
from Albany, OR
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Much of the unrest over taxes by Tea Partiers and Occupy protesters seems to be misdirected. Focus on taxes for those at the top is not the American way. However, a country, which is built on the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all, should not lapse by failing to protect those rights in the area of governmental taxation. Therefore, I would propose that we are in great need of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, remedying the lack of protection of these inalienable rights for all citizens. While I believe that a final form for such an amendment would need dialogue among all the affected parties, I also firmly believe that this is an area which the founding fathers would have directed being left to the authority of the people in accordance with the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
What follows is a "rough draft" of such an amendmen,t a working document with nothing set in stone:
Section 1. The Congress shall only have the power to lay and collect taxes on personal income in excess of $50,000 or above the designated annual federal poverty level for a family of eight, whichever is higher, without allowance for any further deductions. Any withholdings for personal income tax, based on the anticipated taxable income above the personal income tax deductible level, shall be retained by the government, and unless disputed by the taxpayer, no personal income tax filing shall be required.
Section 2. Neither the Congress nor any State within the United States shall have the power to lay and collect any corporate taxes on corporations and other businesses to the extent that they have invested in research and development within the United States. The rate of such business and corporate exemption shall be at 110% of the investment in research and development. The sum of corporate and other business income taxes shall not exceed 25% of net corporate income, earned within the United States, after application of the research and development exemption. The sum of corporate and other business income taxes shall not exceed 35% of income, earned outside the United States.
Section 3. Neither the Congress nor any State within the United States shall have the power to lay and collect any tax on food or medical supplies including drugs.
Section 4. All taxation levels, levied by the Congress, any State within the United States, or any governmental entity thereof, shall not exceed 110% of its annual budget, and 10% of that level shall be set in reserve for any unanticipated infrastructure maintenance subject to ratification by a vote of 2/3 of the affected constituents.
It is time for the 99% of the people to formalize their expectations for the redress of their grievances. I appreciate your attention, and I look forward to your reaction.
Based on the occupywallst.org forum postings, the cyberactivists belong to two groups. There are those who hate. and then there are those who want to be heard. The haters sooner or later will bring themselves to oblivion. They have no real message, and their shrill tactics will compell everyone to turn their backs on them. Those who are serious about wanting to be heard need to stop and listen. Only by listening and building a constructive dialogue on how to move this country forward--without stooping to the politics of hate--will anything of lasting value be attained when all the storm and stress of the current political season subsides. Just take a loook at the volumes of opinions, which have already been expressed. Then ask yourself how many have you read. It is no mere irony that the baby boomer generation has been targeted by the haters. They are the group which first nurtured the politics of dissent in modern day America. Let those who condemn them now for what they have become take pause and look to their own future!