I recently finished writing a concise, 25-page book that outlines a fix for Social Security, Medicare, and our IRS tax code. It explains how a flat tax enables entitlement programs to be optional. The book is called America’s Budget Busters: Addressing Entitlements and the Burgeoning Tax Code. I'm giving the first 250 copies away for free on my website, http://www.delullosoftware.com/Americas_Budget_Busters.html. If you like the reform, please contact your Congressional representative.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The America's Budget Busters reform has something for everyone. An individual's standard deduction of $14,000 and flat tax rate of 20% means that the rich will have a higher effective tax rate than the poor.[1] Also, the flat tax removes the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax. It also removes the mortgage-interest deduction, which was targeted by the Obama Deficit Commission.
ReplyDeleteOptional entitlements means that older Americans can keep the programs that they have been paying into for decades. Younger Americans, in contrast, would be better off opting out of entitlements and starting an IRA or HSA.
Also, it gives America's youth the option to delay retirement savings. The youth often need cash for a down payment on a house, which is an investment. By opting out of entitlements, America's youth will effectively get a 7.65% raise, which means more cash in their paychecks.[2] Freedom and responsibility are given to the individual. If losing the mortgage-interest deduction hurts home ownership, allowing individuals to opt-out of entitlements helps it.
Notes:
[1] Married couples filing jointly will take a $28,000 standard deduction. Head of household individuals have a standard deduction of $21,875.
[2] 7.65% represents the Social Security and Medicare taxes under the 2011 tax law. With the America's Budget Buster fix, the Medicare tax rate increases from 1.45% for an individual to 2.165%.