Comments on: Brownback to Hold DC Flat Tax Hearing http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/ Dedicated to the Savaging of Senator Sam Brownback Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:24:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: mo http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/comment-page-1/#comment-10242 mo Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:14:14 +0000 http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/#comment-10242 and washington, adams, and jefferson should have moved to britain right? DC is my home. and washington, adams, and jefferson should have moved to britain right? DC is my home.

]]> By: Joe http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/comment-page-1/#comment-5362 Joe Tue, 18 Apr 2006 20:07:42 +0000 http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/#comment-5362 Then move to VA or MD. Then move to VA or MD.

]]> By: Esteban Guzman http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/comment-page-1/#comment-5340 Esteban Guzman Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:07:30 +0000 http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/#comment-5340 I live in DC and I hope that Brownback's cheap election year stunt moves forward. I'm actually not in favor or opposed on substantive grounds. I haven't looked at the proposal yet. However, as people who chafe under the tyranny of taxation without representation, DC residents would welcome the attention that Brownback's proposal would bring to our cause of voting rights. Why? Because you can't find a more blatant abuse of Congressional authority over the District than this one. Senator Brownback is actually proposing to write tax law for a group of people who have to pay what the dude from Kansas and his friends from places like Georgia, Wyoming, and New Hampshire want to extract from our wallets. We have no Senators to argue on the floor against it or to insert provisions. We have no voting members of the House to trade votes and bargain over it. This is naked taxation without representation. It is government without consent of the governed. And I am optimistic that if Brownback or any of his colleagues have the chutzpah to push this beyond just a publicity-seeking hearing, then the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will rise up and go on a rampage a la Kill Bill Vol. 3. A frightenly large number of Americans are still ignorant of the fact that over half a million DC residents are subject to the same federal income taxes as the residents of the states, without having the priveleges of voting representation in Congress, the body that makes the tax laws and spends the tax revenue. Brownback's pathetic stunt could backfire just enough to help us dispel some of the ignorance. Not only that, perhaps people would also notice that DC residents fight and die in wars that we have no say in passing or appropriating funds for. Or they might notice that DC residents tax themselves quite heavily through a 10% sales tax and a state income tax that reaches 9.5% really fast and yet we do not have final say over how our LOCALLY RAISED taxes are spent because we have no budget autonomy. DC City Council's appropriations must be approved by our unelected overseers in Congress. I live in DC and I hope that Brownback’s cheap election year stunt moves forward. I’m actually not in favor or opposed on substantive grounds. I haven’t looked at the proposal yet. However, as people who chafe under the tyranny of taxation without representation, DC residents would welcome the attention that Brownback’s proposal would bring to our cause of voting rights.

Why? Because you can’t find a more blatant abuse of Congressional authority over the District than this one. Senator Brownback is actually proposing to write tax law for a group of people who have to pay what the dude from Kansas and his friends from places like Georgia, Wyoming, and New Hampshire want to extract from our wallets. We have no Senators to argue on the floor against it or to insert provisions. We have no voting members of the House to trade votes and bargain over it. This is naked taxation without representation. It is government without consent of the governed. And I am optimistic that if Brownback or any of his colleagues have the chutzpah to push this beyond just a publicity-seeking hearing, then the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will rise up and go on a rampage a la Kill Bill Vol. 3.

A frightenly large number of Americans are still ignorant of the fact that over half a million DC residents are subject to the same federal income taxes as the residents of the states, without having the priveleges of voting representation in Congress, the body that makes the tax laws and spends the tax revenue. Brownback’s pathetic stunt could backfire just enough to help us dispel some of the ignorance.

Not only that, perhaps people would also notice that DC residents fight and die in wars that we have no say in passing or appropriating funds for. Or they might notice that DC residents tax themselves quite heavily through a 10% sales tax and a state income tax that reaches 9.5% really fast and yet we do not have final say over how our LOCALLY RAISED taxes are spent because we have no budget autonomy. DC City Council’s appropriations must be approved by our unelected overseers in Congress.

]]> By: Joe http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/comment-page-1/#comment-5301 Joe Wed, 08 Mar 2006 14:18:42 +0000 http://www.theantisam.com/archives/2006/03/08/brownback-to-hold-dc-flat-tax-hearing/#comment-5301 I can appreciate DC's reluctance to be bossed around by the very people they are facilitating, but what about the benefits of a flat tax? DC pays an incredible sales tax (10% on my recent visit) and has a poverty rate much higher than the rest of the US. I suppose that presenting two sides of an issue is beyond the reach of this website, especially if Sen. Brownback were to be looked upon with even an ounce of favor. This isn't the first time the federal government has looked to install a flat tax in DC. In fact, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat) was one of its biggest supporters in 1996, when she proposed it. Del. Norton's change of heart (not hypocrisy) seems to be a more interesting story than Brownback's retread of a DC flat tax. I can appreciate DC’s reluctance to be bossed around by the very people they are facilitating, but what about the benefits of a flat tax? DC pays an incredible sales tax (10% on my recent visit) and has a poverty rate much higher than the rest of the US. I suppose that presenting two sides of an issue is beyond the reach of this website, especially if Sen. Brownback were to be looked upon with even an ounce of favor.

This isn’t the first time the federal government has looked to install a flat tax in DC. In fact, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat) was one of its biggest supporters in 1996, when she proposed it. Del. Norton’s change of heart (not hypocrisy) seems to be a more interesting story than Brownback’s retread of a DC flat tax.

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