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The FairTax - Part II: Illegal Immigration Benefit
#103 - 0--spud--The FairTax - Part II: Illegal Immigration Benefit--2008-05-19 14:18:30
#When a conversation about the FairTax rolls around among a group of friends, inevitably the question of how it will affect the different problems we face as a country will arise. If you are new to my series, or perhaps to the subject of the FairTax itself,
Part I of my series explains how the FairTax came into being. Now on to the question of how it helps solve the dilemmas we face as a nation.
According to Neale Boortz in his book,
FairTax: The Truth, Answering the Critics,
"[...] our nation (is) going through some difficult times in terms of the economy, jobs, trust in government, immigration, and our standing internationally. Now we find ourselves in the middle of an election year in which all of these issues are being hotly debated. One of the most amazing things about the FairTax is that it confronts and addresses virtually every one of the issues above, some very comprehensively" (53).
One of the greatest attributes of the FairTax is its ability to address the economy because it
"was designed to confront economic forces that have been - and continue to be - eroding the firm foundation of America's economy" (53).
It also addresses a myriad of other areas such as "
international competition, class warfare, big government, immigration, Social Security and Medicare, and China" (54).Again, according to Boortz,
"the amazing thing is that a single tax bill could address so many issues - and go a long way toward solving every one of them."
So, let's choose one area to focus on for the purpose of this article - immigration. That is an issue near and dear to most American's hearts, and solving it I would dare say, hovers at the top of said list. You might be wondering, "exactly how can a tax code positively impact Americans for the better in relation to the many undocumented illegal immigrants we currently have residing in America today?" (Please note: it is not my intention to offend any one. However, I do not buy into the current politically correct ideology. I believe being honesty in my dialogue is imperative when trying to create positive dialogue.) Boortz states that implementing the Fairtax would impact the immigration problem by
"eliminat(ing) taxes an capital and labor, and create a border-adjustable tax system that prevents our tax costs from being shipped overseas in the price of goods and services created in the United States; our country would become an eight-hundred-pound economic gorilla. We would become unbeatable in the world marketplace. No longer would other nations, other economies, be taking business and jobs away from the U.S. economy by enacting their own valuable tax reform and simplification measures. As these nations have enjoyed steady gains, we have distracted ourselves with a cacophony of politicians, from both sides of the aisle, yammering about their favorite ideas for using our federal tax code to punish people they don't like while rewarding people and industries they do" (55).
Once the FairTax is put into place in America, it will open the door for other countries to come here to sell their products because they, also, would not be taxed. In turn, a demand for an increase in workers will also result. This is a win-win for America. More jobs mean less unemployment, better lives, more economic stability in families, while at the same time, America as a whole would benefit by the increase of trade brought
into our country. Notice that I said it would bring trade back
to America. Despite what Barack Obama declares, we
can bring trade, and lots of it, back to our shores, for
our benefit.Treasury Secretary, John Snow stated at a meeting several years ago that
"You've just proposed the biggest magnet for capital and jobs in history" (56).
Why in the world would we not want that as a nation? I actually get excited just thinking about what that looks like! Other countries would be breaking down
our doors to bring their business here because it would be the cheapest place for them to run a business. Does this sound vaguely familiar to you? Except, perhaps that it is America sending her jobs to other countries for
their benefit. I like the FairTax view better.Boortz goes on to explain how the FairTax will benefit America in relation to the undocumented among us. He say on page 57,
"[....] our noncitizen population has not been met warmly by a broad spectrum of the American people. This antipathy is not based on ethnicity, and it's certainly not based on the lack of a work ethic. The American people just don't like the idea that these illegal immigrants broke the laws to come here and continue to break our laws by staying and working here. Worse yet, we resent the fact that these illegal immigrants have become a drain on our social service systems, funded by taxpayers, and that they aren't paying their share of the taxes needed to fund the systems they're using"
Somebody finally gets it! Boortz and the FairTax founders truly understand the core reason American's are struggling with the many millions of illegal immigrants that are living among us. He is right in saying, "it is not their ethnicity" or anything else. It is that
we the people are footing the bills through the taxes we pay. In addition, this tax burden comes as a direct result of our government officials not enforcing the laws of the land as they should be. Thus, leaving you and I to pick up the tab.Now if you're like me, your asking yourself, "yeah, but what does that look like." Well, here is a visual for you. By implementing the FairTax, the tax burden would be moved from our income to our purchases and then only purchases on new products at that. So, that means that illegal immigrants - for the first time for a large segment of them - would be paying taxes. Every time they went to the store and purchased a new product, a consumption tax would be added to the total. The point here is that there is a wealth of taxable income that is not being accessed by our current tax code; money that could be used to pay down the deficit, deal with Medicare and Social Security, or a whole host of other problems. There is one other benefit that doesn't seem to be touted by our elected officials very often - if at all. The FairTax comes with what is called a "pre-bate." In essence, every single American would receive a monthly pre-bate to "untax" them on the basic necessities of life such as food , up to the poverty level. (That in itself is another great attribute of the FairTax but we'll talk about that in another article.) Okay, are you ready for this?Under the FairTax system illegal immigrants would
not not be entitled to the pre-bate because they are not here legally. Without a Social Security number, illegals would have no means to qualify for the pre-bate! That deals with another problem. It would effectively create a positive desire in people coming to America to do so according to our laws because, 1) every one will have to pay into the tax system and, 2) only those who are legally here in America can get the pre-bate. Now that would be a bummer. You pay into the system but you can't reap the reward because you didn't come here legally. Bootz declares on page 58,
"[....] isn't it in America's best interest to have immigrants come to our shores, work to grow our economy, pay taxes, and seek to become Americans as Europeans and others did for two centuries? We think the pre-bate will give immigrants an incentive to come here legally"
He further elaborates that those
"who have gone through the necessary legal steps - tend to view illegal immigration the same way Americans do. They feel they have a stake in their new country and are just as adament about protecting it as we are" (58).
When trying to resolve the illegal immigration problem in America, our elected politicians should take note of the huge benefit derived from implementing the FairTax. If they are really serious about finding solutions to this ever growing problem, they should start by taking a serious look at the
FairTax. - --comments-->41--963--1
