PERRY’S WHACKY TAX PLAN

In an attempt to reignite his fizzling campaign, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry has announced his tax plan for America — and it’s a doozie!

Introduced yesterday with high fanfare and little substance or specifics, Perry says he wants to simplify our taxes by offering taxpayers 2 choices:  we may choose to stick with the current tax system, or opt into a new system where we’d pay a 20% flat income tax. But the 2 choice plan would only provide incentive for the middle income and poor to stick with the current system, while tempting the rich to opt for the new system. Now, economic analysts are picking the plan apart and referring to it as a disaster!

Just one look at Perry’s plan and anyone can instantly see 2 very huge problems: Instead of requiring the rich to pay their fair share with higher taxes, Perry would actually lower taxes for high-income Americans. Also, if the rich pay lower taxes, then the government would receive less revenue to operate with for defense and other programs.

“It’s clearly going to be a reduction in revenues, I think fairly substantial,” said Ted Gayer, co-director of the Economic Studies program and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Under Perry’s plan, the highest-income Americans will receive a tax cut, while anyone under the new system may not have to pay any taxes at all.  Perry also says his plan will simplify the tax code, saying taxpayers will only need to fill out a postcard to file their taxes. But since they will need to decide between the old system and the new one, it may not be quite so easy for many.

“It kind of undermines the whole ‘we’re making your taxes simpler’ argument, because you still have to go through both systems to see which one is best for you,” said Gayer.