Friday, March 04, 2005

Greenspan becomes the C-Tax Man

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has finally jumped on the federal sales tax bandwagon formerly bandied about by the likes of such disparate politicos as Jerry Brown and Steve Forbes.

Good for Greenspan, I say.

For too long, this country has greatly ignored its vast disconnect between the urge to spend spend SPEND and the need to save save SAVE. How can we promote both for the good of all? So far, very little has been done to get Americans to save anywhere nearly as well as they can spend. Americans are lousy Savers and speeding, reckless, seemingly intoxicated Spenders.

And I think the wealthy have not encouraged the idea of an idea such as Greenspan's "consumption" tax not for the reason they say - that it is a regressive tax that puts an unfair burden on the lower classes and especially the poor. Balderdash. The wealthy don't want a consumption tax because they CONSUME. The tax on a $1500 watch a $60,000 car is pretty hefty, not to mention that $850,000 house and $480,000 vacation home.

Philosophically, a consumption tax goes against the grain of our trumped up and pumped up BUY BUY capitalism. Americans are in the hole on just about every level. Our stuff may be worth a lot, but we are leveraged out the wazoo for it, and at the same time, our government is NOT setting a good example, borrowing as it does $2 billion a day to make this country run. Yikes.

Many captains of industry and Wall Street might fear that a consumption tax would put the lid on capitalism, right there next to the sticker price - couldn't avoid it then. But then, that is what this nutty, decadent capitalism needs anyway and HOW and FAST - a LID.

Yes, put a lid on it! Let's fire up the consumption tax before Santa comes back to town.

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