Rep. Mike Pence Pushes for Flat Tax in Economic Address
date: November 11, 2010
SOURCE:The Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- In an address to the Detroit Economic Club billed as a "major economic speech"
by his office, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) laid out his vision for
restoring "American exceptionalism" and "a prescription for a fresh
start for the American economy." One of the most notable proposals was a
flat tax, which is likely to endear Pence to conservative activists for
a possible 2012 presidential run.
"The time, has come for Congress and this administration to take bold
action to simplify our tax system and lower people's taxes," said Pence
in his prepared remarks, adding, "I believe it is time that America
adopted a flat tax and scrapped the current system once and for all."
Pence's call for a flat tax isn't new; he has periodically brought up the issue over the years.
The idea is also a favorite of Tea Party activists. "We want to scrap our confusing, unfair tax code and replace it with a simple flat tax
of one low rate with no deductions or special interest loopholes,"
notes FreedomWorks on its website, which has a whole page dedicated to
the flat tax.
"This is like Groundhog Day," responded Dean Baker, co-director of
the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "We keep hearing about a
flat tax in spite of the fact that there is no evidence that it will be a
boon to growth or has anything to do with our current economic
problems. Maybe Mr. Pence is too young to remember the '50s and '60s
when the economy boomed with tax rates that peaked at 70-90 percent. One
would hope that he could at least remember the boom of the '90s when
the top tax rate was 39.6 percent. The economic crisis was brought on by
a collapse of a housing bubble -- not high tax rates."
During the 2008 presidential campaign, former Arkansas governor and
current Fox News pundit Mike Huckabee prominently pushed the flat tax,
which has also been heavily pushed by right-wing talk radio hosts and
was developed by a group called Americans for Fair Taxation.
The proposal -- which isn't really conservative at all -- would scrap
the current U.S. tax code and replace it with, essentially, a national retail sales tax.
Pence also argued that the flat tax would be effective at creating
jobs, and more than 20 countries around the world have one in place.