Summary of Tax Plan

At this time, more people have read Abraham Baldwin's discussion of taxes than any other of this blog's entries.  Given the changes over the last 200+ years it is likely that Baldwin would recognize the need for taxes other than import and export duties, but it is also likely that the complexity and inherently bureaucratic structure of today's tax system would be appalling to him.  The tax plan below is a summary of what he might have proposed if he was willing to accept the notion of taxes at all. 


INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAXES


1) Income taxes are paid by employers on their employees at a flat rate with no deductions. No individual is required to file an income tax return.
2) Citizen employees, regardless of income level, are returned a single payment monthly including the following:
     a) a sum equal to the flat tax rate applied to the current poverty level, plus
     b) other government payments to individuals such as social security, disability, unemployment, etc., plus
     c) any incentives the Congress deems desirable, for example, a homeowner incentive, a child care incentive, or other.
3) No government payments or incentives are paid to non-citizens whether or not taxes have been collected on their earnings.
4) Unearned income of individuals is not taxed.
5) The flat tax rate may be changed by Congress but changes do not take effect for four years from the date the new rate is established


CORPORATE INCOME TAXES


1) U.S. industries producing tangible products that have a continuing market after first sale pay no income taxes on the portion of the earnings from producing such products
2) Industries, such as service industries, producing other than tangible products (as described above) pay taxes on earnings at a flat rate with no deductions
3) Industries headquartered or based outside the U.S. are taxed at the flat rate regardless of the type of product they produce

George Mason Speaks on Gerrymandering

“As a professional politician from Virginia, the largest State in my time, I have an appreciation for the value of Gerrymandering and might have wished to employ it during my tenure.  However, I believe my record of having refused to sign the Constitution because it did not include a Bill of Rights makes it clear that fairness and justice are clear values of mine.

I was amazed at the extent to which the boundaries of Congressional districts are manipulated to assure a particular party can win the district.  For example, North Carolina’s 12^th Congressional District, shown above, has the characteristics of extreme gerrymandering.  But not as extreme as Illinois’ 4^th Congressional district which is so severely gerrymandered that it almost appears to be two districts rather than one.  Such manipulation of the populace is contrary to all the principles upon which this Nation was founded.

Since allowing arbitrary selection of Congressional districts obviously results in manipulation by the group in power to remain in power, and since this practice results in perversion of the objectives  in the founding of the nation, a solution must be found.

  

A formula for drawing district boundaries that would provide appropriate representation would have been difficult if not impossible until the advent of computers.  Today it is quite simple to define such a formula and an appropriate one is to choose the districts so each contains equal population and so that the sum of the perimeter of all the districts is a minimum.