GOP Candidate Rick Perry has finally released an actual economic plan,and the policies he's endorsing are not terrible,at least the way they've been outlined so far.
It starts off with a 20% flat tax proposal that includes the key word voluntary,something you rarely hear. In other words, you would be able to have your accountant figure your taxes based onyour current rate and compare it to the flat tax rate of 20% and pick the one most advantageous to your situation.
It's unclear whether Perry's plan would continue to allow you to use itemized deductions if you picked figuring your taxes the old way over the 20% flat tax. If it does, fine, it's workable. If not, that's an error that will stifle a certain amount of economic activity.Either way, it's certainly something a lot better than Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan.
Perry's plan would continue to allow deductions for mortgage interest and charitable deductions for households earning less than $500,000 a year and would increase the standard deduction to $12,500.
Perry's plan calls for a 20 percent corporate tax rate,and calls for capping federal spending at 18 percent of the country's GDP - something I want a lot more details on.
It would be far preferable for me to hear a candidate make specific commitments on what he plans to cut rather than just throwing a figure out there.
Perry's proposal also calls for allowing younger workers the option of privatizing their Social Security accounts, something we also need a lot more concrete details on. Total privatization is likely counter productive and could lead to a situation like we had when the program was first adopted at the height of the depression - substantial numbers of destitute old people with no means of being self-supporting. But intelligent privatization that uses actuarial tables to determine a certain minimum amount as forced savings to prevent that but also allows discretionary invest of the rest is exactly what's needed.
After a number of gaffes and some horrible debate outings,Governor Perry is trying to play catch up and be seen as a serious candidate again. This is at least a step in the right direction.
Hmmm... interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that unless something major happens it's going to come down to how well Cain can defend 9-9-9 versus how well Perry can defend 20-20.
OT
ReplyDeletereading between the lines of this essay, i kept getting the idea of what ff stated in a previous essay regarding perry.
his candidacy is an afterthought of sorts.
"....and the policies he's endorsing are not terrible, at least they've been outlined so far..." I agree. If I listened to every thing the news media says about him, I'd think Mr. Perry is wors than Satan himself. As such, the way the polices have been "outlined" so far they are the worst thing ever.
ReplyDeleteNow with this said I'm from TX and can assure anyone not from TX that the job growth TX has experienced has nothing to do with Mr. Perry. He was simply lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Anyone with an IQ of 75 should uderstand that. The fact that he is trying to take credit for something he had nothing to do with is despicable.
With a series of new regulations that have just been passed and are about to be implemented as well as the new legislation that has been implemented in the last two years the TX government seems to be doing its best to try and become like other states in the job producing/loss category!! Any job growth that TX has had has been done in spite of Mr. Perry and the TX legislature. For him to take any credit for it, at best, shows he is misinformed and is simply repeating a line that his advisors gave him to repeat. At worst, it is disingenous and a bold faced lie on the part of Mr. Perry. Either way NOT GOOD.