A New Contract - The American Taxpayer Bill of Rights
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling Posted in Congress | Congressional Contributors — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As Democrats continued bickering over how much pork they each need to vote for an "emergency" spending bill that will start Rep. Murtha's "Slow Bleed" strategy to choke off funding for our troops, the Republican Study Committee launched the American Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Members of the RSC are working to start a grassroots effort to ensure that leaders in Washington never forget that tax money belongs to the taxpayers, not the governmen. By adopting four simple principles to protect all taxpayers, we hope to set the stage for discussion in these areas.
Today, FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey will host a rally and press conference on Capitol Hill to announce support for the our measure. Mr. Armey, the former House Majority Leader and main author of the Contract with America, will be joined by Members of the House and Senate, Americans from across the country, and representatives from: Citizens Against Government Waste; National Taxpayers Union; Students for Saving Social Security; the American Conservative Union; Americans For Prosperity; 60 Plus; the Free Enterprise Fund; the Club for Growth; and the Heritage Foundation to rally support for tha cause.
This morning, the Wall Street Journal featured an op/ed that I wrote. If you have a minute today, give it a read and let me know what you think.
To be successful in this venture, we are going to need your attention, your support, and your energy. I hope that those of us in Congress who understand your frustration can count on you to help us start the debate.
The Tax Payer Bill of Rights is a good idea. It is not exactly up there with the Contract with America, but I can support it.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
...without subscribing to WSJ.com
Here is the text:
Contract Renewed
By JEB HENSARLING
March 21, 2007; WSJ Page A18
This week, Congress will debate the largest federal budget in history. It will hear from thousands of interest groups, but if the past is any indication, one big group will be ignored: American taxpayers.
The budget has grown out of control. Your government now spends over $23,000 per household, up over $7,000 in just the last five years. And this record government expansion precedes the coming explosion in the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The next generation will face a choice between two evils -- a crushing tax burden that is double what we pay today, or a federal government that consists entirely of entitlement programs.
The time has come for each member of Congress to show political courage. We must stop politicking and work to provide real solutions to the serious problems that our nation faces.
Today, Dick Armey, one of the authors of the original Contract with America, will be joined by taxpayers from across our country at the Capitol to endorse the American Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which was developed by the Republican Study Committee. These rights represent a renewed contract with all Americans to restore accountability to the halls of Congress.
Here's a glimpse:
• Taxpayers have a right to have a federal government that does not grow beyond their ability to pay for it. First and foremost, we must restore fiscal discipline and find innovative new ways to do more with less. The federal budget cannot grow faster than American families' ability to pay for it. Some look at our $8.8 trillion debt and say now is the time to raise taxes on hard-working Americans. They are wrong. We do not have an $8.8 trillion debt because Washington taxes too little; we have an $8.8 trillion debt because Washington spends too much. If families in America can tighten their belts, so too can bureaucrats in Washington. No more hidden earmarks. No more runaway entitlement spending. No more mortgaging our children's future. No more bridges to nowhere.
• Taxpayers have a right to receive back each dollar that they entrust to the government for their retirement. A safe, secure and stable retirement is part of the American dream. Yet time and again, Washington has proven itself incapable of managing Americans' hard earned Social Security dollars. There is something fundamentally wrong when more young Americans believe in UFOs than believe that their Social Security benefits will be available they retire. The RSC will propose legislation this year making it against the law to spend Social Security money collected from Americans on anything other than Social Security. Ensuring a stable retirement is not a Republican or Democrat obligation, it is an American obligation.
• Taxpayers have a right to expect the government to balance the budget without having their taxes raised. Whether it is a water tax, a gas tax, a payroll tax, a utility tax, a cable tax or a property tax, we are taxed from the minute we wake up in the morning to the minute we turn off the lights to go to sleep. You can't say you are fighting for the American taxpayer and support higher taxes. Simply put, a balanced-budget amendment is the only indisputable way to achieve deficit reduction in America, and we pledge to see it through. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its Constitution. I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing." More than 200 years later it's the time to make Jefferson's vision a reality.
• Taxpayers have a right to a simple, fair tax code that they can understand. We commit to ending the IRS as we know it today. There is something fundamentally wrong when we have a tax code that is seven times longer than the Bible. Though comprehensive tax reform has been on the GOP agenda since 1994, the tax code today remains a nightmare. Believe it or not, it now consists of over 9,000,000 words and forces Americans to work billions of additional hours just trying to figure it out -- let alone afford the bill. Is it any wonder that 60% of Americans pay someone else to prepare their taxes for them? Bottom line: We are an overtaxed nation and we believe that hardworking Americans deserve a break. The tax code has deteriorated beyond repair, and we need to start from scratch. The time has come for Congress to sunset the entire Internal Revenue Code and set a hard date for its final elimination. Only then can we achieve true and meaningful tax reform.
Four simple principles. For those who believe Washington spends too much, we agree. For those who believe Washington still taxes too much, we agree. For those who believe we must balance the budget, cut wasteful Washington spending and provide further, permanent tax relief, we agree. And so we pledge to do it better and get it right. Whoever wants to lead the Republican Party as its Presidential nominee would be wise to adopt these rights. Our leaders must never forget that tax money belongs to the taxpayers, not the government.
Mr. Hensarling is chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of over 100 conservatives in the House of Representatives.
Every time Congress wants to change the tax code it is to correct/change/punish/promote some behavior. Good or bad, the problem is: THAT IS NOT WHAT THE TAX CODE IS FOR!
A tax break for that group? Good, we all pay for it.
A tax credit for that activity? Good, we all pay for it.
A tax on cigs or alcohol beyond what government needs to deal with the regulation of those items? Why? To reduce consumption?
Everytime the government or some special interest wants to do something good or to punish, it does it using taxes.
MY Principle:
Tax policy exists ONLY for the purpose of assessing and collecting funds necessary for government to function in the broadest and most equitable manner. Tax policy does not exist to promote, or punish any perceived or preferred behavior.
Stand for that, and I will support you.
Member, American Conservative Party
...and one I truly hope can be brought to pass, although I have my doubts that anything will ever come of it given the makeup of today's Congress, and the track record of the current Administration. I would have particularly liked to see this two years ago (or better yet, 6 years ago...), when the people who *should* have been working along these lines from the start were still in charge.
But I wish you luck in getting this out there. It's long overdue.
"Taxpayers have a right to require a supermajority (3/5ths) in both Houses to raise taxes".
We have a TABOR law in Colorado which requires a vote of the people to raise taxes. Since this isn't practical at the Federal level, a supermajority approval requirement would have a similar effect.
I bet you could get a Constitutional Amendment through in record time requiring a vote of the people for a tax hike.
Now also found at The Minority Report
Thanks Congressman Hensarling for a solid start to real government reform. There are several aspects of this 'Bill of Rights' that actually need to be codified into law - the absolute end of earmarks would be a nice start.
I am a bit troubled by the $1 in - $1 out concept. This is nice and easy for people to understand, but investing $1 into SS today and receiving $1 in 30 years is a net loss. It would be far better to have SS accounts roll into private accounts just as FDR envisioned.
Finally, a major simplification of the tax code is long overdue. The American public has been duped into believing that the IRS is some kind of Christmas club that pays them a nice 'refund' in the spring. In an ideal world, the tax rate would be as close to flat as possible, and taxes would be paid monthly or quarterly so that the taxpayers actually saw the bill they were paying. Once the people recognize the bill they are paying, they will begin to pay more attention to the value they are getting from their investment.