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subject: Cato Online Update Vol. 2 No. 7
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Cato On-Line Update
Vol. 2 No. 7
April 30, 1997
http://www.cato.org
---------------------------
Welcome to the latest issue of the Cato On-Line Update, your guide to
what's happening on the Cato Web site. The Cato On-Line Update will be
released approximately twice per month. For instructions on how to
unsubscribe from the Update, see the end of this message.
Under the description of each item you will find a URL address. To
access that document, cut and paste the address into your web browser,
or visit the main site at http://www.cato.org and browse around.
--------------------------------------------
CATO STUDY SHOWS HOW NATIONAL SALES TAX WOULD WORK
Analysts recommend replacement of income and capital gains taxes,
abolition of IRS
Replacing the income tax with a 15 percent national sales tax would have
a highly beneficial impact on the U.S. economy and raise the standard of
living of the American public, according to David R. Burton and Dan R.
Mastromarco, authors of a new Cato Institute analysis.
In "Emancipating America from the Income Tax: How a National Sales Tax
Would Work," Burton and Mastromarco, partners in the Argus Group, show
that a national sales tax, while exempting low-income Americans, could
replace the individual and corporate income tax, the capital gains tax,
the estate and gift taxes and non-trust-fund excise taxes while raising
the same amount of revenue.
Burton and Mastromarco propose a national sales tax plan that includes a
15 percent sales tax on the final purchase of goods and services at the
retail level; a universal rebate for every household, exempting all
consumption up to the poverty level; reimbursement to states and
retailers of the cost of collecting the tax; and abolition of the
Internal Revenue Service.
Burton and Mastromarco highlight the privacy and convenience of a
national sales tax, writing that "under the national sales tax most
Americans would be freed from the intrusive scrutiny of the IRS. More
than 100 million Americans who are not business owners or self-employed
would no longer have to file tax returns. The number of tax returns
filed may fall as much as 80 percent."
Noting that the national sales tax is now a formal policy proposal
before Congress, Burton and Mastromarco write, "A national sales tax is
more compatible with the principles of a free society than any other
alternative tax system."
Policy Analysis no. 272 http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-272es.html)
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FOREIGN AID DOES NOT PREVENT SOCIAL BREAKDOWN
Cash assistance should be eliminated; trade barriers should be dropped
"Complex domestic factors cause states to fail, and foreign aid can do
little or nothing to change the situation," says Cato Institute senior
fellow Doug Bandow, author of a policy analysis released today. "Few
programs have consumed as many resources with as few positive results as
has foreign aid."
In "Help or Hindrance: Can Foreign Aid Prevent International Crises?"
Bandow examines economic and humanitarian crises in over a dozen
countries and finds that all have received cash assistance from the
United States. Despite claims that aid can be used to prevent social
catastrophes, Bandow reports that some of the worst crises, such as that
in Rwanda, have occurred in countries receiving large amounts of
economic aid.
Bandow notes that foreign aid has helped cause and aggravate crises in
many countries by supporting regimes that have maintained disastrous
policies, such as those of Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Zaire. Further,
he argues that aid intended to promote free-market reforms takes the
pressure off recipient governments and tends to delay reforms. If the
United States and other developed countries truly wish to help, they
"should allow poorer nations to participate more fully in the
international marketplace."
"Naturally, advocates of aid are attempting to come up with new
arguments for preserving their programs," Bandow writes. "However, the
understandable desire to do something should not become an excuse for
maintaining the failed policies of the past. Foreign aid has not
delivered self-sustaining economic growth or prevented the collapse of
numerous poor societies into chaos over the past five decades. It will
do no better in the future."
Policy Analysis no. 273 (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-273es.html)
--------------------------------------------
FLAG BURNING AMENDMENT THREATENS AMERICAN PRINCIPLES, Cato scholar says
"Men have fought and died not for the flag but for the principles it
represents," said Roger Pilon today before the House Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution. "How can this Congress so
lightly abandon those principles?"
Pilon, senior fellow and director of the Center for Constitutional
Studies at the Cato Institute, told lawmakers that "there is all the
difference in the world between defending the right to desecrate the
flag and defending flag desecration itself. It is the difference between
a free and an unfree society."
"This amendment, as it tries to shield us from offensive behavior, gives
rise to even greater offense," Pilon said. "By offending our very
principles, it undermines its essential purpose, making us all less
free."
Congressional Testimony (http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-rp043097.html)
--------------------------------------------
Around the Web:
Representative Cox and Senator Wyden to Chat Online: Townhall.com Hosts
Discussion on Internet Tax Freedom Act
Wednesday, April 30, 1997 at 7:00 pm EDT http://at www.townhall.com
Join this discussion on the Internet with Representative Christopher Cox
(R-CA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) on the Internet Tax Freedom Act.
The bipartisan and bicameral chat will take place on Town Hall at
http://www.townhall.com on April 30, 1997 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
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