Wendy Sherman: “As we approach the tax deadline, our thoughts go toward tax reform. We ought to have genuine tax reform, code section by…”

“As we approach the tax deadline, our thoughts go toward tax reform. We ought to have genuine tax reform, code section by code section, unraveling the loopholes and the special interest provisions. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I regret what the Committee on Ways and Means is doing right now as we sit here. They are considering replacing our existing tax law with a 30 percent sales tax on everything every American buys, from rent to services to goods. They disguise it as a 23 percent tax. They claim it is a 23 percent tax, and here is their logic. One buys something for 100 bucks, one pays a $30 tax. They say that is only 23 percent tax on the $130 total price. It is a 30 percent sales tax. But the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that, in order to be revenue neutral and replace all Federal revenues, the tax would have to be 59.9 percent. All of this so that Steve Forbes can make tens of millions here, spend it on the Italian Riviera, and not pay a penny in American tax.”