On the recordApril 14, 2010
In these final hours of this year's tax season, Americans are finishing up their tax returns. For a majority of these taxpayers, it's painfully clear that our Nation's tax system is deeply flawed and in need of significant reform. American workers are asked to work for 3 full months to fulfill their yearly Federal, State, and local tax obligations. This is unacceptable. To require already stressed family budgets to forfeit at least a quarter of their income to prop up expanding bureaucracy and increasing Federal employment is just wrong. We are taught at a young age to work hard and that we will reap the benefits of hard work. Americans have witnessed that government is claiming more and more of those hard-earned benefits from the fruits of our labors. Instead of searching for a way to provide relief to American households, some officials within the administration have proposed new taxes that will further burden small businesses and consumers. The European-style value-added tax would levy a tax at each stage of manufacturing, thereby increasing the cost of the finished product. This is damaging not only to the consumer, but also to many industries involved in manufacturing production. I'm a member of the Anti-VAT Caucus. I recognize the dangers of imposing this new tax upon the American economy, and I've joined over a dozen of my colleagues in working to educate Members of Congress on the problems posed by establishing a whole new series of taxes.
