Virtually every Republican running for president has staked out very similar territory on taxes.
For instance, they almost all promise to preserve the Bush tax cuts, which are set to run out in 2010.
But a couple of candidates have expressed more radical ideas on what they’d do if they were elected.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.
It can be hard to distinguish between Republican candidates when they talk about the Bush tax cuts.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney uses that theme when he tells voters how he will improve their financial health.
I want to keep the bush tax cuts permanent. I also believe its not fair that you get taxed when you earn your money, taxed when you save your money and taxed when you die. So I want to kill the death tax once and for all.
Many of the candidates are in favor of doing away with the nation’s estate tax, including Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
And when he campaigns, Giuliani tells voters he has a history of lowering people’s tax bills.
Just one example. I reduced the new York city income tax by 24 percent. And I was collecting 40 percent more revenue from the lower tax than from the higher tax. So I don’t just believe in supply side economics, I’ve seen it work to save a city. It can work to save growth for America.
Some economists say Giuliani isn’t telling the whole story.
They admit New York City in the 1990’s did indeed see a windfall in tax receipts.
But Professor John Romps, an economist at St Anslem College in Manchester says the former Mayor is leaving out important details.
The reason he was able to spend more money, which he did do, and run a more balanced budget than new York normally has is because he was the beneficiary of the greatest stock market surge in history and ny benefits from that because of the close tie they have with wall street and taxes that the wall street firms pay to new York city.
Some economists say this cash windfall is unlikely to repeat itself on the national level in the next few years.
In the meantime, the federal Treasury Department recently reported that the Bush tax cuts don’t even bring in sufficient cash to cover what the cuts remove.
That hasn’t dissuaded Arizona Senator John McCain from supporting them.
But he says his support is conditioned on his desire to see Congress rein in spending, especially on pork barrel items the nation does not need.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has staked out a much different position on taxes than the other Republican frontrunners.
He’s told voters he supports the Fair Tax, another name for a consumption tax, which is levied on the things people purchase.
What the fair tax does it says earn all you want. We want you to earn, we want you to be productive. We will tax you at the point of retail sales at the consumption level….
Huckabee’s plan would essentially replace the nation’s income tax and estate tax.
But critics of the plan say they’re not sure if that’s possible, given the uncertainty of how much the plan would raise.
And they say the rate for the Fair tax would have to be very high to replace income tax revenue.
Still, Peter Sepp at the National Taxpayers Union in Virginia says he gives Huckabee credit for offering something different than the status quo.
Now whether or not citizens agree with replacing the entire income tax sytem with a consumption tax, at least he’s articulating something that can be debated upon. So far we’ve heard basically lip service from the other candidates about preserving the bush tax cuts or making the system flatter and simpler without a whole lot of specific detail about how they would do so.
Huckabee is not the only Republican candidate who would do away with the income tax.
Representative Ron Paul of Texas wants to do even more, and get rid of the Internal Revenue Service.
He’s told voters the government has grown too big, and that deep sixing the IRS is part of his plan to downsize nearly every federal department.
A recent UNH poll says taxes remain an important issue for many New Hampshire Republicans.
Chris Moutis of Exeter owns a restaurant in town.
He says he’s doesn’t want to see the government grow much bigger.
But he says he’s aware electing a Republican president may not be enough to resist that pressure.
If it simply becomes a situation, because we don’t know what the congress is going to be, if it simply becomes a situation of him holding the line, at least we’re holding the line, as opposed to expansion.
New Hampshire voters are going to get their chance to cast ballots on taxes and many other issues on January 8th, 2008.
