Senate Filibuster Becomes House of Lords Tyranny

My comments are usually Tax and Social Security reform but I have now added Senate Reform.

The Senate has adopted rules that have essentially changed its Legislative balance from its intended foundation set by the Founders of our nation and as laid out in the Constitution. Their adoption and implementation of some rules have altered its operations from being a balance to the People's House - The House of Representatives - to a 18th Century British House of Lords where a Minority of Senators in this democratic body have dictatorial power(veto power) not given to them by our Constitution but assumed by the misuse of some rules or adoption of unconstitutional rules.

The Minority to be protected is not a minority within the Senate but the Minority of people represented by a Senator from a smaller State versus the larger number of people a Senator represents from a larger State. Two Senators from each State balances out the proportional representation of the House of Representatives. This is the minority protection intended by the Founders not the added rules that have elevated the Senate to a Tyranny over the House where a super majority is required to have House Legislation sent up to the Senate voted on. The check and balance over Legislation sent from the People's representatives is 100 Senators, 2 from each State that votes on all matters sent to them for consideration.

The Filibuster is an added rule by the Senate that is not in the Constitution. Ask yourself, how many City Councils or Town Boards operate the people's business this way? How many School Boards operate with Robert's Rules of Order and add in a Filibuster or cloture rule? . Legislation and Nominations are voted on by the majority not prevented from a vote and blocked by a minority with an improper use of a Cloture rule.

Even as a tradition the Filibuster has been changed in the last generation and no longer resembles the Jimmy Stewart movie, "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" format. Even in that older traditional form there was an end to debate and a vote by the majority up or down. A minority Senator held the floor open for debate for hours non-stop- 24/7 but at some point the filibuster ended and a vote was taken. The purpose was to focus the attention of the Senators and of the country on an important issue and present the merits of the Minority Senator's Argument. He may be a minority who wants a vote in favor or a minority who wants a vote against. In the end, if he had convinced a majority( 51) than he would win. The tyranny is not the traditional Filibuster; it is the threat of one and the improper use of a Cloture rule. The Cloture rule is for closing debate even though others may still want to speak on the issue. If everyone has spoken and debate has ended naturally, than the Chair, "Calls the Question" and a majority vote decides unless it is an issue in the Constitution that specifically requires a supermajority vote.

Unfortunately, under the current use of the cloture rule, the filibustering Senator would have to convince 60 not 51 Senators to allow a vote on his issue. The supermajority Cloture rule that allows a vote on the issue, impedes even the filibustering Senator from getting a fair vote. This has given a minority of Senators a veto power more like the old British House of Lords where wealthy Land owners in the House of Lords gave lip service to English democracy and gave the"people" the lower House but preserved their minority control even within the House of Lords where Lords Loyal to the King could block voting.

An even stronger example of this House of Lord's Tyranny is the ability of a Senator to put a "hold" on nominations. Most recently, Barbara Boxer of California has put a hold on John Bolton for US Ambassador to the United Nations. This is a tradition that has to end, it is undemocratic and unfair. The Constitution lays out the role of the Senate as "advise and consent" on nominations by the Executive branch. To give this power to an individual Senator to block a nomination is clearly unconstitutional to the intent of the Founders.

The Senate has allowed this tyranny to grow and it is time to restore its appropriate Democratic balance as one half of the Legislative branch and take away this artificial elevation in power where Senator Harry Read and a minority of Senators feel they are a co-equal branch to the Executive branch and along with Senator Byrd royal bluster bend the tradition and rules of the Senate to a tyranny for the Minority (House of Lords).

ZERO Income tax and Zero Payroll Tax

I originaly wrote this op-ed in late January after Stephen Moore wrote his article on the flat tax. Considering that Stephen will also be testiyfying along with Steve Forbes on the Flat Tax ( tired, weak and anemic solution) to the President's tax reform panel, I thought it would be good to share it again.. I hope you will enjoy the car analogy and remember the Fair Tax is a fullly researched and documented package that has already been put into full legislative form and is waiting in the garage ready to rev up our economy and give every American Family a raise in take home pay.


The answer to Stephen Moore's January article titled "How much Tax would you like to Pay?", is ZERO Income tax and ZERO payroll tax. That is actually what will happen under an up to date and ready to go Legislative Package- HR 25/ S25 commonly called the Fair Tax- www.fairtax.org.

The FairTax has a ten-fold economic benefit to the American economy that far surpasses the limited benefits for a Flat Tax that Mr. Moore admits he rolled out over 8 years ago. Mr. Moore has resurrected from the auto junk yard of tax reform a car that won't run and is easier for special interests to hijack and steal later on. He is trying to inflate the tires but the engine in this car will not provide enough energy to rev up our economy or go the distance to create quality jobs.

Mr. Moore's car only eliminates about half of the $225 to $250 billion dollars in tax compliance costs where the Fair Tax eliminates a much stronger 80 to 90% of compliance costs. Mr. Moore leaves 90% of the cumbersome IRS tax code because even under a Flat tax, 90% of the code determines the definitions and calculations of the income to be taxed.

He also leaves in place a tax code that is more likely to be corrupted by lobbyists and special interests in the future. Lobbyists who will continue to manipulate the code to rob Peter to pay Paul. Under the Lemon Law he should return this car to the used car lot he got it from. American families want a new tax reform car that is safe and well tested for the economic roads of a new century. Two of our largest states operate their state budgets on a sales tax with no income tax, Florida and Texas.

The Fair Tax is " Family Friendly Tax Reform " whose time has come.The Fair Tax package eliminates all Personal and Business income taxes, payroll taxes, AMT, and Death taxes. Due to these eliminations, prices will drop 22 to 25% and then the Fair Tax replaces them all with a revenue neutral federal retail sales tax on new products and services. Consumers will pay about the same as they do now.

However, exports are not taxed thus the Fair Tax will provide a boom to American manufacturing because American products will be 22% lower in price for sale overseas. We can't compete with low wage countries but we can compete with lower taxes on business, products and services made in America.

The Fair Tax Legislative package has been well researched and is well supported in the research section of their web site - www.fairtax.org. Though Mr. Moore uses old information from Dr. Dale Jorgensen of Harvard University in his article, he must be unaware of the up to date information and research quoted from Dr. Jorgensen that supports the Fair Tax Legislative package. Dr. Jorgensen calculates a 10.5% growth in the economy in the first year of the Fair Tax.The Tax Reform debate and the research is far beyond the simple discussion of Flat Tax, VAT or National Sales Tax, though some will still go through the motions.

The Fair Tax is much more than a National Sales Tax, it has additional provisions that result in prices dropping 22 to 25% before you add in their NST. Consumers will pay about the same for products and services as they did before but take home a much bigger paycheck that is 100% free of federal income or payroll tax. In addition, the Fair Tax has provisions to maintain Progressivity by providing a prebate of the sales tax up to the poverty line to every family. For a family of 4 they receive $479/m for a Couple they receive $357/m. An Average family of 4 making $50,000/yr will have more than $7500 in additional take home pay and after tax purchasing power under the Fair Tax there by making it both progressive and fair. The more you spend the higher your effective tax rate. Supporters say, "Those that Know the Facts Love the Fair Tax". More importantly it is the only comprehensive tax reform proposal that eliminates the income tax and the more regressive payroll tax.

The Fair Tax has just been re-introduced from the 108th Congress to the 109th Congress as bills, HR 25 and S25. The Fair Tax had 55 Co-Sponsors in the last Congress and plans to have over 100 in the new Congress. Dennis Hastert and Tom Delay have both indicated support. Congressman John Linder of Georgia was the original sponsor of the Fair Tax bill and has just been appointed by the Speaker to the important House Ways & Means Committee and its tax writing subcommittee.

The Fair Tax meets all the guidelines set down by President Bush for his tax reform panel including promoting home ownership and supporting charities. In addition, the Fair Tax also meets the 3 standards set by House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi in her open letter to the President on Tax Reform sent 12/15/04; 1) Tax Simplification; 2)Tax Fairness(Progressivity); 3) Revenue neutral.

This Car is waiting in the garage gassed up and ready to go. Democrats and Republicans need to climb on board and drive our economy in a positive and new direction with the Fair Tax Legislative package. The Fair Tax has been built from the ground up, it has been test-driven and shared with many researchers, economists, average Americans and American Organizations. Supporters include 560,000 members of Americans for Fair Taxation, 350,000 members of The National Tax Payer's Union, and is outlined as a legislative agenda item of the 6 million member American Federation of Farm Bureaus.

The Fair Tax has been fined tuned and polished for the 21st century. It is an economic engine waiting to rev up our economy and send us down the road better able to compete fairly in the global market place and to grow a financially stronger "ownership society" at home.

New Deal for a New Century - Fair Tax plus Tier 2 solution

Young Working Americans need a New Deal from their Government on Social Security, Income taxes, payroll taxes, economic growth and job growth. This New Century is only 5 years old but Congress wants to saddle current and future generations with a horse and buggy system of taxing and spending that the children and grandchildren of the FDR generation can not possibly pay for.

Why are Democrats crying about the President's plan to update Social Security and fail to provide a solution to solvency on thier own? Why are politicians forgetting the deficit which also saddles younger workers with increasing debt?

Some Democrats want to raise taxes but have no solutions for reducing spending on over promised programs. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are over promised programs. To maintain funding for these programs the older generation is saddling the younger generation with mandatory and massive tax increases or massive program cuts in the future when it is time for them to retire.

Shame on the AARP and all people 55 and over who have their retirement secure based on a Social Security Ponzi scheme. How can they support this rob from the future of the young and give to the old Baby Boomer plan that gives them more than they paid for.

Democrats like private accounts if they are outside Social Security. We already have that with IRAs and 401Ks. The problem is that the working poor and the middle class do not have the extra cash flow to put anything in. Savings rates are still low for these Americans. The Working poor often pay much more in payroll tax than in income tax. The current payroll tax system does not work in the 21st century and it will soon force 2 workers to pay for every retiree and will require a burdensome increase of 50% in the payroll tax to fund the system as it is currently contructed.

The Fair thing to do is to design a new deal that is fair to the next generation and not a heavy burden on their futures and the future US economy. That requires new thinking and a new system for Social Security, Medicare, National Budget and paying off the National Debt.
According to Bloomberg News, Congressman Bill Thomas is preparing what he feels is a possible solution to the needs of Seniors. California Republican and Chairman of House Ways and Means, Thomas is cooking up his own Social Security Reform proposal that may include a new add-on consumption tax to fund Social Security but also includes long term care options for Seniors and possible other benefits. Though I applaud his thinking to get away from the regressive payroll tax, I would be concerned that he is just adding in more programs that in the long term we can not afford and robs from our children's futures. When will the older generation and older Congressman realize that they are leaving a tremendous burden behind?

The Best solution is to redesign the system to match the realities of the new century and the global economy. We must stop tinkering with the old Horse and Buggy system and realize the next generation needs an economical and efficient car that doesn't guzzle gas or hard earned dollars in over taxation. Let's put away the Cadillac benefits and only provide the system we can pay for today and in the future.

Many State Pension systems have already made those hard choices and have redesigned their retirement systems. States like New York realized years ago that they could not continue to offer the same level of retirement or health benefits to State and municipal employees. Older Tier 1 employees had a cadillac plan. New York State pension managers realized they could not afford to pay the same level of benefits to future workers so they developed a Tier 2 pension system with different rules and different pay out options from Tier 1. This was for younger workers hired after a certain date and did not affect those hired under the Tier 1 plan. This allows for a slow phase out of the expensive Tier 1 plan. New York went on over the years to change it again and again so that new employees are now contributing into the Tier 4 plan.

The Time has come for the Congress and the President Bush to follow the lead of States like New York and develop a Tier 2 System for the 21 st century. Don't view the change as a reduction in the current program or a tinkering of the current program. Redesign it to fit the future needs of our children and grandchildren.

The payroll tax with 2 workers supporting every retiree is not sustainable. A Tier 2 Solution should replace(not add on) but replace the current income tax and payroll tax with a National Sales tax. Over 100 Top economicts have now come out in favor of a National Sales Tax proposal called the Fair Tax HR 25/S25.

For retirement start a new Tier 2 system using the portion of the Sales Tax (FairTax) for Social Security and divide it into two parts for the "Tier 2 Generation" I outlined this in a previous article. If Tier 2,3 & 4 retirement worked for New York, with private accounts and employee contributions why can't it work for the federal retirement system and all Americans as well?

The answers to Social Security, economic growth and tax reform is the: The Tier 2 Solution -

A "New Deal" for a New Generation
http://fairtaxreform.blogspot.com/2005/02/social-security-tier-2-solution.html

1. Revenue neutral Tax reform with the Fair Tax HR 25-(www.fairtax.org) which replaces all personal and business income and payroll taxes including AMT with a national Retail Sales tax. Prices drop 25% before you add in the sales tax, so consumers pay about the same as they do now but with a much larger paycheck going home. "Gives Every American Family a Raise." (http://tinyurl.com/6agz9 ) Economic growth first year of 10.5%

Reform Social Security into 2 systems for a New Generation. New Tier 2 System to be applied to all person born after 1975(30 years old or younger).

Call them the Tier 2 Generation who start retiring in 2042.(Same year Old Social Security plan would have gone bankrupt with 27% shortfall)

Social Security Saftey Net is Account #1

-with the pay out set at a flat saftey net level equal to the poverty line for an individual. Whether you are a maid or a millionaire you both have a saftey net that is equal. 2004 poverty line level is $9310 or $775/m.

Social Security Savings & Pension Plan - Account #2;

For Tier 2 Generation establish a Thrift Savings Plan/Pension style account with matching funds from Uncle Sam. For every dollar the Tier 2 Generation saves in this account the Federal government will provide a 50% match up to $1,000 per year. Save $2000 in your Pension savings and Social Security matches with a maximum of $1,000.

You get 2 Social Security Accounts for the price of one.

Account #1 - True Standard Saftey net;
Account #2 Portable Pension savings plan.

The savings from Account #1 provides resources for Account #2 making the entire system solvent for the Tier 2 Generation who are the children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomers.
Pension Account will allow for an annuity style payout only. No borrowing from it. This Pension replaces the idea of corporate pensions that the older generations used to enjoy.

The Fair Tax provides the increased take home pay for a family to save for retirement and participate in Account #2 as well as extra take home pay for Health Care, Child Care, College Tuition and other Family needs.

We do not need to raise taxes we need to replace our income tax system to grow the economy and increase revenue. The Fair Tax is estimated to grow the economy over 10% in its first year and give every American Family a Raise.