I wrote a few diaries several months ago about a Democratic newcomer in Kentucky politics when John Waltz announced his run here, here, and here. While I very much liked what Waltz was saying, I wondered about his ability to mount a race as a newcomer and in Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District. However, as this race is progressing John Waltz is proving to be an extremely viable candidate as well as being a real fighting Democrat. Now, Waltz's campaign is picking up steam and with our help could mount a real challenge to put Republicans on defense this fall in at least one previously secure district.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama rolled out a new plan to limit the use of offshore tax havens and crack down on corporate abuse of the tax system. These tax havens siphon over $100 billion a year from the government, and have allowed many U.S. banks to duck paying taxes despite receiving massive, taxpayer-funded bailouts. The president's plan is far from perfect, but comes as a welcome acknowledgment of the unfairness embedded in the current tax code.
Our tax code is extremely problematic and I wish Democrats would do a little less financial tax punishment simply because a person was successful. If we want to tax the rich we should tax the high luxury items the most and find ways to make sure that just because someone is rich or their business does well not to tax them for it so long as they possess certain criteria. Small business and larger corporations should be given tax breaks and subsidies ONLY when they reinvest their money in this country. In other words if a rich guy invests 10mil in China tax him heavily, if he invests that same 10mil into this country where the vast majority of the benefit would be felt here THEN and ONLY THEN give him the tax break. Same with corporations, stop rewarding them for moving over seas and find more incentives to reward them for reinvestments in this country and eliminate all the penalties that serve make it more rational (read: profitable to shareholders) to move operations and jobs overseas. I'd like to see our tax code more like the consumption tax (not the same as Huckabee's "Fair Tax") used in many Nordic countries. Ireland has begun to do well at not punishing businesses, so long as they keep their business in Ireland and they have seen great economic growth from this. However I don't wanna see this go as far as many of the new Asian powerhouse producers have gone to attract business, there must remain protections for workers.
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