Rick Perry embraces flat tax, entitlement reform

At last, it's the discussion we ought to be having — comprehensive tax code and entitlement reform. Herman Cain opened the door with his 9-9-9 plan, and now Rick Perry has picked up the gauntlet by embracing the concept of a flat tax.

You gotta love a guy who takes a swipe at TurboTax Timmy. And one who's not afraid to touch the proverbial Third Rail:

"The second part of my plan involves the serious commitment to spending, realizing alternatives" to the path taken by Europe, Perry said. In this vein, the Texas governor went on to affirm his commitment to "reforming entitlements, preserving those commitments to those who are on Social Security … and those approaching the age of retirement."

Even crusty old Ron Paul could suddenly find relevence; he's got a plan to trim more than $1 Trillion from the federal budget, and wonder of wonders it's not entirely full of crackpot ideas.

It's about time the GOP got around to seriously talking about real, significant changes to how our government collects and spends our money. The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. Some kind of flat tax, or vastly simplified graduated tax plan, is the key to getting America back on track. It gets the government out of the business of picking winners and losers, and it eliminates the need to view every economic decision through the lens of tax policy.

Perry's allusion to Europe is telling. European socialism is the blueprint for Barack Obama's America; he'd turn us into Greece in a heartbeat if he could. We don't need to keep finding new ways to fund our entitlements; we need to grow our economy enough to reset people's expectations vis-a-vis governmental wealth transfer. Folks have to relearn the concept of self-reliance, and it's a whole lot easier to do that when the government isn't confiscating a huge chunk of your paycheck.

That's the kind of message the Republicans need to put forth, and I'm glad Herman Cain and Rick Perry are driving the discussion in the right direction.

Posted at 16:59 by Chris Wysocki   [/election]   Comments | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Rick-Perry Herman-Cain Ron-Paul flat-tax election 2012   |   Tweet