A NYTimes article comes on strong with a praise of Gridlock. All professional Observers quoted in this article seem off the mark to this Author. Gridlock may be something We cannot afford; needing decisive leadership to eliminate the Deficit, repay the oversize National Debt, and rationalize the Tax system. Making the Tax Cuts permanent ford not accomplish any of the Above.

Republicans could get rid of the ‘so-called Death Tax’ which refers to elimination of the Inheritance tax, if they would acquiesce to some form of taxation. I would suggest leaving the non-Pay deductibles at the same level, and charging on a Social tax equivalent to the combined Business and Personal tax for Social Security–or around 12%. I deem this a positive decision which would raise Tax revenues, while removing the motive impulse for Tax evasion and finding alternatives to acceptance of the imposed Tax.

The Tax Code must be revamped, and special provisions removed, to be replaced with a low, uniform Tax rate applicable to Everyone. I would even eliminate Personal Exemptions, only allowing Dependent exemptions where dependency is proved. Much anger will flow from this Statement that the 401(k) style programs have been a failure. They have not resulted in adequate levels of real Investment, only generating a Paper inflation of actual non-Investment so that Corporate Executives could make windfall Profits from Stock Options and Grants. 401(k), IRAs, etc. should all be canceled, replaced with a Savings credit on Bank and financial instruments equal to the Interest rates attained from this Paper, so the effective value of Savings is doubled.

Corporate Tax credits need be eliminated in all forms, it replaced with a lower Corporate and Business Tax rate of 0.0% for Earnings less than $100,000, 10% for Earnings less than $1 million, and 22% for Earnings over $1 million. All Corporate shifting of Tax burden backwards or forwards will be canceled; Tax will be paid the Year in which it is earned. The Practice of splitting into taxable Divisions so Tax payments of subordinate Divisions can be accounted as losses must be stopped; such Accounting practice will only lead to double taxation as full Charges are assessed. Payments between Corporate Divisions also must not be accounted as Expenses by the Covering Corporation. Claims of Double taxation and/or double Expense will not be accepted by IRS auditors. lgl