Yes

No

1. A national sales tax discourages consumption, leading to a conservation of resources.
2. The removal of an income tax encourages saving and investing, which is the key to job growth.
3. Individuals would have an extra incentive to work hard and earn income, leading to a far more productive nation.
4. A sales tax would be a much simpler system, eliminating the need for individuals to comply with complex tax reporting requirements and freeing up all the money & time lost on the income tax process.
5. Tax rates can be targeted to encourage or discourage the consumption of certain items.
6. Consumer prices of certain items would fall since labor and tax compliance costs would be cheaper to businesses.
7. It's a tax system consistent with a free society; i.e. Americans have a choice regarding their taxes, unlike our current confiscation system.

1. A sales tax would be a regressive tax; i.e. low-income individuals would pay a much higher share of their incomes than wealthy individuals.
2. A national sales tax is a risky system that may not raise near enough money to support all our needs in defense, education, health care, etc.
3. Consumer spending, which drives a thriving economy, would likely drop as people save and invest more rather than spend.
4. Many incentives built into our tax system (such as education, home ownership, charity, etc.) would be eliminated.
5. Hundreds of thousands of attorneys, accountants, and human resource workers would likely lose their jobs due to the simpler tax system.
6. Real estate values would likely plummet since the tax advantages to ownership would vanish.
7. Mortgage and other consumer debt would likely explode since consumers would be forced to finance the taxes also.
8. We would have to come up with another way to raise or set aside funds for social security.
9. The transition costs of such a change would be extremely expensive.
10. Tax evasion and instances of black market purchasing would likely skyrocket.
11. Consumer prices of many items would go up by a much greater rate than the sales tax rate since raw materials would also be taxed.
12. Retirees and others who have earned the majority of their life income have already had their money hit with income tax; thus, they will pay extra sales tax with money already subjected to income tax.
13. A sales tax is more insidious; i.e. it's easier for the government to raise taxes without the people knowing it, as opposed to an income tax which shows up on the W2's and 1040's every year.

Yes

No

1. Record prices for gas have been accompanies by record profits for the oil companies, punishing the little guy instead of billionaires.
2. Rich oil executives are making millions in options and bonuses, even if their companies aren't very profitable.
3. Money brought in could be put into an energy trust fund or alternative fuel research; it also could be put into other areas where we need funds such as defense, education, social security, etc.
4. It ensures there won't be price gouging since unreasonable profits are taken.

1. Gas prices will likely increase since oil companies will factor the tax into their prices.
2. Less potential for large profit means less incentive to invest in exploration, drilling, and refinery development; thus, it will lead to supply problems and greater foreign oil dependence.
3. Companies shouldn't be punished just because they are successful.
4. Oil stocks, which are owned by many Americans in 401(k)'s and other critical investment portfolios, would likely plunge in value.
5. The tax would increase inflation, leading to higher prices on items unrelated to oil.
6. Corporate profits of non-oil-related companies would tax a hit; thus, the decrease in corporate tax revenues would offset the money brought in by oil taxes.

Yes

No

1. It helps discourage consumers from eating foods that aren't good for them.
2. Health care costs of obesity are skyrocketing, and even non-obese people must share this cost burden.
3. Additional revenue could be raised by the government to cover health care, medical research, and other items.

1. People are personally responsible for their weight, not the products.
2. How would you decide what items to tax? Virtually any products can make you obese if abused.
3. A tax would punish successful businesses for providing products that people want.
4. The government already taxes income, alcohol, gasoline, sales, and about everything else in our lives.
5. Additional taxes can lead to job cuts in the affected businesses and contribute a degradation of consumer purchasing power.

Yes

No

1. It gives poor people a better chance to retire wealthy.
2. It makes up for inevitable benefit cuts that must eventually be made to the system.
3. The stock market should get an initial bump in value.
4. People are given a personal stake in the U.S. economy, providing extra incentive to help their companies and the nation as a whole to do well.
5. Personal responsibility and ownership are injected into citizens' plans for retirement.
6. Stocks & bonds are historically safe in long-term diversified portfolios (as evidence by their existence in every major government/union/corporate pension & retirement fund).
7. Individuals who die early and don't recover all they paid in can pass on funds to their next of kin.
8. Billions of dollars will be injected into corporate investment, leading to an economic stimulus.

1. Poor portfolio management could leave some retirees severely short of funds.
2. Wide stock market price fluctuations could leave large groups of retirees in dire straits if their retirement occurs during a downturn.
3. There are several less complicated fixes to social security available.
4. This isn't the best time to address the problem (i.e. there are far more urgent issues).
5. Even more money will be taken out of an already underfunded system.
6. Current IRA's and 401k's offer essentially the same benefits as social security private accounts.
7. The transition costs of setting up private accounts would be prohibitively high and severely add to an exploding deficit

Yes

No

1. It would lead to more responsibility in the accounting and administration of corporations.
2. Retirees and others living on fixed incomes would have more take-home pay.
3. It would stimulate more investment in the stock market, along with great business investment spending.
4. More money in the hands of consumers means more money can be spent to get the economy going.
5. It makes the expansion of small businesses easier.
6. Consumers & private investors know how to handle money better than the government.

1. Most of the tax savings will be going to the wealthy.
2. It discourages the investment of stocks in retirement accounts.
3. Companies may slow down capital spending so they can pay out more dividends.
4. Cutting taxes would be risky since we need the money for homeland security, education, and other priorities.
5. There are ways to cut taxes that are more immediately stimulative to the economy.
6. It would raise the interest cost of borrowing for state & local governments.

Yes

No

1. The vast majority of economists believe the minimum wage law costs the economy thousands of jobs.
2. Teenagers, workers in training, college students, interns, and part-time workers all have their options and opportunities limited by the minimum wage.
3. A low-paying job remains an entry point for those with few marketable skills.
4. Abolishing the minimum wage will allow businesses to achieve greater efficiency and lower prices.
5. When you force American companies to pay a certain wage, you increase the likelihood that those companies will outsource jobs to foreign workers, where labor is much cheaper.
6. Non-profit charitable organizations are hurt by the minimum wage.
7. The minimum wage can drive some small companies out of business.
8. A minimum wage gives businesses an additional incentive to mechanize duties previously held by humans.
9. Cost-of-living differences in various areas of the country make a universal minimum wage difficult to set.
10. The minimum wage creates a competitive advantage for foreign companies, providing yet another obstacle in the ability of American companies to compete globally.
11. The minimum wage law is just another example of government condescendingly controlling our actions and destroying personal choice. Citizens do have the ability to say no to a lower wage.

1. Adults who currently work for minimum wage are likely to lose jobs to teenagers who will work for much less.
2. Workers need a minimum amount of income from their work to survive and pay the bills.
3. Businesses have more power to abuse the labor market.
4. It forces businesses to share some of the vast wealth with the people that help produce it.