Do We Need To Bring Back Tariffs On Imports?

Do We Need To Bring Back Tariffs On Imported Goods?

  • Yes

    Votes: 24 39.3%

  • No

    Votes: 35 57.4%

  • Undecided

    Votes: 2 3.3%
  • Total voters
    61
  • Poll closed .
No1ButPaul08 said:
This tax on the foreign business gets passed on to the citizen consumer.
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It is a tax on the consumer, the consumer of foreign goods. Any tax on Americans is a tax on a consumer, of American and foreign goods. How is a tariff more of a drain than any other tax on Americans. A flat rate tariff that cannot be manipulated. It has the DISTINCT advantage of being enforced at our borders and only at our borders so as not to burden Americans with bullshit paperwork and regulations and umpteen billion lines of tax code.
 
electronicmaji said:
Voluntary Contributions won't work; if it were voluntary no one would give; the amount given would fluctuate each year.
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Wouldn't it teach the government about fiscal responsibility? If the people don't send enough to cover expenses, then the gov will be forced to make cuts. It's brilliant.

To keep prisons and Policemen employed; to keep our streets safe; you need a steady and reliable source of spending.
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There would be. The American people would have so much more money to spend, and there would be so much that they will send to gov in order to show their support. In the hypothetical that gov is severely underfunded.... I guess this would indicate that the people don't mind gov shutting down prisons, police stations, and fire departments? heh
 
JosephTheLibertarian said:
Wouldn't it teach the government about fiscal responsibility? If the people don't send enough to cover expenses, then the gov will be forced to make cuts. It's brilliant.



There would be. The American people would have so much more money to spend, and there would be so much that they will send to gov in order to show their support. In the hypothetical that gov is severely underfunded.... I guess this would indicate that the people don't mind gov shutting down prisons, police stations, and fire departments? heh
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That's all well and good but can somebody, anybody please answer my question above?
 
No1ButPaul08 said:
Contrary to popular belief, US manufacturing is not in decline, in fact, far from it.

http://www.freetrade.org/files/pubs/pas/tpa-035.pdf

Declining employment in a sector that is producing record output is hardly credible evidence of doom. In fact, the two indicators taken together are evidence of rising labor productivity, which, as the source of long-term increases in living standards, is something to cheer. As Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter put it in his influential book, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, "A nation’s standard of living in the long term depends on its ability to attain a high and rising level of productivity in the industries in which its firm compete." When manufacturers can produce more output with fewer and less costly inputs, that’s called progress
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Ah, one of those universities I mentioned in an earlier post. And how is this theory implemented in the real world? Well, productivity metrics are like any statistic, worse than lies, and easily manipulated. By putting as many workers on salary as possible and then increasing the number of hours they work, you can create the illusion of greater productivity (no additional workers or pay required). Heck, you can even force hourly employees to work more hours and tell them not to report those hours, under fear of firing.

Workers work more for the same pay. Sixty hour weeks are becoming the norm. Why don't they quit? Most of them are so far in debt they can't quit...
 
sratiug said:
It is a tax on the consumer, the consumer of foreign goods. Any tax on Americans is a tax on a consumer, of American and foreign goods. How is a tariff more of a drain than any other tax on Americans. A flat rate tariff that cannot be manipulated. It has the DISTINCT advantage of being enforced at our borders and only at our borders so as not to burden Americans with bullshit paperwork and regulations and umpteen billion lines of tax code.
Click to expand...

Well this is the best argument that's been put forth in favor of tariffs. Much better than the, "they took our jobs" argument that been posed by others. I could support a small flat tariff system if it was the only form of taxation to fund a limited Constitutional Government. However, we have enough taxes at the moment, so tariffs are not needed. I would prefer a small VAT as the only tax, as I believe it distorts markets the least (obviously no taxes would be best, but i don't think that's possible).
 
JosephTheLibertarian said:
Wouldn't it teach the government about fiscal responsibility? If the people don't send enough to cover expenses, then the gov will be forced to make cuts. It's brilliant.



There would be. The American people would have so much more money to spend, and there would be so much that they will send to gov in order to show their support. In the hypothetical that gov is severely underfunded.... I guess this would indicate that the people don't mind gov shutting down prisons, police stations, and fire departments? heh
Click to expand...

Cuts don't work like that. You can't just make big cuts in Police Force and Prison expenditure without great repercussions.
 
electronicmaji said:
Now we've come full circle...

A small applause for you; the main reason the libertarian movement isn't taken seriously.
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So? Radical liberals are socialists. Do you tell them why they're not taken seriously when they call for a 100% income tax on the demoratic underground boards? :p
 
electronicmaji said:
Now we've come full circle...

A small applause for you; the main reason the libertarian movement isn't taken seriously.
Click to expand...

Yeah, taking care of yourself must be hard for some people. Is it hard for you Maji? Taking care of yourself?
 
JosephTheLibertarian said:
So? Radical liberals are socialists. Do you tell them why they're not taken seriously when they call for a 100% income tax on the demoratic underground boards? :p
Click to expand...

I stopped by there from time to time in the past to gauge who was likely to win the Democratic nomination.....either way, seriously, there's people there advocating a 100% income tax?

one thing socialists never understand (most of the time) is how economics works....if there was a 100% income tax no one would do anything, as there'd be 0 incentive to produce anything because the state would take it.
 
Fox McCloud said:
I stopped by there from time to time in the past to gauge who was likely to win the Democratic nomination.....either way, seriously, there's people there advocating a 100% income tax?

one thing socialists never understand (most of the time) is how economics works....if there was a 100% income tax no one would do anything, as there'd be 0 incentive to produce anything because the state would take it.
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Yes, that's what the most radical want. They are crazy.
 
Dr.3D said:
Ron Paul said the use of tariffs was a good idea to replace taxes.
Check this video at 2:50.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7fRWsqLoGA&feature=related

So why are tariffs so bad if they will help us keep our industrial base from being lost?
Click to expand...

He never said it was a good idea. He is saying tariffs are preferable to the personal income tax, which i'm sure most here would agree with. He has also stated he would favor the FairTax over the personal income tax. His only comment about tariffs in that clip was that the government used tariffs before 1913 instead of the income tax. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Edit: Protectionism vs. Liberty - By Ron Paul

Ron Paul said:
Time and time again, history proves that tariffs don’t work.
Click to expand...
 
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