SENATE BILL: Atlasian National Tax Reduction Act of 2012 (Failed)

[Kung Fu Kenny]

Gentlemen,

I'd like to speak on behalf of the Atlasian National Tax Reduction Act of 2012.

As with nearly every piece of legislation that carries the weight and significance as one such as this, there will be differing opinions. This is the beautiful thing about Atlasia--people of all ideologies can join together to decide the course of Atlasia's future. It's beautiful. I agree the bill is flawed to some extents, and would be happy to see a compromise struck. The purpose of the bill is to decrease overall taxation of citizens, and to ease the burden on those who just cannot afford to pay a certain percentage of their income. The premise is what I stress: we must decrease taxation for all Atlasians. I understand there are budgetary needs that are dependent upon the intake of national taxes, but we should be willing to cut a bit more from the budget (which, coincidentally, I did introduce a piece of legislation to shred a lot from the budget) in order to make room for a little bit more economic freedom. Taxes are a necessary evil, this is something I agree with, no matter how much I don't want to. But the idea of low taxes is something that appeals to me because we are a capitalist nation. In order to be a capitalist nation, we must at least somewhat attend to the principle of economic freedom and reduced taxation. I thank you all very much for your time and I hope something can be struck in order to make the bill agreeable by senators of all ideologies. Thank you.

[Kung Fu Kenny]

I strongly oppose a flat tax. Now if we were to reduce tax rates for everybody along with spending cuts, I might be open to that. But anything more is a non-starter with me.

Senator, I did introduce a bill to cut massively from the budget to compliment this bill. However, it involves repealing the left's precious baby--the National Healthcare Act. So I hardly believe it will stand a chance of passage.

I am speaking on behalf of this bill as the representative and am in no way reflecting the President's opinion, but I believe that just because you have more, doesn't mean you should have to pay more.

The problem is not that the top 1% don't pay enough taxes, it's that overall, not enough people pay taxes. We are still living in a country in which not everyone pays their taxes. It's another problem that must be addressed.

[Kung Fu Kenny]

Yes, I was referring to tax evasion as a larger problem.

I don't see how you can claim to support both this act and a balanced budget. It simply doesn't make sense.

Well let's see, if I've mentioned at least 5 times now that I introduced a piece of legislation that would act as sort of the second part of this act, then I see no reason why I can't support a balanced budget. The tax cuts are being matched by spending cuts.

[Kung Fu Kenny]

Is there a balanced budget amendment in Atlasia?

Not to my knowledge and I would never support such a measure.

Why not?

There are times when short-term deficit spending is appropriate. I'm not going to support a measure which would cut programs solely to meet an arbitrary target.

In your opinion.

[Kung Fu Kenny]

Government is not an individual. An individual has to work to pay back their loans, but government can just take money from people (coincidentally from that same person trying to pay back their loans) via taxes. I agree with the sentiment, yes, it is sometimes okay for government to spend a little more than it takes in, so long as it does not become a habit nor does it get out of control.

[Kung Fu Kenny]

Senators, I thank you greatly for considering my bill. Despite it's impending failure, it is still an honour.