Could a lightbulb be coming on ?

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/flat-tax.html


Schwarzenegger suggests state consider flat tax 
12:56 PM | June 5, 2009
Could the flat tax come to California?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that he would like to see such 
“radical” proposals come out of a commission now studying an overhaul of 
the state’s tax system. The governor told the editorial board of the 
Sacramento Bee that he hoped the commission would not be afraid to 
propose something like “a 15%  straight tax.”

“That’s the kind of radical, daring kind of a proposal that I want to 
see on the table so we can look at it and say, ‘Oh, let’s study this, 
maybe that is the way to go,’ ” Schwarzenegger said during the 
discussion, which was webcast.

The current system, based on highly unstable income tax revenue that 
fluctuates with the economy, “doesn’t work,” Schwarzenegger said.

Advocates of a flat tax, which applies a single tax rate to all income, 
say it increases compliance with the tax codes because it is so simple 
and easy to understand. But opponents dislike that it taxes the wealthy 
at the same rates as the poor.

Steve Forbes and Jerry Brown both pushed for it during their 
presidential campaigns.

Schwarzenegger said he was concerned that the commission might be too 
timid in what it suggests and rule things out in advance thinking that 
either Democrats or Republicans would object.

 “I hope and I pray that they don’t think they have to make a political 
decision,” he said.

-- Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento 

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