Jerry Brown is advocating the most comprehensive tax refonn plan that has been seriously proposed by a presidential candidate in modern times. The plan would abolish the Social Security (FICA) payroll tax, the corporate income tax and about two-thirds of federal excise taxes, replacing these taxes with a 13 percent Value-Added Tax (V AT).
In his State of the Union message, President Bush proposed a new tax package which he said would promote economic growth and create jobs. With unusual assertiveness, he gave Congress one month to enact his package.
As part of his new health care plan, President Bush announced his goal for health insurance reform: sick people should be able to obtain health insurance for the same price as healthy people. If you knew you could buy health insurance after you become sick for the same price charged to the healthy, there would be no reason to purchase it while you were healthy. Only sick people would buy it and premiums would be exorbitant.