The Texas governor will release a full economic plan next week, but in the meantime he wants to replace America's federal income rates
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling for replacing the federal income tax with a flat tax, a conservative idea long condemned by liberals as a regressive burden on lower- and middle-income taxpayers.
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The Republican presidential hopeful previewed his economic plan for the country at the Western Republican Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, but offered few details. He said he would unveil a proposal next week calling for creation of a flat tax, which would replace the present system of graduated tax rates based on income with a single rate for all taxpayers, regardless of income.
Perry told an audience of about 150 Republicans that his plan would also include a ban on congressional earmarks, passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, spending cuts, and entitlement reform. He plans to unveil details in a speech on Tuesday in South Carolina.
"A change election requires a new direction, and not more of the same," Perry said. "And I come by my conservatism very authentically, not by convenience. I offer the American people a new direction. My economic plan is rooted in what has worked in my home state." He said he would scrap "the current 3 million words of the American tax code" and replace it with "something simple: a flat tax."