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Fred Thompson on Taxes and Budget

The federal government is largely funded by a diversity of different taxes on income and commerce. The relationship between taxes and federal budget is very intimate and historically democrats and republicans have split on how to manage the relationship. This topic includes information about candidate positions on: raising, reducing, and eliminating certain taxes, a federal flat-tax system, and balancing the federal budget.

The issues

Fred Thompson opposes an increase in taxes for the wealthiest Americans

Thompson says, "We need to reject taxes that punish rather than reward success. Those who say they want a "more progressive" tax system should be asked one question: Are you really interested in tax rates that benefit the economy and raise revenue--or are you interested in redistributing income for political reasons?"

The Fred Factor, by Steve Gill, p.166-169 Jun 3, 2007

Taxes are necessary. But they don't make the country any better off. At best they simply move money from the private sector to the government. But taxes are also a burden on production, because they discourage people from investing & taking risks. Some economists have calculated that today each additional $1 collected by the government, by raising income-tax rates, makes the private sector as much as $2 worse off. To me this means one simple thing: tax rates should be as low as possible.

Speech to Lincoln Club Annual Dinner, Orange County CA May 4, 2007

Fred Thompson supports tax cuts for middle-class families

"We need lower taxes, and we need to let taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars they know best where and how to spend them."

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Fred Thompson strongly supports a Constitutional amendment that would require Congress and the President to balance the budget each year

Voted YES on balanced-budget amendment

S. J. Res. 1; Bill S. J. Res. 1 ; vote number 1997-24 on Mar 4, 1997

Fred Thompson opposes a flat tax system across income levels

"There've been a lot of proposals out there, the fair tax plan and some variations of that, the flat tax plan and some variations of that -- all have theirs advantages and all have their disadvantages. It's clear that no one side is going to be able to push over all the other sides to get what they consider to be their perfect plan implemented. We're going to have to come together with a combination of things, I think, at the same time and the end result has got to be something that's much simpler and less complicated and is not disadvantageous in the international markets. Our companies are (dropped word) competitively with foreign companies because our tax code is fixed the way it is. We're disadvantaged in the international marketplace."

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Fred Thompson strongly supports eliminating taxes on estates after an individual's death

Repeatedly voted for repeal of "death tax"

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Fred Thompson strongly supports the elimination of the marriage penalty which more greatly taxes couples with similar incomes

Voted YES on eliminating marriage penalty

Bill HR.4810 ; vote number 2000-215 on Jul 18, 2000

Fred Thompson supports the elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax

Generally speaking, lower taxes and lower tax rates grow the economy. It's been proven in the '20s, it was proven during the Kennedy administration, proven during the Reagan administration, and again during this administration. I would apply that same principle to the AMT. It ought to be phased out. It think the responsible thing to do, though, until we get a handle on our mandatory spending side of the ledger is to index it for inflation and fix it for another year while we look at the budget in total.

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Fred Thompson supports the reduction of taxes on capital gains

"The Club for Growth is committed to lower taxes-especially lower tax rates- across the board. Lower taxes on work, savings, and investments lead to greater levels of these activities, thus encouraging greater economic growth. Over his eight years in the Senate, Fred Thompson generally supported broad-based tax cuts while opposing tax increases. These include: Voted for the 2001 Bush tax cuts Voted for repeal of the Death Tax Voted for capital gains tax cuts

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