Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; Fls125; A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That the Flat Tax Is Better Than the Income Tax
- Episode Number
- Fls125
- Producing Organization
- Southern Educational Communications Association
- South Carolina Educational Television Network
- Contributing Organization
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University (Stanford, California)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/514-599z02zw3v
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/514-599z02zw3v).
- Description
- Episode Description
- Among the many tax-reform proposals floating about, one of the most interesting was the flat tax (which, contrary to the formulation of the above Resolution, is indeed an income tax, as opposed to a consumption tax). The version being propounded by Texas Congressman Dick Armey (and developed with the help of the National Center for Policy Analysis) would exempt from taxation the first $36,000 of annual income (for a couple with two children), and then tax all income over the threshold at 20 per cent. Period. No loopholes, no deductions. Mr. Buckley explains why the plan doesn't violate his criterion of equal treatment under the law: "Equal treatment under the law does not forbid amnesties, forbidding only class distinctions negative in character. It is one thing to say that an American who does not earn a living wage should be spared taxation, another to say that those who earn twice or more than twice a living wage should be penalized progressively." Mr. Thurow comes out swinging for the Negative side: "If you had a flat tax, it wouldn't be simpler [than the 1040 short form] because the problem is not deductions, but calculating your income. You are still going to have to calculate professional income,... you are still going to have to calculate your stock gains and losses. And if you look at deductions, a lot of them simply cannot be eliminated completely. Take the medical deduction. My first wife had a very serious illness and died, and I had a couple years when my medical bills were bigger than my total income. You're going to tell me I can't deduct them? ..." The participants have all come bristling with ammunition, and we swing bracingly from statistics to ethics and justice.
- Series Description
- The television series Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. was a venue for debate and discussion on political, social, and philosophical issues with experts of the day. Firing Line broadcasts from 1966 through March 1971 were produced and syndicated by WOR-TV, a commercial station in New York, but some of them were also broadcast on noncommercial television stations. Starting in April 1971, Firing Line broadcasts were produced by the Southern Educational Communications Association, an arm of South Carolina Educational Television. Hoover Institution Library & Archives' Firing Line collection guide can be found at: https://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections/firing-line.
- Date
- 1995-06-06
- Asset type
- Episode
- Genres
- Talk Show
- Topics
- Public Affairs
- Subjects
- United States; income tax; Flat-rate income tax
- Rights
- Copyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
Guest: Brown, Jerry
Guest: Kuttner, Robert
Guest: Buckley, William F., Jr.
Guest: Goodman, John C.
Guest: Du Pont, Pierre S.
Guest: Thurow, Lester C.
Guest: McGovern, George S. (George Stanley)
Guest: Mann, Steven
Host: Buckley, William F., Jr.
Moderator: Kinsley, Michael E.
Producing Organization: Southern Educational Communications Association
Producing Organization: South Carolina Educational Television Network
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Stanford University
Identifier: 80040.1322 (Hoover Institution)
Generation: Proxy
Duration: 2:00:00
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; Fls125; A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That the Flat Tax Is Better Than the Income Tax,” 1995-06-06, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-599z02zw3v.
- MLA: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; Fls125; A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That the Flat Tax Is Better Than the Income Tax.” 1995-06-06. Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-599z02zw3v>.
- APA: Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; Fls125; A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That the Flat Tax Is Better Than the Income Tax. Boston, MA: Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-599z02zw3v