Chicago businessman wants to scrap the entire federal tax code and go to a national sales tax

04/19/2006 Mt. Pleasant News
Unknown stumps political circuit
by Larry Kershner
News Editor

A Chicago businessman wants to scrap the entire federal tax code and go to a national sales tax.

He wants to create economic opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan hoping to show the people a better way, as opposed to religious ideology.

He wants to see more statesmen back in Washington to replace career politicians.

He wants to be your next U.S. president.

John Cox, tanned and well-tailored, spoke to a small group of interested Mt. Pleasant residents yesterday afternoon at Tazza Bella. He is seeking the nomination of the Republican Party and is on a circuit to hit every county in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina before the summer.

His intent is to raise his name recognition among GOP faithful, find grassroots support to get his name on the primary ballot and get a shot at the U.S. presidency in 2008.

Acknowledging he is an unknown, Cox indicated that it might work in his favor, in that he's not a career politician.

"We are ill-served by career politicians," Cox told seven people at the Mt. Pleasant coffee shop, "because they are interested in polarizing issues in order to retain power, to keep the election machine going to keep their jobs "We need statesmen in Washington who have a calling to see things done for the right reasons and leave the position."

Two of the top guns in the Republican Party, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), would have a tough time in 2008. "How will they stand up to Hilary Clinton in the debates about wild federal spending?" he asked.

A former accountant, Cox said he wants to see the federal tax code trashed and the IRS abolished, and let the federal government live on a national sales tax. He added that a 15 percent national sales tax would not increase prices because businesses and business owners will no longer have to pay income taxes. Through competition, prices would be lowered. And although it may lead to a drop in overall wages, there would still be more take home pay for the average family, Cox reasoned.

To cut spending he'd dismantle the Department of Education. "Why send 30 percent of our tax money to Washington and then have it sent back to us through the education department?" he asked.

The Department of Commerce would also be on his chopping block.

Cox said he supports the U.S. presence in Iraq and the invasion of that country. "I'd rather be fighting terrorists on their turf than on ours," he said. He also predicts that the U.S. may never be completely out of Iraq, but hopes there won't always be an adversarial relationship there.

"We still have troops in Japan and in Germany," Cox said, "and no one thinks anything about that." He said he hopes to see Iraq someday standing with the U.S. as a strong and stable ally.

Cox said the U.S. and its allies in Iraq must begin to help Iraq produce its full capability in oil production. "Iraq leaves millions of dollars on the table every day because it's producing just 30 percent of its capacity.

"That would pay for a whole lot of roads, infrastructure and military. I'd like to see them paying their own way."

In addition, he said he expects that if the people of Iraq and Afghanistan can get a taste of economic prosperity, it would help them shift away from the harsh religious ideology of many of their leaders.

"They are looking for something better," Cox claimed.

On immigration, Cox said the U.S. must retain a documented immigrant worker policy in action. "Our birth rate is lower than our death rate. We need workers," Cox said.

Cox also favors private retirement accounts, as opposed to letting people depend on social security. He said if people are given the chance to take responsibility for their own accounts, then they will be more likely to educate themselves in how stocks and investments work.

In agriculture, Cox said he would work to a gradual phasing out of subsidies, saying they create more problems than they solve, keeping the price of commodities low, while causing the
rents on land to go up, which makes it hard for new farmers to get into, or stay in, the industry.