Question:
Hi, My name is Derek. I am 20 years old and live in Olathe. I agree with you on all of your principles you have posted on your website. I do have two things I would like to know.

First, what is your opinion of the 16th amendment? If a proposal to replace the 16th amendment with a flat tax or the fair tax or repeal the Amendment all together, what would your vote be?

Second, would you be in favor of an Amendment that would use checks and balances to encourage congress to balance the budget? There is a proposal by the CATO Institute for a "Balanced Budget Veto Amendment." This amendment would give the president a line-item veto authority over spending for one year, if the prior year's budget is unbalanced. This amendment would allow the president to cut down spending, while giving congress the incentive to balance the budget themselves. This would also encourage tax cuts, for the president would not vote for a tax increase if it meant he would loose his line-item veto power. There is a presentation on it at their website http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1346

Thanks so much!

Patricia's Answer:
Dear Derek,

That's so much for your questions. I appreciate the time you took to write. I will answer these one at a time.

Regarding your first question regarding the 16th Amendment, obviously it is required in order to have an income tax. As such, in order to have a flat tax, which is an income tax, it would still need to be in effect. If we were to have the "Fair Tax", we would need to repeal the 16th Amendment in order to prevent a future taxing of both income and consumption.

I strongly support tax reform, and remain open to all proposals which achieve the goal of lower, simpler, and fairer taxes over both the short and long term. The current tax code is entirely too burdensome on both businesses and individuals, both in terms of time and cost. This ends up discouraging the creation of new businesses and thus new jobs, right when we need to encourage economic growth.

The process -- and cost -- of tax compliance should be a simple one. In the short term, I support tax relief for both individuals and families and believe we must resist any further tax increases. For the long term, I believe we must look at all proposals for achieving long term economic growth which will allow all Kansans to keep more of what they earn.

As for your second question, I do support further efforts to increase checks and balances. I strongly support giving the President a Line Item Veto -- not just in cases where the budget is unbalanced, but in all cases. Though our current President likes to spend, I believe we need to equip a future Republican President with that tool for eliminating wasteful spending.

I also support a Balanced Budget Amendment. In the mid-90's, this effort failed by just one vote in the Senate, shortly after Republicans took control of Congress. Given the astronomical deficits we are currently seeing, I believe the time has never been more right to revisit this issue.

Of course, we will not get there without significant changes in Congress in order to pass any of the legislation we are talking about there. As you know, Dennis Moore is on the tax-and-spend side on each of these issues. I encourage you to get involved with my campaign to help ensure we do our part here in the 3rd District.

Thanks so much,
Patricia