Gross-income

I don't necessarily agree with everything in the book, but I agree with the reviewers that describe this book as a leading contender in the vast array of books which have proven that our tax system (and the federal trough which it fills) is completely out of control and must be shut down as soon as possible.

Once again Martin Gross tells it like it is. The problem with shining light on the truth is that many people can not handle the truth. The author is correct in describing the internal revenue code as being overly complicated, unfair and a tool used by politicians to engage in social restructuring. Entrenched politicians and other beneficiaries of the public dole are rightfully threatened by the information contained in Gross' book.

Gross points out that virtually every tax is unjustifiable and he's right on the money. While Gross argues for trashing the current tax code and implementing a National Sales Tax I would have liked to read the author's view on dumping the tax code and replacing it with a voluntary contribution plan: a plan where participants donate what ever amount they desire to the Federal government. This voluntary donation system works for the non-profit sector there's no reason it wouldn't work for the government sector. Of course this suggestion flies against the established orthodoxy and there are many entrenched parties, benefitting greatly from the current status quo, who don't want to see their "doxy" threatened.

Gross advocates dumping all federal, state and local income taxes to be replaced by a national sales tax. Bravo!!

While nothing gets people more upset than having their hard earned income extorted from them in the form of taxes nothing gets the bureaucrats and beneficiaries of the current tax system more rankled than suggesting that their cash-cow be slaughtered. Its time to realize that one group's golden hen is another's hungry shark. It is time to take the country's "income confiscating beast" to the abattoir.

Martin Gross has penned a masterpiece. It is a "must-read" book which should be placed next to Thomas Paine's "Common Sense". Two thumbs up and a 5 star rating.

Anyone who cares to learn a little about how the biggest mafia in this country operates should read this. I can testify as to the veracity of this book for I am part of the mafia myself.

I read this book in University. Very interesting analysis. An excellent example of unbiased and well-focused economic history.

I bought this book because of the first edition published in 1993, which I used extensively in writing my cases for debate tournaments in high school. As for just regular reading material, I would not recommend it. I can not imagine just reading this book all the way through just for the fun of it, but it does make a great reference for all of those high school debaters out there looking for wasteful programs to cut to fund their cases. Outside of that, I don't see much use for the book.

Martin Gross updates his 93 bestseller with a treasurehouse of new outrages and rock solid statistics. Read this book and then insist on givinig what you've learned to anyone that might listen. Including GWB. Don't bother sharing this with Gore voters. They enjoy being fed a diet of sewage,

Anyone that reads this and comes away sanguine about the rathole of waste and excess in Washington deserves their serfdom.

On another front, do click over to "Transfer" by Jerry Furland. Another honest author toiling in the vineyards for all of us.

Gross identifies stunning, pathetic, and gargantuan excesses by our Federal Government. Worse, he explains in terms that anyone can understand the lies and corruption of Republicans and Democrats alike to "cook the books" in their politically motivated quest to proclaim America has a "balanced budget."

Concrete descriptions of duplicate government programs and massive inefficiencies abound in the book, so much so that examples for less than a billion dollars seem inconsequential. Moreover, Gross explains many of the underlying reasons for government waste and offers various pragmatic solutions for reducing and eliminating the waste without materially impacting public services.

Everyone who votes needs to read this book and then march on Washington, 60's style, and demand massive reforms. And when better than during this, a presidential election year.

The French Revolution was good, right? This book glosses over the atrocities and the reign of terror to praise the accomplishments of the Jacobins... It makes them out to be less than radical egalitarians, because it conveniently ignores the Jacobin ideology at its extreme.

I instead recommend Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith.

For the past three decades the history of the French Revolution has been dominated by revisionism. Often strongly critical of the revolution, much revisionism insistently invokes the terror of the Year II. Yet surprisingly little revisionism is about the Jacobin Republic. It is the surpreme value of Jean Gross' book that it provides a detailed discussion of the difficulties and achievements of the the years 1793-94. One is struck by its plentiful archival research, in marked contrast to much recent revisionist work. Much of our image of the Terror concentrates on the grand terror in Paris, and such horrors as the destruction of Lyon, the bloody surpression of the Vendee and the mass drownings at Nantes. Yet this crimes cannot be considered the core of Jacobinism, or even typical. Gross concentrates on the hard working deputies such as Romme, Paganol, Saint-Andre. In contrast to the vague view that the Jacobins were proto-Stalinist fanatics, Gross reminds us of their place in the geneology of liberal democracy. By looking at such matters at rehabilitation, land reform, progressive taxation, food rationing, a burgeoning welfare state and plans for compulsory education, Gross shows how Jacobins tried to make a difference. Although confounded by the traumas of war, the everpresent fiscal crisis, and the Thermidorean reaction, Gross does reveal some genuine improvement. More important Gross makes clear that the Jacobins were not fanatical egalitarians, but believers in fairness. Contrary to conservative cant, Jacobins believed not in equality of outcome, but in equality in opportunity. But they were well aware you cannot have the second if society is wealth is radically maldistributed and hierarchial. This is an important book all those with an interest in the French revolution should read.