Money bill causes controversy

A bill introduced earlier this year in the House of Representatives has recently caused a huge stir.

Despite reports of a vote planned on Nov. 23 a vote on HR 4646 did not occur as Congress was out for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Yet while the bill introduced by Rep. Chaka Fattah referred to as the Debt Free America Act does not appear to have much support if any at all.

Fattah’s bill, which is yet to get any co-sponsors, was introduced to raise enough revenue from a fee on financial transactions to eliminate the national debt within seven year as well as phase out the individual income tax.

To do this Fattah’s bill proposed a one-percent fee on transactions that use a payment instrument – check, cash, credit card, transfer of stock, bonds, or other financial instrument.

This tax would be placed on all retail and wholesale sales, purchases of intermediate goods as well as financial and intangible transactions.

Florida’s First District Congressman Jeff Miller does not feel the bill stands a change of making it out of committee.

“The bill has failed to attract support of any other members of Congress to sign on as co-sponsors and has not moved through the committee,” Miller said. “It is not scheduled to be voted on in this Congress and it certainly will not pass a Republican Congress next year.”

Miller’s office in Washington, D.C., pointed out the attention the bill has received on the Internet is much more than it has received in the U.S. House.

Rep. Fattah introduced his bill back on Feb. 23 and it has remained in the House Ways and Means Committee without any date planned for it to be discussed.

The bill was also sent to the committees on the Budget, Rules, and Appropriations which have also failed to take any action.

Currently the U.S. National Debt is estimated at $13.8 trillion dollars as of Nov. 20.