Word: systemically
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Shah systematically dismantled the judicial system of Iran and the country's guarantees of personal and social liberties. His regime consistently violated the codes of law and justice, destroying the dignity of our people by treating them like backward savages to be pulled with an iron hand out of the middle ages into the light of the modern era. Nearly every source of creative, artistic and intellectual endeavor in our culture was suppressed...
...just come up with a new one that's bound to give Americans more than a nose bleed. He has gotten together with Al Ullman--the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee--to propose a value added tax (VAT) which could drastically change the American tax system...
...only is the VAT regressive--it is also very complicated. In Europe it has earned a reputation for simplicity only because it replaced a vastly more complex system of business turnover taxes. But in the United States experts predict that the VAT will force businessmen to spend much more time keeping their ledgers in order. By creating more paperwork, the VAT may push marginally profitable enterprises out of business...
Unfortunately, Russell Long cannot see beyond regressive taxation as a means to solve America's economic problems. The Louisiana Senator makes no attempt to hide his disdain for equitable taxes. Asked what he thought of the American income tax system, Long replied: "I think it is progressive to the point of being counter-productive." He prefers emulation Louis XIV by extracting onerous "taillies" from lower and middle income people. The VAT's hidden character may seem appealing to politicians, but its regressive nature will certainly prove costly to most Americans...
...Since the imminent deportation proceedings are meant expressly as a means of exerting political pressure on a foreign government and hence are unrelated to any permanent concern over the proper enforcement of the immigration laws, they represent a classic case of bending the legal system to suit the prevailing political mood...