Category Archives: Fair Tax

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

Chambliss, Woodall Advance FairTax Legislation

This is good news. A small step forward. But it is a step forward. It brings the FairTax to a place in the legislative process that it has never been before. Many thanks sponsors Chambliss and Woodall and to the thousands of FairTax advocates throughout the country. Our work is finally beginning to pay off. Emphasis on beginning.

For Immediate Release:

Chambliss, Woodall Call for FairTax Consideration

Send letter to Joint Committee on Taxation

 

WASHINGTON- Today, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga-7, asked the Joint Committee on Taxation to produce a revenue estimate of H.R. 25 and S. 13, the FairTax bill. This estimate will allow the FairTax to be considered during congressional negotiations for tax reform.

Chambliss and Woodall have long urged Congress to support the FairTax legislation, which would implement a simpler, less-cumbersome tax code. Chambliss and Woodall have sponsored legislation in both the House and the Senate.

“The current tax code has become too burdensome and complex, and is filled with provisions that benefit only a few Americans at the expense of everyone else. That’s simply not right,” said Chambliss. “Now is the time to enact the FairTax, which would create a fairer, simpler tax code that allows every American the freedom to determine his or her own priorities and opportunities.”

“No matter what they do, honest, hardworking Americans are punished under our current tax code. Pass the FairTax, and we can unshackle America’s job creators and jump start this economy. Pass the FairTax, and we can reward all Americans who contribute to our economy—not just those who can afford the best tax lawyers and accountants,” Woodall said. “We, as a nation, can do better than relying on a tax code that picks winners and losers. Let’s level the playing field with the FairTax and restore more freedom to our economy, not more government.”

The FairTax would shift the federal government’s method of revenue collection from income to personal consumption. It would repeal all federal personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, self-employment taxes, capital gains taxes and gift and estate taxes, and would replace those with a revenue-neutral, personal consumption tax on all retail sales of new goods and services.

Text of the letter is below: Continue reading Chambliss, Woodall Advance FairTax Legislation →

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

Action Alert, Time For Bold Tax Reform

Tax reform is, like it was last election season, and the one before that etc., once again on the minds of politicians in Washington. But for very different reasons than why it is on our mind.

We see the current IRS code as an impediment to starting or building a business and/or providing for our family. They see it as a means to get re-elected.  I’m on the side of the people, not the government.

There is a way to fund the government that simultaneously promotes our personal and national economy. And not just for one class, but for every class. It’s called the FairTax as represented in legislation H.R. 25 in the House and S.13 in the Senate.

There are 80 Representatives and Senators that are on the side of the people. But that’s not near enough to bring the FairTax to fruition. The time is now, more than ever, to speak up. Let your Senators and Representative know that you want bold tax reform. Not more tax deform. You want the FairTax.

Contact Link

Links: FairTax.org | FairTax FAQ  | Senate Bill S. 13  |  House Bill H.R. 25

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

President Obama Gets His Wish For Input On Taxes

The administration’s position on taxes is clear. Higher taxes are more important than higher revenue. The mixing of ‘fairness’ to economic principles is counter-productive. The President rejects out-of-hand ‘dynamic scoring’ despite evidence that from a purely economic standpoint, it is what happens in real life.

Whenever the President has his political back against the wall, he talks a good game. He says how open he is to advice on taxes from all areas, all industries, and all citizens. Two weeks before the election, on the campaign trail and with NBC’s Brian Williams, President Obama said “You know me, I say what I mean, and I mean what I say.”  This is his chance to prove that his word is his bond.

This challenge is made by Mr. Kerry Bowers,  a man I know to be an expert on not only how the FairTax works and how much better it is for the economy, working people, and business than the current IRS code, but he can explain it in a way understandable to the economically savvy and economically challenged among us, including President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Speaker John Boehner.

Please distribute this video to your federal representatives, news media, politically connected groups and people, and suggest to them that this meeting take place.

The FairTax will fuel economic recovery and economic stability like no other proposal out there. And it will do it without increasing the debt. It will eliminate the FUD factor, the anchor dragging the economy and killing jobs along the way. It will effectively un-tax the poor and increase economic upward mobility from poor to middle, and middle to upper class. It will put in to action what the President says he wants. Which is, to restore the American Dream.

Links: FairTax.org | FairTax FAQ

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

The Right Way To Tax

If there is one thing in Washington for which there is bi-partisan support, it is the necessity to fund the government by taxing businesses and people. Here’s the question. Could there be a way to fund the government by bringing in the same dollar amount as the current tax code, ie revenue neutral, in a way that would stimulate, not depress, economic activity?

Here are seven informative FairTax videos that answer that question. Each one shows the benefits of the FairTax compared to the current IRS tax code. The last one features Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. Continue reading The Right Way To Tax →

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

The FairTax Generates More Revenue

The Americans for Fair Taxation (AFFT) issued this press release (below). Aside from the economic stimulus that the FairTax would provide all on its own, without special government subsidies or more deficit spending, the revenue stream coming into the federal government is more stable than under the current abortion of the IRS tax code.

The IRS depends on your payroll taxes to fund the federal government. The more people find themselves out of work, the tax base shrinks further, the less revenue the government gets and the more debt the government acquires, adding to the burden of current and future generations of Americans.

By contrast, when all the federal tax categories you pay are eliminated and replaced with the progressive consumption-based FairTax, that revenue stream to the federal government is not exclusively tied to employment. The result is the largest tax base humanly possible and a more stable income stream.

When you hear, like you may have heard yesterday, that consumer spending increased ‘more than expected’ (by a laughable one half of one percent) you should also understand that it translates to increased revenue to the federal government. When the tax burden is spread out over everyone instead of to only those who are lucky enough to still have a job, we reach the fairness that the administration claims they want without penalizing the people who have the ability to create jobs.

Special note to FairTax supporters in the Florida Panhandle. I have a quantity of 4ft. by 8ft. FairTax signs that are FREE to anyone who has a good location (high-traffic area) to display them. Let me know if you want one. This is what it looks like.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: James Lafferty
(703) 931-­‐2324
jameslafferty@usa.net

Americans Frustrated Watching Tax Policymakers Play “Ground Hog Day”
Washington, DC – Americans for Fair Taxation (AFFT) released today revenue
estimates that the FairTax, a national sales tax, would have collected far more
federal revenue in 2009 and 2010 than the current income tax based system.
The estimates demonstrate that FairTax-generated revenues for 2009 would have been $171 billion more than the IRS revenue and in 2010; the FairTax would have generated $267 billion more.

AFFT provided the data to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or
Super Committee recently and is releasing it to the public today.

“ Watching Washington tax policymakers churn a few well-worn and ineffective
ideas to come up with the same disappointing results is like watching the movie
‘Ground Hog Day’, except this is real life not a movie” said AFFT Chairman and
Co-Founder Leo E. Linbeck, Jr.

“No wonder the American people are so frustrated! Some in Washington want to
adjust and tinker with the current sclerotic system but working Americans are
ready to throttle it and them and start fresh. The time for reform is over. We need to be seeking replacement.

“The FairTax is a hybrid within the range of consumption tax alternatives— more
transparent, simpler and it returns the power to determine how much tax is paid to the American people.

“We believe it addresses the nearly $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction the
congressional deficit committee is charged with making, and responds to the nearly $4 trillion in cuts offered by Democrats and other partisan issues.

The FairTax projections are based on a 23 percent tax inclusive rate of taxation as proscribed in the Fair Tax legislation (HR 25/S 13).

The estimates were provided by David Tuerck, Chairman of the Economics
Department and Executive Director of the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk
University in Boston.

“Because revenues from a consumption tax are always more stable over the
business cycle than revenues from an income tax, it stands to reason that the
FairTax would have reduced the deficit in recent years, had it been in place,” said
Tuerck.

Formed in 1995, AFFT is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots organization
dedicated to replacing the current tax system with a progressive national retail
sales tax.

(For a copy of the FairTax data go to www.fairtax.org or call 703-931-2324)

2012 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

The Time For Bold Tax Reform Has Come

1 Comment

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave the government the authority to tax people’s income (up to 100% of it), was sold to the public as only taxing the rich. Sound familiar?

By 1913, 36 States had ratified the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. In October, Congress passed a new income tax law with rates beginning at 1 percent and rising to 7 percent for taxpayers with income in excess of $500,000. Less than 1 percent of the population paid income tax at the time.

Americans Paying Zero Federal Income Tax Grows

There is a growing number of Americans who pay zero federal income tax after taking advantage of deductions and credits.  This, a result of morphing the income tax system into spending programs during the Clinton administration. The number of Americans in this group has increased by 35%. Up from 43.4 million people in the 2006 tax year to 58.6 million in the 2009 tax year.   No doubt due to record unemployment and more wealth-spreading going on.

Prior to The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, tax relief was generally given in the form of lower tax rates or increased deductions or exemptions. But the 1997 Act  launched the modern proliferation of individual tax credits and refundable credits that are in essence spending programs operating through the tax system.

Large Number of Non-Payers Make Tax Reform Difficult

Federal tax reform requires that the base of the federal income tax be widened, so that overall tax rates can be reduced. However, because of the large number of Americans currently paying zero federal income tax, any attempt to broaden the tax base will be a difficult sell for lawmakers. The millions of Americans who have no federal income tax liability will either be indifferent about tax reform or will positively oppose it, as it would require bringing them into the federal tax base.

When more people don’t pay taxes than pay taxes under the current system, why would anyone think that these non-payers would vote for anyone who would make them pay a ‘fair’ share? Similar problems are bankrupting European countries over benefits. Reforms there means taking benefits away.

These findings raise serious questions about the future of the U.S. income tax system, and the possibility of base-broadening tax reform when the majority of the federal tax burden is borne by a shrinking pool of taxpayers.

I got your base-broadening tax reform right here. It’s called the FairTax and it is what ‘Phase 2’ of Herman Cain’s economic plan is all about. It broadens the tax base from 140 million people to every living human being within the borders of the United States. Under the FairTax, the tax base includes our population of 320 million, plus foreign tourists, diplomats, and illegal aliens. You can’t get a broader tax base nor a better stimulus for job creation, economic growth, personal economic security and national economic security.

2012 Election, Economy, Energy, Fair Tax, Media, Middle East, Politics, Race Relations, Supreme Court, War On Terror

Herman Cain At The National Press Club

The Politico article about two un-named women who claimed that Herman Cain directed ‘inappropriate behavior’ at them immediately cast a huge cloud over his possible presidential future.

After addressing that issue today at the National Press Club’s luncheon, it seems to me that Cain knocked it out of the park as a non-issue. Not only did he knock that one out, but he explained his plans for his administration regarding the economy, foreign relations, and everything else very well.

That said, here is Cain’s date with the National Press Club. For walking into the media’s house and answering all the tough questions squarely, I think he handled himself and his campaign chances very well.

As for the actions of Politico, they are just showing their colors.

2012 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Phase 2, The FairTax

If the mainstream media could ignore Herman Cain’s economic plan any more, I can’t imagine how. From the questions asked at the Bloomberg so-called debate about economic plans, you would think that Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan was just a nine percent tax. When in real life, the 9-9-9- tax plan is the bridge to converting to the FairTax.

We get there in two stages. Phase one is the 9-9-9 taxing structure, which also ends the payroll tax, capital gains tax, the death tax, and the elimination of double taxation of dividends. And by the stroke of a pen, it also eliminates the fear, uncertainty, and doubt caused by our current tax policies and the politicians in Washington. The economic impact is immediate, and sets the stage for the permanent, more stimulative, and more progressive ‘FairTax’ method of funding the government.

That there are two stages is out of necessity. The FairTax requires more time to educate the public of its benefits to them and to the country. It is Phase One that will get us going sooner than later, and in due course it will be replaced by the FairTax.

The FairTax is the best long-term solution to funding the government in a business friendly, pro economic growth, pro job growth environment than anything ever tried in the United States. It is the bold reform that we need.

Update: 10/16/2001

2012 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Media, Politics

Phase 2, The FairTax

If the mainstream media could ignore Herman Cain’s economic plan any more, I can’t imagine how. From the questions asked at the Bloomberg so-called debate about economic plans, you would think that Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan was just a nine percent tax. When in real life, the 9-9-9- tax plan is the bridge to converting to the FairTax.

We get there in two stages. Phase one is the 9-9-9 taxing structure, which also ends the payroll tax, capital gains tax, the death tax, and the elimination of double taxation of dividends. It also eliminates the fear, uncertainty, and doubt caused by our current tax policies and the politicians in Washington. The economic impact is immediate, and sets the stage for the permanent, more stimulative, and more progressive ‘FairTax’ method of funding the government.

That there are two stages is out of necessity. The FairTax requires more time to educate the public of its benefits to them and to the country. It is Phase One that will get us going sooner than later, and in due course it will be replaced by the FairTax.

The FairTax is the best long-term solution to funding the government in a business friendly environment than anything ever tried in the United States. It is the bold reform that we need.