1Declaration: Free Markets, Free People, Free Minds

"A great article on the importance of the Fair Tax."

Sunday, November 16, 2008
By: Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff

Hopefully election results won't kill national sales tax movement

Democrats have won both the executive and legislative branches of government. They will pursue a vastly different national agenda in the next four years.

Sadly, that risks putting several important agenda items on the back burner. One of them is the Fair Tax.

A proposed 23-cent national sales tax, the Fair Tax would replace the current federal system of taxation -- meaning no income tax and no Social Security tax.

That means power to the people, because, first of all, they get their entire paycheck. Secondly, they determine the amount of tax they pay by the decisions they make on their purchases.

The Fair Tax also contains a feature called a "prebate" -- money that would wipe out federal taxes completely for those at or below the poverty line.

Ironically, even as Democrats who have not quite warmed up to the idea are set to take control of both Congress and the White House, a new benefit of the Fair Tax has arrived: If taxpayers received more of their paycheck in take-home pay, they would be more equipped to make their mortgage payments. So perhaps fewer Americans would be losing their homes to foreclosure.

That's just one example of what the Fair Tax could do by empowering people to have more control over more of their money.

And just imagine how much more luminous and fragrant the spring would be if you didn't have wrestle the IRS every April! And guess what that wrestling match costs Americans every year: $265 billion in tax preparation costs.

That alone is cause for dumping tea in Boston Harbor.

It's too bad that some have demagogued the Fair Tax, especially at election time. It's not a tax increase; it's tax reform of the best kind, because it shifts power from Washington to the people.

The Fair Tax is so-called because it brings the underground economy into the light, and closes the many loopholes the powerful exploit to avoid taxation. Moreover, experts predict it will prompt offshore assets to flow back to the United States. Why? Because they would no longer need to hide from the long nose of the IRS.

Philosophically it's a winner, too, because it shifts taxation from industriousness and production to consumption. Such a reward of hard work and investment would be just the thing a struggling economy such as ours could really use.

Talk about a stimulus package! And this stimulus wouldn't cost money.

It's an awful shame that such a partisan shroud has fallen down around the Fair Tax. On Nov. 16, at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, there will be a Fair Tax "Truth" rally to clear up some of the lies and distortions about the Fair Tax featuring GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, nationally syndicated radio host Neil Boortz and U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss as guest speakers, among others.

This isn't a Republican or Democratic idea. Fact is, it's a grass-roots movement that has been catching steam in recent years. What a tragedy it would be if Nov. 4 were to sap the energy out of the movement.

We can't let that happen, and certainly not now. The Fair Tax has too much potential to lift the economy out of the doldrums, stimulate manufacturing and labor, and keep people in their homes.

Neither is this a matter of impulsiveness. The Fair Tax has been debated, researched and vetted by prominent and knowledgeable economists, business people and other leaders. It's a system that would work, because it would once again allow American wage earners to keep what they earn and spend it as they see fit.

That's smart. That leads to prosperity.

And it's the definition of fair.

Original piece posted at http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/111608/edi_483652.shtml

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.--Ayn Rand

Modern US politics is all about pandering to certain groups based on different demographics whether they be Christians, Jews, blacks, Hispanics, women, men, fathers, mothers, and the list can go on from there. The idea behind this pandering is making these groups feel like they are victims of some social injustice, some rightly and some wrongly, and then make promises to fix the alleged injustice that has occurred or is occurring against them to garner their support in an upcoming election. In no way am I saying that any or all of these groups do not suffer some sort of discrimination for other individuals or groups, just simply making a point about modern US politics.

Often times politicians will even play one group off of another to gain the favor of another demographic. Care to take a guess? Give up, well I am talking about class warfare, blaming the rich for the problems of the poor. This is the most heinous and dangerous form of political positioning and pandering today in contemporary American politics.

The tactic of making victims of certain groups is a tool that is most often used by the left in this country and to a lesser extent Republicans. In either case it is wrong. But the one commonality between the pandering to specific demographic groups is the neglecting of individuals in society.

Individuals are the smallest minority in the world as every person is unique. But individuals are the most neglected minority in the United States. Lets take a brief look at some of the policies of this country.

1. Tax System: Individuals who work hard, work two or three jobs, and have success are persecuted by higher tax rates. I am not in favor of a regressive form of taxation and those who have the ability to pay should pay but taxing productivity, hardwork and success is counterproductive which is the reason I favor the Fair Tax. Politicians like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have promised the poor higher taxes on those individuals who have success for the purposes of redistributing income. With the FairTax politicians will no longer be able to do this.
   
2. Nationalized Health Care: Once again instead of favoring policies that will remove regulations that push the cost of health insurance out of reach of many Americans, many politicians favor punishing individuals who have achieved success through higher taxes for the purpose of buying the votes of the uninsured. They have made these people believe they are victims of corporate greed instead of governmental over-regulation.
3. Affirmative Action: This is a policy that I believe to be totally backward in thinking. How are you ever going to solve a problem like racial or sexual discrimination if you continually focus on those characteristics? Instead of promoting individual achievement and inspiring the individuals of these groups to take a stand to overcome, politicians continually make victims of these groups. Individuals who have achieved success such as Clarence Thomas, Jessie Lee Peterson, and the like who do not buy into the constant victimization of these groups are then ostracized for their positions. If this is not a clear demonstration of discrimination against individuals I do not know what else will convince you.

Individuals are constantly discriminated against. Individual choice is often refused by the argument of immorality. Drug use, abortion, the definition of marriage, and the like all fall into this category. While many including myself may not agree with every choice of individuals these are not the business of government.

I eagerly await the day when a politician comes forward and stops making victims of certain groups like Democrats and Republicans, but I more eagerly await the day when politicians adopt policies that do not hinder individual Liberty by punishing success or limiting what they may deem immoral that does not affect the rights of others. This is why I am a Libertarian.

People are victims of their own accord through poor decision making, laziness, or following leaders who place them into this category. Individuals have the ability to overcome anything through sound decisions, hard work, dedication to success, and by standing up for themselves.

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.--Ayn Rand

Every Presidential election is about a new and fair tax plan for the country. Some Presidents prefer to increase taxes, some prefer to increase taxes, while others do little to nothing to change the current tax structure. The current tax structure to say the least is very difficult to understand and has well over 75,000 pages of regulations and the size of the tax policy is not likely to get smaller or simpler anytime soon unless Libertarian Bob Barr gets elected and gets the Fair Tax passed or Congress see's the light.

The Obama tax proposal overall will force $131 income redistribution from the top 1% of income payers to the lower 99%.

While many Americans may cheer this outcome as just or equitable, this sort of direct redistribution raises some important questions that should be part of a larger national discussion:

• What is the long-term effect on the economy of so few households shouldering such a large share of the tax burden?
• What are the consequences for our democratic system when a majority of Americans are disconnected from the full cost of government? Will that majority demand more from the government because they bear little of the cost?
• Should the tax system be used as a means of redistributing income or simply as a neutral mechanism for raising money for government services? Can a tax system premised on redistribution also be compatible with economic growth?
• The Obama plan assumes little behavioral change from such a large tax hike on high-income workers. Is this realistic or will the higher rates encourage tax minimization strategies and reduced work effort, which will lead to lower tax revenues?

The Tax Policy Center has done the public a service by putting hard numbers on the candidates' tax plans and bringing a dose of reality to the political rhetoric. While it is easy for the press and voters to consider only "What's in it for me?," there are larger issues raised by these findings that deserve more public discussion.

Many will not have a problem with the government forcefully taking more money from the rich and giving to the poor but I for one have major contention with this issue. Taking more money from the rich and giving it to the poor will result in greater oppression of upper income families and their equal rights under the law. This is not the ideal of a free society. This is a similar course of the Communists in Soviet Russia, Fascists in Nazi Germany, Communists in Castro's Cuba, and the dictators of the Middle East.

When people become further disconnected from the cost of government they demand more from their government without concern for the impacts on their liberties. A government with the capacity to give you everything is a government that has the capacity to take every freedom away.

Not to mention the negative impact economically on our country from continued high corporate tax rates which hinder the development of job growth, foster the transfer of business overseas, and keep trillions of dollars of assets out of the American economy in overseas tax shelters.

If America ever hopes to regain the foundations of freedoms dreamed by the founding fathers and prescribed in the Constitution we need to pass the Fair Tax immediately. To find out more on the Fair Tax you can view my series from March and April of 2008 or visit FairTax.org. The Fair Tax will promote economic growth and job growth not seen in the history of the United States and that would rival China's growth. People would not longer be taxed for working harder or having higher goals.

The income and payroll taxes are not the mark of a free society. The current "heavy progressive or graduated income tax system" takes its founding from none other than Karl Marx, the founder of Communist ideology, as written in the Communist Manifesto. This is the second step of ten to form a Communist state. Wouldn't he be proud?

-----------------------------

To read the rest of the article on Barak Obama's dangerous tax plan visit The Tax Foundation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I think the terror most people are concerned with is the IRS. "
-Malcolm Forbes, when asked if he was afraid of terrorism

A little confusion seems to be out their with the Fair Tax so I will do a brief recap of the Fair Tax. The information is widely available for FairTax.org and numerous books.

The Fair Tax or HR 25 is a complete replacement of the current tax code. The Fair Tax will repeal all payroll, income, savings, investment, estate, gift, and death taxes. The Fair Tax is a 23% federal sales tax on the final purchase of any new item or service. Used items or items produced in the home are untaxed. The Fair Tax does not change any current government program like Social Security or Medicare. The only thing that changes are how taxes are collected.

Under the Fair Tax productivity and hard work are no longer penalized as taxes are no longer based off of your income. Likewise people are free to save and invest without paying taxes on the interest or resulting income from a stock, CD, or other investment related transaction.

Under the Fair Tax you will receive your full paycheck.

The Prebate:

Under the Fair Tax every citizen in the United States will receive a prebate each month to cover the taxes on spending up to the poverty level. The prebate is dependent only on family size and the current poverty level rate as determined by the Dept. of Health and Human Services (In some cases the poverty level is also dependent upon the state of residence). The prebate will be adjusted for the rate of inflation yearly in accordance with inflation changes by the poverty level.

Under that Fair Tax your income is not reported to the federal government. The only thing reported is your employment status by the company of employment to determine Social Security status.

To clarify. The Fair Tax prebate is not based on income. A single person with no children will receive $196 per month no matter their level of income. To the prebate size you would receive each month please visit FairTax.org prebate levels.

Since taxation is based on spending, those who spend more will pay more. If you don't spend above the poverty level you don't pay. A family that spends twice the poverty level will have a tax rate of 11.5 percent. As spending increases the rate of taxation will increase until the rate reaches 23% because of the prebate. Taxation is totally voluntary under the Fair Tax. Because of the prebate the Fair Tax is a progressive tax.

I hope this recap clarifies some misconceptions that have popped up about the Fair Tax.

Well I got too busy yesterday and really just forgot but I hope you had a Happy Tax Free Day. Yesterday was the first day of the year where you finished paying your federal income taxes and began earning your money. That's right! Up until yesterday April 23rd you were working to pay your taxes for the year.

If that makes you feel good I hate to think what makes you feel terrible.

With the Fair Tax you have the decision when and who to pay taxes to. If you don't like what the government is doing, stop spending. If you like what they are doing spend more. If you can't afford taxes you won't pay as long as you live within your means.

To find out how to change the tax system please review my blog or go to FairTax.org.

Hope is just a desire. Change can happen, but you have to make it happen.

On Sunday 24 February 2008 this article written by Laurence J Kotlikoff appeared in the Boston Globe. Mr. Kotlikoff is an economic professor at Boston University, consultant to the Americans for Fair Taxation and economic consultant to former Democratic Presidential nominee and now Libertarian Mike Gravel

***************************

Such a candidate would be hailed by the left and reviled by the right.

Thus, it’s remarkable that so many Democrats, with the exception of Presidential candidate Mike Gravel, oppose the FairTax and so many Republicans, particularly presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, support it. In fact, the FairTax, which replaces all federal taxes with a federal retail sales tax and provides a rebate, represents a way to tax wealth, reduce taxes on wages, and disproportionately redistribute money to the poor.

A sales tax effectively taxes wealth?

It does. When we buy goods and services with our wealth in a sales tax world, part of the payment goes to sales taxes. So we end up with fewer real goods and services.

Take Megabucks, who’s sitting on $65 million and wants to buy a jet like Oprah’s a 10-passenger, $50 million Global Express XRS. Under the FairTax, the plane costs him an extra $15 million because of the 30 percent sales tax. Megabucks gets the plane, but the extra $15 million, which he’d budgeted for Beluga, Dom Pérignon, and other flight snacks, goes to Uncle Sam.

Now $15 million is 23 percent of $65 million so the FairTax cost Megabucks 23 percent of his wealth. Precisely the same outcome would arise were Uncle Sam to directly tax Megabuck’s $65 million in wealth at a 23 percent rate, leaving him with $50 million to buy the jet at the original price.

What if Megabucks sits and counts his money? With a direct wealth tax Mr. Megabucks pays $15 million immediately and is left with only $50 million in purchasing power. Under the FairTax, Megabuck’s in the same boat. Retail prices rise by 30 percent and Megabucks finds that his $65 million can only buy $50 million in real goods and services; Megabucks has the same number of dollars, but 23 percent less purchasing power.

This equivalence is no coincidence; taxing consumption is mathematically identical to taxing the resources used to buy consumption -- current wealth holdings plus wages as they are earned. The beauty of the FairTax is that taxing wealth at a 23 percent rate generates enough revenue to reduce workers’ marginal tax brackets to 23 percent. This is dramatically lower than the 30 percent to 45 percent marginal tax bracket confronting most workers under our combined income and payroll taxes.

The FairTax sales tax rate isn’t graduated; everyone’s resources get taxed at the same 23 percent effective rate. What makes the FairTax progressive is its rebate. The rebate is a trivial share of the resources of the rich, but 23 percent of the resources of the poor. Since our current tax system is regressive, adopting the FairTax would achieve progressivity.

Our current tax system is regressive because none of the corpus - the principal -- of their wealth of the rich, including our more than 400 billionaires, is subjected to taxation. Instead they pay taxes only on the income earned on their wealth. But this income comes primarily as capital gains, which are taxed at only 15 percent. Furthermore, capital gains taxes are levied only when wealth holders realize their gains -- when they sell their appreciated assets.

But the super rich don’t need to sell their gains. If they need cash they can borrow using their appreciated assets as collateral. When they die, they can hand their heirs their appreciated assets with a step-up in basis, which wipes out prior capital gains. With the right estate planning, they can also avoid most estate and gift taxes. Unlike most of us, what the super wealthy and just plain wealthy pay in taxes is a matter of choice their choice. When Warren Buffet says his tax rate is much lower than his secretary’s, he’s got it right.

So why do so many Democrats think the FairTax is regressive? Because they consider taxes relative to annual income rather than resources, and the former is a terrible proxy for the later. Bill Gate’s income this year may be zero given what’s happening to stocks. If so, a man with over $47 billion in resources will be classified, based on income, as no better off than the homeless. And since Gates consumption is based on his resources, not his current income, the ratio of this “poor” person’s FairTax payments to his income would be sky high. Measuring taxes relative to income will thus suggest regressivity with respect to consumption taxation where none exists.

Our economy needs a simple, transparent, and progressive tax system. The FairTax is the answer. Democrats should give it another look and a fair chance.

***************************

Take 30 seconds and email this article to someone and help spread the word about the Fair Tax. Following that take another 30 seconds to sign the Fair Tax petition at ChangeDC.org or visit FairTax.org for more information about the Fair Tax and its benefits to you.

I visited FairTax.org moments ago to see the update on their petition for the Fair Tax. Just two days ago the number stood at 70,000 signatures. Today the number stands over 90,000 and increasing daily. Our goal is to get over 100,000 signatures by April 15th, 2008. Remember that April 15th is Tax Day.

If you have not signed the Fair Tax petition yet please take a mere 30 seconds of your time to do so. Imagine a life where each year you did not have to purchase software, hire accountants, call the IRS just for them to give you the wrong answer anyway, spend hours filtering through savings and investments statements, and finally the possibility that you might be audited and get penalized heavily for some small error in your calculation because of a tax system the has over 67,000 pages of rules and regulations.

Now imagine that replaced with a transparent tax that is completely voluntary, that does not penalize hard work or high achievement, that does not institute regressive forms of taxation against the lower and middle classes, that does not require you to file your taxes each year, and can be written in a mere 133 pages. If you believe in the Fair Tax and greater transparency in our tax collection system do not waste another moment.

Visit ChangeDC.org today and sign the petitions for the Fair Tax. Remember that you have until April 15th to do so to get your name on the petition this year. If you need more information please visit FairTax.org.

One of the most common questions on the Fair Tax is what exactly is the "prebate" is and how it would work. It is a simple concept that upholds the basic principles of the founding of our government that "all men are created equal."

The "prebate" is by definition a rebate for the taxes that any person would incur up to the poverty line as designated by the Department of Health and Human Services. To further define, the poverty level is the minimum level of which must be earned to be able to provide the basic necessities in life. This figure is adjusted yearly for inflation, takes into account for family size, and in some instances your state (Hawaii and Alaska). The poverty guidelines can be found a the Department of Health and Human Services Website if you have questions about your current level of income as regard to where it stands.

The "prebate" would be given out monthly to every citizen in the country regardless of income level because no person should be required to pay taxes for the "necessities of life." This sounds like a lot of work but could be done quite simply. Each year you would file a report, a single page, to the US government your family size (parents/guardians and dependents), the names of the individuals, their Social Security number, address, and a financial institution where the money could be electronically deposited each month. Paper checks would also be available for those who choose to do so.

On a side note, some of the major credit card companies have expressed interest in such a system and have indicated that they would be willing to pay the electronic transfer fee's incurred by the federal government to have the privilege of the money transfered to one of their credit cards. Another possibility would be the issuance of a debit card specifically for the purpose of depositing the tax rebate.

Well, How much would I get back?

To find a detailed list of how much your family would be rebated each month and yearly please visit the figures provided by FairTax.org FAQ page. The calculation is easy to perform though. Take the poverty line for your family, as provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, and multiply by .23 (this is the 23% Fair Tax rate on all new items or services). This number is the yearly rebate (divide by 12 for the monthly rebate). A family of 4 would expect to be rebated $337 each month or $4,048 yearly. It is simple math and simple to understand.

Some ask "Why not just untax 'items of necessity'?"

The answer is two parts. First, politicians will never be able to agree which items are "items of necessity" nor should they tell you that these certain items are and these aren't. For instance, potatoes but not potato chips. The choice should be left up to each individual and each family. Second, people who earn more tend to spend more on food and other "items of necessity" of which is not are not necessary to the preservation of the basic levels of living. These items are not "needs" but "wants" like buying a Jaguar versus a Honda. Both items provide transport but one is pure luxury. Basically, no person should have to pay taxes on the "necessities of life."

What does this mean? Quite simply, the Fair Tax is voluntary. If you decide to save your money or become more frugal with your spending you have no tax burden because of the "prebate". It is your choice. Also remember that taxes are only paid on new items or services so buying that used car or house will never result in taxation.

For more information on the Fair Tax view my March 2008 blog archives or visit FairTax.org.

----------------------------------

Tax day is just around the corner. To help put a stop to thousands of wasted man hours and money just to prepare your income tax (not to mention the headaches of just trying to figure out how to compute them or getting the IRS to help you and give you a right answer) please sign the petition at ChangeDC.org by April 15th, 2008. Be part of the solution and take a stand for Fairness in our tax system!

It has been several days since my last post. I will be sending off a letter to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas in support of the Fair Tax on Wednesday. I invite you to read it and encourage you to write your own to your member of the House of Representative or Senator.

To the Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchinson,

I write you with utmost urgency and passion. Your fellow Texas Senator, John Cornyn, has heard the voice of the people and joined the fight to transform our economy and save our country. I ask that you join the struggle to end an oppressive and inefficient tax collection system that was of chief importance to Karl Marx, the founder of Communist ideology, as written in the Communist Manifesto as step two to form a Communist state. I present to you the Fair Tax.

The Fair Tax is a non-partisan tax proposal to replace the current income, payroll, estate, gift, death, savings, corporate, and investment taxes into a simple to understand national sales tax (23%) that will be collected on only new purchases and only at the final retail sale of all purchases made by consumers. To cover the basic necessities of life the Fair Tax will give every legal citizen of the US a pre-bate to cover the costs of taxes up to the poverty level as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services. After all, “all men are created equal” and no person should be forced to pay taxes on items of necessity.

The Fair Tax will create unrivaled economic growth (over 11% higher, 10 years from passage, than today), unprecedented job growth (10 years after passage, a rate of 9% higher than today), income from employment up 27.4% the first year and 41.2% higher in year 10 from passage, and 41.2% higher domestic investment 10 years from passage than today's level. This is due to the fact that workers are no longer penalized for working harder or for high achievement and the lack of corporate taxes that will reverse the outsourcing of American jobs overseas to areas with lower taxes on corporations.

Corporate taxes in reality are another way to tax the citizens of our country as around 22% of the current cost of items directly relate to taxes that are paid for during the manufacturing process due to materials or personnel. Corporations simply pass on the taxes they are required to pay onto the consumer. Corporate taxes stunt economic growth, limit job production, and make our products less competitive in world markets because of the embedded 22% tax rate.

For brevity, I have only touched on the some of the main aspects of the Fair Tax. For more information please visit FairTax.org. I ask that you formally place your support behind the Fair Tax to stop an oppressive and inefficient tax collection system. I eagerly await your response on this important issue. Thank you for your service to our state and country. Your support for the Fair Tax will keep Texas in the forefront of positive change in American politics.

Who pays taxes? Great question. The common answers will be income earners, investors, and corporations. What if I told you that corporations don't really pay taxes? You would say I'm crazy right. Well call me crazy then but Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Milton Friedman agrees with me. He stated in a President's Advisory Panel hearing for Federal Tax Reform on March 31, 2005 that, "[a]ll taxes ultimately-the consumers pay the taxes. Nobody else pays the taxes. Corporations don't pay taxes. The collect them, but they don't pay them."

Still think I'm crazy? Well here's why Dr. Friedman is correct in his assertion.

In every process of manufacturing corporations, companies, and etc. pay taxes on this things that they buy to produce their products. For example, consider some of the processes in making something as simple as cereal. First the grains must be grown by a farmer who pays for a harvesting machine, fertilizer, and pesticides. He pays taxes for everyone of the products that the previous manufacturer had to pay for the chemicals, metal, or plastics to create those products who likewise had to pay the taxes. After the product is harvested it has to go to the mill to get turned into a usable product and they add on their own tax burden into the final cost of their product. Finally, the cereal manufacturer creates the cereal, paying taxes on all the purchases they have made including the plastic bags and cardboard boxes. All these taxes get added up and passed onto YOU the consumer who buys that item.

In addition don't forget about the cost of the human element as well. Corporations must take into account the pay increase that will be required because of income, pay roll taxes, and their matching "contributions" for Social Security and Medicare. These all get added into the final price of that box of cereal, loaf of bread, or other products that you buy.

A Harvard study done by Dr. Dale Jorgenson concluded that 22% of the total cost of the item are these taxes that are added onto every step of the manufacturing process and then are graciously passed onto you. Great isn't it!

That means even those people who fall into a category where they pay no income taxes pay these taxes. Not to mention the fact that they don't take home their full paycheck each month making life even more difficult for them and unfair. On average about 25% of a paycheck is deducted due to income taxes. Don't forget to add on your contributions for Medicare and Social Security which in some cases mean that over 30% of your paycheck is never reaching your bank account.

Now let's take into account what the Fair Tax will do.

The Fair Tax as already stated is a national sales tax that will be added only onto the final purchase of a NEW product or service. The sales tax rate will be at 23%.

But wait, are price going to increase by 23%? The simple answer is no. Since corporations will no longer have taxes to pay or contributions to make towards Social Security or Medicare they will be able to decrease their prices on their products around 22% due to the embedded taxes that are currently added at each step of the process. Some corporations will try to maintain their prices at the current rate but as smaller companies who wish to be more competitive and gain traction versus larger entities, the larger entities will be forced to knock down their prices.

On average the price of products will only increase by a single percentage point. That is $.01 more for each dollar spent. This is now the time to come out and say that this is a plan to increase revenue for the government. Wrong! Don't forget that you will be receiving your entire paycheck with no taxes or contributions taken out. In addition you will be able to save and invest without penalty.

Finally, if you so desire you can cut back your spending and pay no taxes by spending only up to the poverty line. Why? Simple, every American citizen will receive a pre-bate each month through wire transfer to a credit or checking account or through a check covering the taxes on spending up to the poverty line.

The Fair Tax is totally voluntary, if you don't want to pay you can just save your money.

Look for more posts in the coming days and weeks about the Fair Tax.

Have questions or comments, please post a comment or send me an email to srk.sb6@gmail.com.

-----------------------------------------------------

To take action now go to changedc.org or visit fairtax.org to sign a petition that will be presented to our elected officials and political candidates on Tax Day 2008 (April 15th for those of you not in the know). Let your voice be heard. For more information or to see other ways you can join millions of other supporters around the country in spreading the message about the Fair Tax now, visit fairtax.org or pick up one of the two books written by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder that are listed in my "Try Reading Something" section.

The Fair Tax, or House Resolution 25/Senate Resolution 1025, in simplest words is a repealing of all income, payroll, corporate, capital gains, savings, and other taxes like the Alternative Minimum Tax in favor of a progressive national sales tax. In addition the Fair Tax will result in the removal of the 16th Amendment, which made it constitutional to levy an income tax (originally declared unconstitutional by the USSC in the 1890's). The Fair Tax is NOT about the repealing of a federal tax which would cripple our government.

Here are the main focus points from which my series on the Fair Tax will progress from. The Fair Tax:

• Will allow all workers of every economic group to receive their full paycheck with not taxes or "contributions" deducted
• Will be calculated onto the final sale of only NEW goods and services
• Will give every household (legal citizens only) in America a pre-bate check, no matter the level of income, for the taxes that would be payed up to the poverty level, in accordance with the Dept of Health and Human Services. Family size will be taken into consideration.
• Will be revenue neutral meaning that the current level of taxation income by the federal government will remain the same
• Will not change the services that Medicare or Social Security provide
• Will eliminate the IRS as it exists today as only retailers would be audited instead of individuals saving enforcement cost and increasing enforceability by decreasing the possible pool of people that can be audited
• Will collect taxes on every purchase made whether made by a legal citizen, undocumented immigrant, or foreign traveler
• Will allow the collection of taxes on ALL economic forces even those coming from illegal and the "underground economy"
• Will decrease compliance costs that corporations face that place our goods at a disadvantage to other products around the world
• Will encourage foreign and US companies alike to increase business enterprises in the United States instead of outsourcing the jobs overseas
• Will not tax education or other investments such as savings, stocks, or bonds
  
• Will encourage economic and job growth in our country
• Does not punish high achievers or hard work
• Allows any legal citizen of the country to be untaxed by only spending up to the poverty line.
  

That's correct the Fair Tax is a completely voluntary tax that you choose to pay for.

In the coming days I will address each part of this focus in more detail and cover concerns about the Fair Tax. Likewise I will take time to address comments left for me here over concerns about the Fair Tax.

If you wish to know more about the Fair Tax now please check out FairTax.org or view Neal Boort'z free web seminar.

If you already support the Fair Tax I encourage you to sign the Fair Tax petition at changedc.org and write letters to your representatives.

In the coming days and weeks the majority of my time will be spent on explaining the FairTax of which I am utmost passionate about. Barak Obama and Hillary (McCain isn't much better for that matter) is right that Washington needs change, but he is wrong about the type of change. We don't need more government intervention in our lives.

Instead we need the single largest shift of power to the people in the history of our great country to save our Republic. This issue is not about being a conservative, liberal, libertarian, Democrat, or Republican. It is about being concerned for the sake of America's future economic and national security. The issue I speak of is the Fair Tax.

Before I start telling you what the Fair Tax is, here are a few things to ponder.

• On March 9th of 2005 David Walker, Comptroller General of the US Government Accountability Office offered testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means stating that at the rate of current taxation and Congressional discretionary spending, by 2040 the government will no longer be able to pay the interest on the federal debt, meaning our country will be bankrupt and will no longer be able to provide any government services because every cent of tax money will be spent to pay the interest of our national debt.
• Dr. Larry Kotlikoff of the Economics Dept. at Boston University has shown that to fix Social Security and Medicare permanently it will cost us $74,000,000,000,000 by 2030 (that $74 trillion if you don't want to count up the zero's). The current net worth of every household in America is around $45 trillion, so to pay it off the government will have to take every item from your house, cars, CD's, books, savings, investments, absolutely everything and they would still only be able to pay 60% of the debt off. Clearly we don't have the money.
• Democrats and some liberal Republicans preach out against corporations who have record profits and low taxes and insist that corporations should pay higher taxes. Well, who do you think really pays for those taxes and where do the jobs go that the citizens of Ohio made such an issue in their primary this past week? Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Milton Friedman knows and it has nothing to do with NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement). I'll leave you to ponder that for a few days when I address this question in my series about the Fair Tax.
• The current "heavy progressive or graduated income tax system" takes its founding from none other than Karl Marx, the founder of Communist ideology, as written in the Communist Manifesto. This is the second step of ten to form a Communist state. Wouldn't he be proud?
  
• Finally, the thoughts of two distinguished men.
• "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves [generous benefits] from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."
  
• From Alexander Fraser Tytler's The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic.
• "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic" (referring to the United States).
  
• Benjamin Franklin
• Our current tax system has over 64,000 pages of regulations and statutes that are so complicated your chance of a correct tax submission if you do it on your own is near 0%, your chance of getting an accurate answer from an IRS agent on a tax question is less than 40%, and 2 out of every 3 American will be forced to pay professionals large sums of money to complete their tax submission. To top it off in 2002, the economic impact it cost just to collect taxes for compliance was around $500 billion just to collect $950 billion in federal income taxes. Talk about a highly inefficient process (for every $1.90 collected it cost the US economy $1 in compliance costs).
  

Hopefully I have ushered your attention to the single greatest threat to our freedoms that American's faces today. Immediate resolve is needed and you can make it happen.

I have heard all too often, that "It sounds like a great idea, but it won't happen." A majority of colonists in colonial America took this stance during the Revolutionary War (thankfully George Washington and a few righteous men stood up to seemingly insurmountable odds). Change can happen, all it takes are voices to be heard.

-----------------------------------------------------

To take action now go to changedc.org or visit fairtax.org to sign a petition that will be presented to our elected officials and political candidates on Tax Day 2008 (April 15th for those of you not in the know). Let your voice be heard. For more information or to see other ways you can join millions of other supporters around the country in spreading the message about the Fair Tax now, visit fairtax.org or pick up one of the two books written by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder that are listed in my "Try Reading Something" section.

I am finally tired enough of all the bickering in Washington and the lack of education about our federal government and its place in our lives. I am not a Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative so neither side has my favor here.

I am just getting this blog up and running. Please check back daily for new posts and see how you can help. I hope to get the first posts up on Saturday March 8th.

As for now please visit fairtax.org (see the links under "Ignorance is No Excuse...") for the link and sign the Fair Tax petition which will be submitted on Tax Day 2008 (April 15th). Don't say it can't happen or it won't happen. Make it happen.