I am taking a break from the FairTax impact on business to show you a copy of a letter written by Gary Burger, a member of the FairTax organization. It is a good explanation of why the FairTax needs to be passed before the 16th amendment is repealed. I will resume discussion about business and the FairTax tomorrow.

Editor:
Your editorial on the Fairtax admits that it is the best method to tax the American public, but you object to it because of what Congress 'might' do after it is enacted, that is, increase taxes by also reenacting an income tax. You misunderstand the 16th Amendment. It allows an income tax, but does not require it. Since the Fairtax is revenue neutral, the only reason to reenact an income tax is to increase revenues. We do not believe that the American public would tolerate the reenactment of the income tax after the Fairtax takes over and everyone sees the economic boom, the lack of record keeping, the return of privacy, and the transparency of the system. In fact, once the Fairtax is enacted and the people see how good a tax system can be, it will be much easier to repeal the 16th Amendment. All your requirement of repealing the 16th Amendment does now, before the Fairtax, is to kill the Fairtax or any other true reform measure. Nobody is going to be able to repeal a constitutional amendment without knowing what the replacement will be and if it will work. And few will support a reform proposal if its reversal requires a Constitutional Amendment to return to the old system, should the reform turn out to be unsuccessful, as unlikely as we think that will be under the Fairtax.
For years, advocates of the so-called "Flat Income Tax" have used this argument to defeat the Fairtax. Its no longer selling and you should smell the coffee and drop this illogical argument against the Fairtax.
Gary H. Burger