I received information today from Karen Walby, Ph.D, Director of Research, Americans For Fair Taxation. She said the extensive research has been done by scholars at Boston University, The Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, Fiscal Associates, the Institute for Policy Innovation, Stanford University, Rice University and MIT.
In the footnotes of all the White Papers in the research section of www.fairtax.org, you will find a number of authors who have been quoted. For those of you who are interested, I suggest you do this research on your own. The above Universities and Institutions are impressive in themselves. It tells me this has been one of the most researched and studied tax plans of all time.
I read today where mere compliance costs of the present income tax amounts to 6% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Now that really hurts! Think of what we could do with all that money freed up for other things……………
Be sure to watch the Republican Debate tonight, even if you are not one. Our object is to vote for the candidate who is openly advocating the FairTax, whether he be Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. It comes on at 6pm PDT on channel MSNBC. Anyway, that’s what I hear from the Huckabee campaign.
And when you receive a phone call asking for your vote for a candidate (local or national), ask if that candidate is in favor of the FairTax. If the answer is no, tell the caller that when the candidate comes out in public in favor of the FairTax, you will show your support for him/her. I don’t contribute to any candidate who does not meet this criteria. I am tired of voting for the least offensive.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Mike Huckabee is an adroit public speaker - and is consistently as witnessed by his performance in Dearborn, MI today. He communicates his message in life-like, cogent terms, with compelling examples like the story he told (at the Ames Straw Poll) of what his then-11-yo daughter entered into the "Comments" section of a Visitors Book after visiting the Yad Vashem holocaust museum: “Why didn't somebody do something?” Very effective.
Huckabee is all about calling his listeners to "do something," to awaken them to their own empowerment, and summon them to action in order that "Main Street," and not "Wall Street," will prevail in guarding the values and beliefs upon which the Republic was founded.
Huckabee puts his listeners at ease, and reassures them, articulating clear concepts in a natural, easy style (no doubt something well-cultivated as a pastor). He’s not angry or demanding, like a Ron Paul, nor is he as “rigidly-scripted” as Romney, and his large brown eyes peer through a humble demeanor, drawing a striking contrast to a somewhat mechanical-squinty Brownback. One can easily imagine sitting comfortably with this man over a cup of coffee at the Main Street Cafe.
Most importantly, perhaps, Huckabee convinces many that he is ONE with the FairTax grassroots movement. While many - like Romney, and others, who are invested in the current income tax system - seek to demagog the well-researched FairTax plan, its acceptance in the professional / academic community continues to grow. Renown economist Laurence Kotlikoff believes that failure to enact the FairTax - choosing instead to try to "flatten" what he deems to be a non-flattenable income tax system - will eventuate into an irrevocable economic meltdown because of the hidden aspects of the current system that make political accountability impossible.
Romney's recent WEAK response to FairTax questioning on “This Week with Geo. Stephanopoulos” drew a sharper contrast between Huckabee and all other presidential front-runners who will not embrace it. Huckabee understands that what's wrong with the income tax can't be fixed with "a tap of the hammer, nor a twist of the screwdriver." That his opponents cling to the destructive Tax Code, the IRS, preserving political power of granting tax favors at continued cost to - and misery of - American families, invigorates his campaign's raison d'etre.
Of the FairTax, Huckabee asserts that it's...
• SIMPLE, easy to understand
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn't cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes
• FAIR, FLAT, and FAMILY FRIENDLY, loophole-free, and everyone pays their share
• LOW TAX RATE is achieved by broad base with no exclusions
• PREDICTABLE, doesn't change, so financial planning is possible
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn't intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards - rather than penalizes - work and productivity
A detailed benefits analysis of the plan (from The FairTax Book) explains Huckabee's ardent advocacy:
For individuals:
• No more tax on income - make as much as you wish
• You receive your full paycheck - no more deductions
• You pay the tax when you buy "at retail" - not "used"
• No more double taxation (e.g. like on current Capital Gains)
• Reduction of "pre-FairTaxed" retail prices by 20%-30%
• Adding back 29.9% FairTax maintains current price levels
• FairTax would constitute 23% portion of new prices
• Every household receives a monthly check, or "pre-bate"
• "Prebate" is "advance tax payback" for monthly consumption to poverty level
• FairTax's "prebate" ensures progressivity, poverty protection
• Finally, citizens are knowledgeable of what their tax IS
• Elimination of "parasitic" Income Tax industry
• NO MORE IRS. NO MORE FILING OF TAX RETURNS by individuals
• Those possessing illicit forms of income will ALSO pay the FairTax
• Households have more disposable income to purchase goods
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates
For businesses:
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax
• Business compensated for collecting tax at "cash register"
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls
• No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices
• Reduced costs. Competition - not tax policy - drives prices
• Off-shore "tax haven" headquarters can now return to U.S
• No more "favors" from politicians at expense of taxpayers
• Resources go to R&D and study of competition - not taxes
• Marketplace distortions eliminated for fair competition
• US exports increase their share of foreign markets
For the country:
• 7% - 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax
• Jobs return to the U.S.
• Foreign corporations "set up shop" in the U.S.
• Tax system trends are corrected to "enlarge the pie"
• Larger economic "pie," means thinner tax rate "slices"
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as "pie" increases
• No more "closed door" tax deals by politicians and business
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow
Passionately supporting FairTax, Huckabee understands that, if elected President, Congress will have to present the bill for his signature. His call to action goes beyond his candidacy: Main Street will have to demand that their legislators deliver the bill.
Bobbie,
Just found your blog. Keep up the good work. With the surging grass roots effort the Fair Tax will be passed one of these days. At 66 signers in the house the Fair Tax has really come a long ways. The majority of people who I have introduced it to, have been very receptive to it. Keep up the good work and will be back to check out your new posts.
Cheers!
Kevin Simmons
Reston, VA
Ian, thanks for your input.
Kevin, I'm glad you finally found me! It's nice to know I resonate clear back in VA. Feel free to refer your friends to my blog. I am trying to cut it down to the bare facts, so if they start reading from the first, they will get a quick once-over of the FairTax basics. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
Post a Comment