Wonder why he didn't write the book this way?
a few more cites:
Page 82: "it would create a financial bonanza for the poor and the middle class."
Page 85: "it's clear that low-income Americans will be better off, much better off, under the FairTax Plan... income tax abolished...whole paycheck with no federal withholding.. and they would recive a payment each month...Wow.
Page 88: "for those in the lowest income levels...it's all benefit and no burden."
Page 138: "The FairTax would give the average income worker a 50% increase in take-home pay."
Do you still think I'm making false claims. This book should've been subtitled: There IS such a thing as a free lunch!
Dear RobFromGa,
Stories certainly do change in a hurry. LOL.
sitetest
Frankly, I have always suspected that some of them are getting paid for their posting (we did have at least one "intern" tell us she worked for the organization).
There is no such thing as a free lunch. The forest for the trees view is this:
The FairTax is calculated to be revenue neutral. That means that it will take NO MORE from the economy (tax wedge) than our current monstrosity. That said, the gross purchasing power of the American people as a whole will remain unchanged. There will however, be shifts in the incidence (economist-speak for who actually pays the tax) of the Federal tax burden.
Because FICA and Medicare taxes (Widely acknowledged to be THE most regressive taxes we inflict upon ourselves) will be repealed, the lower income earners will see a net increase in their purchasing power. This results from the combined effect of the Payroll tax repeal, the prebate, and being able to take home their entire check sans deductions for Federal Income Tax.
The middle class will probably see little change in their absolute purchasing power, but will see increased job opportunity and their retirement investments will probably perform better than under our current system.
The losers in this plan are the Ta-RAY-za Heinz - Kerry - Heinz's. Those who currently garner their spending money from tax free sources will, for the first time in a long time, be taxed; contributing not only to general federal revenues but programs like Social Security and Medicare. Those are the people who will scream bloody murder.