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Give the FairTax a chance
Roanoke.Com ^ | Thursday, March 09, 2006 | Donald A. Koop

Posted on 03/09/2006 3:42:02 PM PST by Eaglewatcher

Koop, of Roanoke, is a retired engineer from Eastman Kodak Co. and the volunteer communications director for Roanoke Area FairTax.

A local group of volunteers is working to provide a fairer way to pay federal taxes. A bill pending in Congress, The Fair Tax Act of 2005 (HR 25), would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace the income tax with a national sales tax. That is, the tax on income would be replaced with a tax on consumption.

A tax system that is routinely manipulated for their benefit by those with means, resulting in thousands of pages of incomprehensible rules and regulations, would be replaced with a system much like one we routinely deal with today -- our sales tax.

Roanoke Area FairTax (RAFT) is affiliated with Americans for Fair Taxation, the national organization that is supporting similar grassroots efforts across the nation.

RAFT has two missions: education and advocacy. We seek to bring knowledge about the FairTax to area citizens and channel the support of citizens to urge elected federal representatives to pass the FairTax legislation.

Education takes two forms:

First, make citizens aware that such a proposal exists.

Second, tell the public what the proposal is and provide sources of information. Such information includes a Web site (fairtax.org), a best-selling book (The FairTax Book by Neal Boortz and Rep. John Linder, R-Ga.), speakers, publications, informational meetings, workshops, booths and word of mouth. In addition, volunteers call on residents to talk about the FairTax.

Advocacy involves accumulating the support of individual citizens to provide notification to members of Congress that HR 25 deserves to be passed.

Although there is little motivation for Congress to pass the bill, when grassroots support reaches critical mass, action will follow.

The volunteers who educate also provide the conduit from citizens to representatives via a petition urging action. In general, people sign the petition only after learning what the FairTax is about.

Hopefully, readers of this piece will explore the sources of information listed above so that, if they choose, their support can be applied to the task. A petition can be submitted directly on the Web site.

Certain principles are central to the FairTax proposal:

. It is not anti-tax.

. It will raise the same revenue as the current system.

. It will tax only new goods and services

. Everyone will pay taxes the same way.

The creators of the FairTax determined that 22 percent of the current cost of consumer goods and services consists of embedded taxes and compliance costs (time and money). After eliminating these, a 23 percent embedded sales tax will provide equal revenue.

Other changes will benefit taxpayers, too. Gone will be the taking of withholding taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes from our wages. Gone will be the filing of paperwork and the payment of taxes every April 15. Gone will be the costs of the filing. Gone will be the Alternative Minimum Tax that due to inflation has declared many of us far richer than we really are.

Gone will be the need for the rest of us to make up for the tax evasion of others: earners of illegal income, the underground economy and the dishonest, all amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars of untaxed income. Gone will be the tax compliance costs of commerce passed on to all of us in the form of higher prices.

A number of bread-and-butter benefits will result. Although our take-home pay will be larger (no deductions), prices will be about the same due to competitive pressures. We will be able to buy more.

In addition, there is a provision for the less-successful: Every household will receive a monthly check (a "prebate") covering the taxes on all basic necessities for that size household. For low-income households, that will represent a 23 percent increase in income.

For the wealthy, it will approximate pocket change. For the rest of us, the prebate will represent an increasing benefit with decreasing income.

The economy is expected to show substantial growth as we think more about maximizing income and less about minimizing taxes. Offshore investors are expected to return and foreign investors to come to take advantage of our favorable tax environment. American companies will enjoy competitive advantages in the global economy.

What can you do to contribute to the public discussion of the FairTax? Visit the Web site, read the book, attend monthly FairTax meetings (fairtax.meetup.com/53/), write letters to the editor and sign a petition. Your support for this measure will make April 15 just another beautiful spring day.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Government
KEYWORDS: economy; fair; fairtax; fraudtax; tax
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To: pigdog; Your Nightmare
Nothing funny about it ... it's a refund of taxes paid.
That's a lie. The check would be mailed before or even if NO taxes were paid. In fact the Fairtax would pay out more money for negative taxes than "the current system"...

Though you'll be first in line, more hand outs ultimately results in more hands out.

41 posted on 03/15/2006 6:43:30 PM PST by lewislynn (Fairtax = lies, hope, wishful thinking, conjecture and lies. (no it's not a mistake)
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To: Your Nightmare

That's easy. The SSA is the agency best equipped to handle the wire transfers, check printing, and SSA number processing and verifications involved.

The mechanism of sending the refunds by wire is pretty simple and quite inexpensive ... many if not most SSA payments are presently handled this way.


42 posted on 03/17/2006 7:45:04 AM PST by pigdog
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To: lewislynn

Nonsense, Looey. The presently system has refunds after the April 15 fiasco ... but of course those were from tax overpayments withheld by the government and not just a refund of taxes voluntarily paid as is the prebate.

It's no lie at all, but a statement of fact. the prebate is a refund of taxes paid. If if comes a month in advance, so much the better - it's still a refund calculated over any reasonable time frame such as a year.


43 posted on 03/17/2006 7:49:08 AM PST by pigdog
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To: lewislynn

By all means, try that two card business when the FairTax becomes law, Looey. We'll come and bring cigarettes to you and Nightie both (he's in the same cell block but on a different fraud charge).

Of course, you'll have to pay for the smokes, but they'll be cheaper than today even including the FairTax.


44 posted on 03/17/2006 7:53:55 AM PST by pigdog
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To: Mark was here
The so called flat tax is just a shell game.

States and businesses will never collect an UnFair Tax for the government on top of existing sales taxes.

45 posted on 03/17/2006 7:54:22 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (None genuine without my signature)
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To: lewislynn
"The legislation calls for elimination of the IRS, the income tax AND the 16th amendment.

No it doesn't."

Well, Looey, yes it does - you figure it out ... from HR25:

"(f) Findings Relating to Repeal of Present Federal Tax System- Congress further finds that the 16th amendment to the United States Constitution should be repealed."

BTW, I'm sure you're tickled pink to know that HR25 now has 52 cosponsors - and gowing ...

46 posted on 03/17/2006 8:02:59 AM PST by pigdog
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To: Zon

Thanx much for the link ... good stuff!


47 posted on 03/17/2006 8:10:10 AM PST by pigdog
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To: Your Nightmare

"Go ahead. Name names. It's better than throwing innuendos around."

(Is there an echo in here?)


48 posted on 03/17/2006 8:12:12 AM PST by pigdog
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To: pigdog; lewislynn; Always Right
That's easy. The SSA is the agency best equipped to handle the wire transfers, check printing, and SSA number processing and verifications involved. The mechanism of sending the refunds by wire is pretty simple and quite inexpensive ... many if not most SSA payments are presently handled this way.
Treasury handles Social Security check printing and wire transfers, just like they do income tax refund checks. The government doesn't give a department or agency a task because they are capable of handling it, they give it a task because it fits within their mission. The Social Security Administration's mission is "to advance the economic security of the nation's people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America's Social Security programs."

Maybe I need to modify my question to make it more clear - why would the Family Consumption Allowance be "provided" by the SSA?

To answer my own question, the goal of the Family Consumption Allowance must be to "advance the economic security of the nation's people."
49 posted on 03/17/2006 8:14:25 AM PST by Your Nightmare
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To: Your Nightmare

Be that as it may ... the SSA is also the one best equipped to handle the matter.

But it's nice you can answer your own question - but why ask it in the first place if you knew the answer???


50 posted on 03/18/2006 9:59:35 AM PST by pigdog
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To: pigdog
Be that as it may ... the SSA is also the one best equipped to handle the matter.
Yup. They're the one best equipped to "managing America's Social Security programs."
51 posted on 03/18/2006 10:40:00 AM PST by Your Nightmare
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To: Your Nightmare
Is it conservative to be in favor of a plan that has the Social Security Administration sending a check to every family in America once a month?

Sorry I have been lax in responding.

Why, why, why do you guys have this paranoia about the pre-bate? Do you have the same paranoia about the EIC or the child tax credit? What is your problem? The prebate isn't a gift, it is a prefund of taxes paid. It is YOUR money. The EIC is NOT. Get over it.

52 posted on 03/18/2006 8:27:20 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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To: lewislynn
BTW, how did they get rich without the Fairtax? Oh I know, they scam the system and have two SS cards, otherwise it just isn't possible, right?

Typical. lewie thinks that people get rich BECAUSE of the income tax. Say hello to your friends lewie, your friends in the IRS and on K Street. After all this time you know good and well that the income tax is a hindrance on wealth creation. It really doesn't matter what you think of the FT. The income tax is a poison. But not to you, not to you.

53 posted on 03/18/2006 8:31:52 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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To: lewislynn
That's right. I'm the reason you'll never amount to anything and when it's not me or wasn't me it will be or always was someone else....Right?

Yeah. Someone else is always to blame. Isn't that the mantra of the K-Streeters lewie? Isn't that how they get their congressmen to vote? "We'll make sure your constituents know that it isn't their fault."

So let's make the tax code a social code. Let's make those who are actually making money be the pariahs of our society and bleed them dry as they are creating wealth for themselves and their employees.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, lewie, to see that you have not, nor will you ever be, a productive member of society. Every post and comment you make is indicative of a leech whose very existence depends upon the power of the government to tax my balls off.

A pox upon your house. You are nothing more than a slave and trustee to the very institution that you obviously profit from.

If you have anything more to say I would suggest that you preface it with: "I am a servant of the income tax and I think that you all should bow down before me."

54 posted on 03/18/2006 8:40:45 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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To: groanup
Why, why, why do you guys have this paranoia about the pre-bate? Do you have the same paranoia about the EIC or the child tax credit? What is your problem? The prebate isn't a gift, it is a prefund of taxes paid. It is YOUR money. The EIC is NOT. Get over it.
Sure I'm getting my money - but that's not the point. The point is that there are other people who are getting my money too.

The "allowance" (it's not a rebate or a "prebate" or a "prefund") is given regardless of taxes paid. It's as if the current standard deduction were instead a credit. If you were to owe less than the credit, you get (someone else's) money from the government.

The Family Consumption Allowance is income redistribution, pure and simple. There is no way in hell any true conservative should support such a plan.
55 posted on 03/20/2006 6:46:13 AM PST by Your Nightmare
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To: Eaglewatcher

". It is not anti-tax.

. It will raise the same revenue as the current system. "


Two reasons not to support it.


56 posted on 03/20/2006 6:47:23 AM PST by CodeToad
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To: groanup; Your Nightmare
The prebate isn't a gift, it is a prefund of taxes paid.
Would you trust your investments with anyone speaking to you with that kind of idiocy?
Do you have the same paranoia about the EIC
You're the only one paranoid. I thought the plan was to rid us of the income tax, not emulate it.
57 posted on 03/20/2006 6:36:28 PM PST by lewislynn (Fairtax = lies, hope, wishful thinking, conjecture and lies. (no it's not a mistake)
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To: lewislynn

thanks lew. Your posts are reason enough for anyone on the fence to support the fair tax. You know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of thing? It isn't enough for you to gain some sort of a thumbprint on this earth by posting nonsense on this board but you insist on arguments that are nothing more than third grade insults. Next time the rest of the intelligentsia here wants to hear from you we'll jostle your bassinet.


58 posted on 03/20/2006 7:46:00 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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To: lewislynn
Would you trust your investments with anyone speaking to you with that kind of idiocy?

I know it's hard for you to understand but I stand by what I said. My comparison had to do with the pre-bate vs. the EITC. The pre-bate is the equivalent of OUR money. The EITC is wealth re-distribution. You obviously don't worry about that because, what, just one of your deals is worth 200,000 dollars? Isn't that what you said? LOL!!!

Thank-you for being so humble as to share you vision with us here. Obviously someone who makes a grillion a year has to force himself to take the time. LOL!

59 posted on 03/20/2006 7:57:04 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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To: lewislynn
You're the only one paranoid. I thought the plan was to rid us of the income tax, not emulate it.

No comment needed.

60 posted on 03/20/2006 7:58:35 PM PST by groanup (Shred for Ian)
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