Posted on 05/25/2006 9:30:00 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
By Dave Williams Staff Writer dave.williams@gwinnettdailypost.com
DULUTH - U.S. Rep. John Linder has said for years that only a groundswell among the American people will convince Congress to scrap the Internal Revenue Service and replace it with a national sales tax.
Wednesday night's rally at a jammed Gwinnett Convention Center in support of Linder's FairTax bill looked a lot like the popular uprising the Duluth Republican has envisioned since he introduced what has become his signature legislation in 1999.
"The grass roots are working,'' said Joseph Gullett of Norcross, motioning to more than 100 people gathered outside the convention center listening to a radio broadcast of the rally because they couldn't get into the packed building.
"It's nice to see all these people with the same ideas,'' added Richard Trenchik, who drove all the way from Warner Robins only to be turned back from the center after it had reached its capacity of 4,500 people.
Trenchik and like-minded FairTax supporters came to Duluth not only to get the latest on Linder's bill but to hear from Fox Television Network host Sean Hannity and syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz. Linder and Boortz combined to author "The FairTax Book,'' which was published last August and still is No. 3 on The New York Times Bestseller List for paperback nonfiction.
"When the IRS is eliminated and the income tax is abolished, we will remember it started right here in Atlanta,'' Hannity said to a huge ovation. The FairTax legislation would do away with the federal income tax and replace it with a 23 percent national sales tax, the rate the bill's supporters say would be needed to ensure that it raises the same amount of revenue as the current system.
By shifting taxation from income to consumption, supporters say Americans would be encouraged to save and invest. Such a sea change in the way people handle their money, the argument goes, would foster economic growth.
"People want ... to invest with no consequences, to save with no consequences,'' Boortz said. But critics say the FairTax would affect low-income Americans disproportionately because they spend a larger percentage of their incomes compared to savings and investments than the more well-to-do.
A tax reform commission formed by President Bush last year cited that as a concern when it decided to recommend relatively minor changes to the tax system rather than a dramatic overhaul like the FairTax. The panel also questioned whether a 23 percent sales tax would raise enough revenue.
Linder's bill addresses the concern that the FairTax would hurt poor people through a rebate that would go to low-income taxpayers.
Still, the measure has languished in the House through seven years and four congresses.
Linder said he's not surprised that it's taking so long, given America's history with major initiatives. He said Social Security, which was created in 1935 as part of the New Deal, was being talked about as early as the 1870s.
"Big ideas take time,'' he said. "But we've started to move the country, and they will start to move the Congress.''
Indeed, despite the cool reception the FairTax got from the president's commission, Linder told the crowd Wednesday night that House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., has scheduled a meeting with Bush in two weeks to give LInder a chance to pitch the legislation.
Linder said Hastert wants to include the FairTax as part of a new Contract with America, modeled after the 1994 platform that played a major role in Republicans winning a majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.
"We won in '94 because we had new ideas and big ideas,'' Linder said. "We haven't done that since.'' Wednesday night's huge civic center audience tied up traffic on Sugarloaf Parkway, delaying another large crowd trying to get to the Grayson High School graduation at the adjacent arena.
At the beginning of the rally, Boortz told the audience that the parking lot was full an hour before the 7:30 p.m. rally. With up to 2,000 people unable to get in, Atlanta's WSB Radio - Boortz's flagship station - decided to broadcast the event live.
"We're sorry,'' Linder said. "Next time, we'll get you a bigger building.''
Note the typically UNINFORMED SLAM the reporter put on the issue without mentioning the PREBATE to assure that no poor will be harmed by the Fair Tax.
We still have much to do so STAY BUSY and always remember that the forces of darkness NEVER SLEEP!
I was there. Well ... outside anyway.
I'll be buying the book...it would make a nice Father's Day presnt so maybe I'll buy two!
As pointed out by eyespysomething on the Georgia board, this is an incorrect statement. Everyone gets the prebate, not just the poor. To keep this from being a regressive tax, at the beginning of each month every household is given a check up to poverty level spending for "essentials."
Why send a prebate check and not just avoid levying a tax on essentials? you ask. Well, because as Linder pointed out, that opens up the door for every lobbyist in the country to bribe congressmen into passing legislation making their special product an essential.
Linder says, and I agree, that reforming the tax code is priority 1. When people see what they're actually paying in taxes more clearly than the present withholding system, then it is their responsibility to hold their legislators' feet to the fire on spending.
I think 23% was based on it being revenue nuetral to our existing system a few years ago.
I'm a REFORMED DRUNKEN SAILOR and DEEPLY RESENT being grouped with that bunch of profligate reprobates in Malfunction Junction.
I demand a prompt apology!
First off, I like the FairTax. A lot.
That said, I will eat my shoe if anything bearing any resemblance to the FairTax is enacted in my lifetime.
HA!
Check out the cool reception the prsident's commission got from the public!
"Hastert wants to include the FairTax as part of a new Contract with America"
The FairTax and a closed Border, that's a platform that could get me to sign back up with the GOP!
As it stands now they suck though, except for Linder
That's correct.
Congressman Linder said they want to focus on the Fair Tax, not cutting spending. I think when people would actually see the 23% that is going to the government added to everything they buy, it will create a backlash on the spending.
Right now people don't notice the deductions in their paychecks. Don't pay attention anyway.
I agree: fair tax and close the border are two huge issues that would get a lot of people looking to the GOP again.
My wife and I were about 15 minutes away from the rally, when we learned that it was full. We simply went home and listened on the radio. Had I known that they only had seating for 4K, I wouldn't have even tried.
It was very good news.
That used to be the name of the 40/75 split in downtown Knoxville. LOL
Last year our AGI was $126,021. Our effective tax rate was 13.06%. I think I pay enough taxes and some want to almost double the rate to 23%? Also, millions of people plan strategies to save on taxes and now the rules will be changed, rendering these strategies useless? No thanks.
If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright and replace them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.Refer for additional information:
You should've come down and joined the crowd outside!
A fair tax would require a conservative party to pass it.
Too bad we don't have one in this country.
You have no idea how much you're paying in taxes.
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