As you know, there are 435 house seats and approximately 33 senate seats being contested this election cycle. One of those house seats, the 9th congressional district of Georgia, features a contest between a current and a former sponsor of HR 25. That matchup makes that contest distinctive in our eyes.
In previous election cycles, Georgia For FairTax (GFFT) has issued a grade for each candidate for federal legislative posts. However, due to our recent focus on getting a state bill passed and the sheer volume of work being done by a small handful of volunteers, our board decided that a full grading of all candidates was impractical for this cycle. However, we did think that we have a duty and a responsibility to educate our supporters on this particular race. Accordingly, we offered to each of the five candidates the opportunity to address a letter to our supporters which we would publish in our FairTax Friday. All five candidates were invited by e-mail (or snail mail in one instance) to submit an open letter to us by Tuesday, April 26. Those five candidates were as follows:
Doug Collins (R)* - (Campaign Site)
Paul Broun (R) - Ex-Congressman, Physician & '14 US Sen. Candidate
Roger Fitzpatrick (R) - Retired Educator, USMC Veteran, Tea Party Activist & '12 Candidate
Bernie Fontaine (R) - Retired Army Brig. General & Community Activist
Mike Scupin (R) - Retired Businessman & Tea Party Activist
http://www.politics1.com/ga.htm
Dr. Broun was the only one of the five who responded and we are hereby publishing his letter as we agreed to. Please be aware that the requests were sent out a week prior to the deadline and that is not a lot of time for a congressional candidate who is likely to be running as fast as he can to make campaign appearances and plans.
Both GFFT and AFFT have non-partisan policies and nothing in this, or any other communication to you, should be interpreted as a violation of that policy. We take that policy very seriously. That does not merely mean that we do not take sides in contests between democrats and republicans, but also in inter-party primary contests. We do not endorse candidates, but we do inform our supporters of the stances of our political leaders on the sole issue that is the concern of our organization. While we fully expect our supporters to make voting and support decisions on issues other than the FairTax, we also firmly believe that we have an obligation to help them make informed decisions with respect to our issue. It is up to you as an individual voter to include this information into your voting decision or your decision to financially support and to weigh it as you think appropriate. We are an educational organization, and not a political advocacy organization.
Thank you.
Philip Hinson
Vice President/AFFT
Board member/GFFT
Dear FairTax Supporters,
My name is Paul Broun and I’m running for Congress in Georgia’s Ninth District.
I’m an ardent supporter of the FairTax. The tax code is one of the most important issues in our country because it affects everyone. Currently, the tax code a convoluted, job-killing disaster. To fix it, we need to abolish the IRS, repeal the 16th Amendment, and implement the FairTax.
I’ve got a record of fighting to do this. During my previous time in Congress, I cosponsored the bill to implement the FairTax. I will absolutely do this again when I’m back in Washington, and have signed the FairTax Pledge.
But it’s not enough to simply lend some support to a bill. To get things accomplished, a Congressman has to actively fight for bills. I will do this for the FairTax.
This means engaging people in the Ninth District, people across the country, and other Congressmen to explain the benefits of the FairTax. As a longtime supporter of the FairTax I have experience doing this in Georgia as well as in Washington. This gives me a leg up in being able to effectively push the FairTax through the House of Representatives.
With your support, we can send one more FairTax supporter to Washington. My pledge to you personally is that I will do more than just give the FairTax lip service. Instead, I’ll fight day in and day out to make it the law of the land.
Best,
Paul Broun, MD