Chairman’s Report - August 28, 2015

Another Kansas FAIRtax Event

This week’s FAIRtax Friday is written by Earl Long and Mark Saylor about the August 17th event and how it was coordinated with the Senator’s staff. The Senator liked the result and has scheduled another event in Wichita, the other side of Kansas, on September 1st.   He believes that all of our co-sponsors need to consider having these types of events to help educate people about why the FAIRtax is the way to go.

Follow the Money

In the past weeks, I have found that a lot of people ask me the same question, “Why don’t our elected Members see that the FAIRtax will do more to help our country than just about any other thing?”

The D.C. smart people all agree that an increase in the growth of the economy will help everyone.  As John Kennedy said, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”  The Tax Foundation released a study predicting that a reduction in the corporate income tax to 15% will increase our economic growth to 4.3%.   Dr. Karen Walby points out that reducing the corporate rate to zero, following the logic of the Tax Foundation, will increase U.S. economic growth to 10%.  

Economist Art Laffer produced a report showing that compliance with the present U.S. tax code costs $431 billion per year.  This is not even reflecting the increased prices each of us pay because of the embedded taxes in the prices of what we pay.

So why doesn’t everyone come together and endorse the FAIRtax?  These people are certainly smart enough.  The answer, in large part, comes down to money.  Upton Sinclair said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Many large corporations rely on their corporate tax departments to advise them on supporting or opposing the FAIRtax.  These tax departments are paid very well to deal with the complexity of the present income tax system.  In addition, many of these larger corporations have paid and are paying millions of dollars to lobbyists to ensure that they are getting large tax benefits.  The passage of the FAIRtax will greatly reduce the need for these tax departments and many people will need to find other employment.
Many of the D.C. think tanks have economists who have been writing papers and appearing on television shows for decades discussing modifications to the present income tax system.  The passage of the FAIRtax will force these economists to either get new employment or find other issues on which to provide their opinions.  

Finally, the lobbyists in D.C. make at least 50% of their income by lobbying for and obtaining favorable tax treatment for their clients.  Although many of these lobbyists have great personalities and are very smart, the reason that they have access to the Senators and Members of Congress is because they also can help them raise money for their campaigns.  Unspoken by many politicians is the concern that elimination of these lobbyists will make it much more difficult to obtain campaign contributions.

The Solution

The solution is first to recognize that these people opposing the FAIRtax are not just too “stupid” to understand.  Next we have to recognize that these people may have access to campaign money but they don’t control many votes.  If enough of us make it known to the candidates that we will let everyone know who supports the FAIRtax and who supports the present corrupt and broken system.  

As we educate the public they will decide that the only candidates they will support are ones that support legislation that is good for the country—like the FAIRtax.  The voters are still more important than the lobbyists and other D.C. elite and this is the way we get the FAIRtax passed.
 
1040 Club
 
Thanks to each of you that have joined the 1040 Club.  You are ensuring that Americans For Fair Taxation can continue to promote the FAIRtax.

If you are not a member of the 1040 Club, or if you are a member but want to join for someone else, please go to this link and sign up. 

AFFT National LOGO Store and Scrolling Signs

Going into the primary system, it is even more important that all of us have FAIRtax signs that we can bring to political rallies.  Many venues will not allow us to bring signs attached to metal or wood holders.  That is why Rudy Treml designed and had printed the scrolling FAIRtax signs. Visit our National Store at www.fairtaxlogostore.org and purchase some Personal FAIRtax℠ Scrolling Handheld Event signs.

It is a handheld scrolling event sign printed in color on both sides with our new logo. When folded up, this banner is only 2” x 9” but opens up to a 27” x 9” presentation
which self-retracts. It is ideal for all political events and easily fits in a pocket, jacket or purse when not in use.  To see a picture of this banner please click here.

FAIRtax Power Radio

FAIRtax Power Radio is the “on demand” show that plays when YOU want to listen.  Using your computer or smart phone, you can “watch” FAIRtax Power Radio by going to “The FAIRtax Guys” channel on YouTube.  There are over a dozen episodes plus an introduction by The FAIRtax Guys.  For audio only, another source for FTPR is SoundCloud.com; again search for “The FAIRtax Guys” to find the channel on www.soundcloud.com.  Both YouTube and SoundCloud have free apps for smart phones so you can listen whenever and wherever you wish.  Each episode is a half hour long.  Episode #1 talks about the need for REAL tax reform and continues to build the case with each episode in an informative yet entertaining way.  The goal is to offer a discussion of the most thoroughly researched tax reform proposal, the FAIRtax, and make it seem like a family discussion at the kitchen table.  Listen to the program and then tell your friends and relatives about the show.

Thank You For Opening The FAIRtax Chronicles, Our Sponsored Mailings 

We plan to do several of these mailings each month. If you take a minute to open the sponsored emails and click through to the website, you are making an in kind contribution to AFFT. It is not required to actually make a purchase, but your minute of time will ensure that AFFT is paid ever larger amounts from people paying for us to send their offers to our supporters.

Again, we are making every effort to ensure that we work with only reputable companies. If you feel that any FAIRtax-sponsored email is objectionable, please email us at info@fairtax.org and tell us why. You can also opt to not receive these sponsored email messages but still receive FAIRtax emails.
  
Thank you for staying FairTax strong!