Chairman’s Report - December 14, 2018

THE FRENCH YELLOW-VEST PROTESTS AND THE MESSAGE THEY SEND

Many of us have been following the protests in France and the condemnations from the Elites on both sides of the Atlantic.  You see, all French President Emmanuel Macron is doing is putting into effect the Paris Accord by raising taxes on fuel that will supposedly cut green-house gas emissions.  The Elites cannot understand why these protestors don’t understand what is best for them.
 
Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister, has boasted that his administration would not yield to protests.  However, he did cancel the proposed $.67 per gallon fuel-tax increase in response to a growing movement that has sometimes turned violent.  Yet, the protests have not stopped but seem to be growing.  Cole Stangler is Paris based journalist that wrote an interesting article which revealed some interesting data on the protests and the people who are protesting.  Here are some of his points:
 

• After three weeks of protests that have grown increasingly violent—resulting thus far in three deaths, more than 800 injuries, and more than 1,600 arrests, as well as riots in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Paris;
• Outside of major cities, most French people drive cars. French people earn a monthly median income of €1,700 or about $1,900.
• Diesel fuel, which most drivers use, costs more than €1.50 a liter—equivalent to $6.74 a gallon. It’s grown even more expensive over the last year, with costs spiking by about 25%;
• Truck-driver Eric Drouet created a vaguely worded Facebook page calling for a “national movement against tax increases” on November 17.
• More than 282,000 people ultimately responded to Drouet’s call—many of them manning traffic blockades in parts of the country not known for protests, from sparsely populated villages in Brittany to working-class suburbs on the Mediterranean coast.
• A poll conducted just after last Saturday’s riots in Paris showed that, while most disagreed with the use of violence, seven in 10 still backed the movement;About four-fifths of working-class respondents—those defined as blue-collar and service-sector workers in France’s detailed socio-professional classification system—expressed sympathy or support for the movement. Just 56 percent of managers and white-collar professionals felt the same. 

 
HOW DARE THEY
 
The Elites, particularly the ones who have grown wealthy off their access to government officials, like lobbyists or others who receive hundreds of thousands of dollars to do “research” or write papers, are horrified. 
 
How dare people who don’t understand what is best for them protest about any action by the Elites who obviously know best.  It is particularly disturbing to the Elites that 80% of the support for the protests in France are working people.  Haven’t the Elites told all of us that they were protecting the working people against being abused by the wealthy?  (Of course, if you look at the income of many of these Elites, they are often as wealthy or more wealthy than many they deride.)
 
After all, shouldn’t the working people be willing to sacrifice more of their income to support the environmental decisions made by the Elites? 

CONCLUSION

In the U.S., our protests to date have been avoided because the true costs of the income/payroll tax system, evasion of $9 trillion over the next ten years and a system that penalizes U.S. companies and rewards imports have been hidden by simply printing more money. 
 
Everyone knows that Social Security and Medicare will go broke very soon.  Everyone knows that as interest rates increase, the portion of the federal budget devoted to payment of the interest will grow to become larger than most other portions.  It is simple math.
 
What is going to happen when Congress and the Swamp are forced to realize that they can no longer borrow the amounts needed to bridge the gap between the money collected by the income/payroll tax and what is being spent.  If they can’t hide the deficits by borrowing, Congress and the Swamp will have to either cut their reckless spending or start raising more money. 
 
Since it is highly unlikely that Congress will have the courage to actually cut spending, they will have to raise taxes.  Many economists believe that to save Social Security we will have to  increase the payroll tax rate from 15.3% to 20.3%.    Will the “working class” that now pays more in payroll taxes than income tax, just calmly accept this reduction in their standard of living?  Will they start protesting?
 
What if Congress decides not to anger existing workers but to reduce the amount paid to retired workers or somehow put in a means test that strips away the Social Security and Medicare benefits of wealthy retired people making over a certain amount of money.  To save meaningful amounts, “wealthy” will likely be defined as someone who has an adjusted gross income without Social Security of $50,000.
 
Will the affected retirees simply accept reduced benefits and increased costs or will they start protesting? 
 
There is a solution—pass a sane tax system that will create an economic boom that will allow some of these painful cuts in benefits.

WHAT CAN EACH OF US DO


Call up the local or D.C. offices of your House Member and two Senators and you can use the following script:

• I am sure that Representative ____ or Senator ____ is in favor of everyone obeying the income tax laws.
• After they assure you that their boss is not in favor of anyone breaking the law, ask if they are aware of the Cebula study showing $9 trillion of evaded income/payroll taxes over the next ten years.
• Since most will say they don’t believe their boss has seen the study, either drop off a copy or get an email address and send a copy to them for their boss.
• Say you are going to call back in a week and ask what the Representative or Senator is going to do to stop this evasion.
• In a week, call back and ask specifically what the Representative or Senator is going to do to enforce the law.
• They probably will say their boss believes that simplifying the income tax will handle the problem.
• Explain that when people evade income taxes, they are also evading the 15.3% payroll/Medicare tax and state income tax.  So it is unlikely that they are going to pay 30% or 40% when they were paying 0% because they have already decided it is okay to cheat.
• Say that the only way to reduce evasion is to increase by tens or hundreds of thousands the number of comprehensive IRS audits done each year.
• Point out that Evaders do not self-identify by putting an “E” on their income tax return.
• 80% of the people likely to be audited are trying to comply, but they will be forced to endure these IRS audits as well.
• Ask if the Member is in favor of this?
• If they say no, then ask again how the Member proposes to stop people breaking the income tax laws.
• Then explain that the way to handle evasion without unleashing the IRS audits is the FAIRtax.

If you can see your Member or attend a town hall and ask these questions, you can be even more effective. 
 

FAIRtax POWER RADIO

#138 Dear FAIRtax Guys…

This is the “Dear Abby” edition of FAIRtax Power Radio in which “random” viewers and listeners send their letters and The Guys respond to them. 
 
If Paul Ryan wrote to The FAIRtax Guys, what do you think he would say?  How about the pastor of a church or a college student?  What are the burning issues that these people want to discuss with The FAIRtax Guys? 
 
Was the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 really the greatest tax reform in a generation? Or was it just tweaking the current horrible income tax system?  
 
Does the current tax system promote or stifle small business? 
 
What does the FAIRtax have to do with the environment? 
 
Listen to this episode to find out what people are writing in about.
 
If you believe the FAIRtax is good for America, let others know by turning them onto FAIRtax Power Radio - the ONLY weekly FAIRtax digital TV show in the country!  Watch every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET).  We are streaming to Facebook LIVE (www.facebook.com/fairtax).  If you’re not a fan of Facebook, you can watch FAIRtax Power Radio on www.xcluded.tv at the same broadcast time - or any time.  

FTPR podcasts for each show are posted on Spreaker (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes & iHeart Radio every Friday morning.  A free FAIRtax Power Radio app is available for iOS and Android.  Since it’s a podcast, you can download it and play it whenever it’s convenient for you.

The Facebook videos are saved to a number of pages:
FAIRtax Official (https://www.facebook.com/FairTax/) 
The FAIRtax Guys (https://www.facebook.com/thefairtaxguys/) 
Democrats for FAIRtax (https://www.facebook.com/DemocratsForFairTax/)
and many others. 

www.Xcluded.tv is a subscription based site which costs $30 per year and features a number of other shows along with FTPR with no commercial interruption. 

Please help us educate as many Americans about the FAIRtax as possible.  Be sure to tell everyone you know about this great new format for FAIRtax Power Radio.  Whether you watch the weekly video or listen to the weekly podcast, this is a great way for more Americans to learn about the best tax reform plan in Congress at this time.

Tune into our video broadcast each Wednesday.  Or, if you prefer, you can listen to the podcast of the show later.  You can listen to FTPR on any platform - Mac or PC, iPhone or Android. And it’s 100% free.  Listen on Spreaker.com (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes (http://apple.co/1Te8VdF) or iHeart Radio (http://bit.ly/2eqEG7y) on your computer or smartphone.  The easiest way to listen to FTPR on your smartphone is by downloading the free FTPR app.  Just search for “FAIRtax Power Radio” in your app store, download the app and start listening.  

Remember, FTPR digital TV every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET) followed by the podcast on Friday morning.  Please listen and tell everyone you know about the FAIRtax Power Radio.  The FAIRtax: Once You Understand It, You’ll Demand It!

DOES SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEED A BASIC INTRODUCTION TO THE FAIRTAX?
HERE IT IS - AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION

America’s Big Solution provides a foundation or starting point in your study of the FAIRtax and is meant for people of any age.  See below.
 
Do you know someone who would like an introduction to the FAIRtax and would prefer to read about it in a booklet rather than search online for Tweets, Posts and Shares?  If so, America’s Big Solution is their best choice.
 
America’s Big Solution is an introduction to the FAIRtax written by Terry Tibbetts, author of A Spartan Game: The Life and Loss of Don Holleder, with help from Ron Maiellaro, President of the Florida FAIRtax Educational Association.  

You can buy an electronic version of ABS as follows:  AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION is available for only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle (http://amzn.to/1WIRHry), the Barnes & Noble Nook (http://bit.ly/1XeG8bH) and Apple iOS (http://apple.co/1tnqK0P).  

You can purchase a print copy at the same Amazon link above for $9.25.  Regardless of whether you choose the electronic format or the print format, you’ll find AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION will give someone the boost they need to begin their study of the FAIRtax and the suggested resources to learn more. Buy AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION now!

LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION

These links will help you promote and support the FAIRtax, make yourself familiar with the links below. We always do our best to keep our AFFT community up to date, and you can stay ahead of the curve using these convenient sites.

• The website of Americans for Fair Taxation (www.fairtax.org)
• Read the Summary of the Evasion Study. 
• Welcome to the Online FAIRtax Community  (member.fairtax.org) 
• The website at which you can help make it happen. (www.bigsolution.org)
• The Facebook page for Americans for Fair Taxation 
• The Facebook page for The FAIRtax Guys 
• The Twitter page for Americans for Fair Taxation 
• PopVox - Connecting people and lawmakers for more effective participation and better governing 
• YouTube channel for AFFT 
• YouTube channel for The FAIRtax Guys
• The Official FAIRtax Logo Store (www.fairtaxlogostore.org)
• www.Xcluded.tv - A new platform for FAIRtax Power Radio Video and other shows.

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!