Chairman’s Report - February 27, 2015

FairTax Goes To Washington

I’m writing this report on the plane returning from a very successful trip to Washington, DC. I wish you could have seen the enthusiasm for real tax reform that I witnessed on this trip. It was very exciting!  

On Wednesday, I met with Congressman Steve King (IA-4). Congressman King is very excited about our opportunities to recruit more new House Members as cosponsors. I am very pleased to report that he has agreed to sign a letter that will go to one million individuals who are strong prospects to be new FairTax® supporters! This vital letter is being sent to a list provided by Larry Ward, the founder and owner of Political Media - our new website designer. Our letter will be asking these people to join AFFT and help us pass the FairTax!

In addition, our new AFFT fundraiser, Erin Delullo, invited me to join her at the annual Paul Weyrich awards dinner on Wednesday evening. At the reception, I was able to speak with Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee who is very familiar with the FairTax and who indicated that she was getting a lot of pressure from her constituents to cosponsor H.R. 25. While she didn’t agree to become a cosponsor, I believe that if our Tennessee volunteers increase their requests to her, she most certainly will.  

I also spoke with several leaders of other groups that I have met in the past and who requested that we meet again to discuss how we might work together.  

At the Weyrich dinner, Erin arranged for me to sit at a table with two FairTax cosponsors, Congressman Mark Meadows (NC-11) and Congressman Doug Collins (GA-09), and Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Congressman Meadows urged me to arrange more briefings for Congressional staff and some of the newly elected Members. Thanks to your support, I was able to confirm that we would, and Congressman Meadows in turn committed to promoting the briefings once we confirm the dates.  

On Thursday, my first meeting was with Congressman French Hill (AR-02). This meeting was the result of FairTax volunteer Alan Duncan’s outstanding efforts. Although not yet ready to sign on as a cosponsor, the Congressman assured me that we will meet again in March, and said that he would like to attend the next FairTax briefing.  

I was also scheduled to meet with Congressman Kevin Yoder (KS-03) thanks to the hard work of FairTax board member John Collet. Unfortunately, he was called to the House floor to speak on a bill that he is sponsoring and was unable to return before I had to leave for my next meeting. His staff said that he was eager to share a YouTube video in which he was questioning IRS officials and mentioned that it was time to look at the FairTax. Congressman Yoder and I plan to meet in March.  

For my final meeting, I had the pleasure of being accompanied by David Burton, Senior Fellow for Economics at the Heritage Foundation and co-author of H.R. 25.  David and I met with Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas and Senator David Perdue of Georgia.  We had a robust discussion on moving the FairTax legislation forward and enlisting the support of other Senators. More importantly, both Senator Moran and Senator Perdue assured us that they have no desire to just be names on a bill;  they want the FairTax to become the essential issue in the next Presidential election.

FairTax Chronicles

We are almost ready to release the first of the FairTax Chronicles. The Chronicles will be a great way to receive information from a variety of FairTax sponsors while helping AFFT raise much needed funds – all from the convenience of your computer. And remember, if you do not want to receive Chronicle messages, you always have the option of opting out without affecting your receipt of other FairTax communications. We hope you won’t though, because supporting the Chronicles program is an easy way to help fund the FairTax tax campaign. We looking forward to bringing this important program back to AFFT!

The AFFT 1040 Club And The FairTax Campaign

All of the Members of Congress with whom I met were very excited about our 1040 Club. They believe that not only will it handle our basic budget but can also demonstrate how the FairTax is truly a grassroots organization.  

As I have previously shared, we only need 3,000 people contributing $10.40 per month to meet our minimal operating budget. Plus, we have the power of membership numbers when discussing the FairTax with Members of Congress!

As you can see, every $10.40 monthly contribution is a huge step forward in the FairTax becoming the law of the land. If you are not yet a member of the AFFT 1040 club, please click here and join. And when you are done, if you are able, please consider going to the donate button and sending a one-time contribution that we can use to fund critical projects like Washington travel and district targeting initiatives.  

Thank you for staying FairTax strong!