Chairman’s Report - January 9, 2015

The New Fairtax.Org
 
As Cindy points out in her excellent article, the new FairTax.org is now live.  Please take a look and suggest how we can provide content that will be helpful to you in promoting the FairTax.
 
Dynamic Scoring
 
When we met with Congressman Paul Ryan (WI-1), he made it clear to Cindy and me that he was going to push dynamic scoring.  Congressman Ryan stated that accurate scoring is essential to correctly and properly evaluate the economic impact of proposed tax legislation.  When you have a tax reform like the FairTax®  which all the economists agree will have an immediate effect on jobs and economic growth.  To not take this into account but simply assume that all tax revenue bills are the same is incomprehensible to most of us who don’t live in Washington, D.C. 
 
The new Congress was sworn in on Tuesday and one of the first bills passed by the House of Representatives was one calling for dynamic scoring.  The Senate has not acted as of today but Senator Hatch has indicated that he is strongly in favor of dynamic scoring. 
 
As we have said before, the implementation of dynamic scoring removes one of the biggest impediments to passage of the FairTax. 
 
Can the FairTax Pass?
 
For many years, one of the most frustrating conversations many of us have experienced is with the person who agrees that the FairTax makes sense, is the best way to collect federal income taxes, is the best way to create jobs and economic growth and by eliminating the IRS takes a giant step toward regaining many freedoms we have lost.   However, the person then looks you in the eye and says, “I can’t really get active because it will never pass.”
 
Rather than argue, I generally say that they are right that if no one tries to pass the FairTax, it will not be passed.  I sometimes quote Elbert Hubbard who said, “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”
 
However, I recently was reading Conscious Capitalism, a book by Whole Foods co-Founder John Mackey and Raj Sisodia.  They refer to a time when Mahatma Gandhi was challenged by a history professor.  The professor pointed out that there was no historical evidence that nonviolence was ever successful in accomplishing something so massive as gaining freedom for India.  Mr. Gandhi responded, “Sir, your job is to teach history while mine is to create it.”
 
Our job is to create history by passing the FairTax.  And what a legacy we will leave our children. 
 
I want to close with a George Bernard Shaw statement I often recall when I get personally frustrated by a seeming lack of progress, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
 
 
Thank you for staying FairTax strong!