Congressman Woodall’s excellent report explains that The Ways And Means Committee Members are much more interested in how consumption taxes can work and why they work better than our current system. This is bad news for lobbyists and the other elites in D.C. who make fortunes getting Congress to create complicated procedures that benefit their clients.
According to Opensecrets.org, $3.21 billion was paid to lobbyists in 2015. Many people are willing to accept a much lower salary from a Congressional office because they know that after three to five years, they will likely be able to get a job with a lobbying firm paying a six figure salary.
Reigning in Lobbyists?
President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act ("HLOGA") in 2007. While the law restricted former Members of the House and former Senators from lobbying Congress for two years, and “senior staff” from lobbying for one year, many think that this is not enough.
There is no prohibition on these individuals on working with other lobbyists in their new firm or group to determine the best way to approach their former associates in the House and Senate during this waiting period. We all know that if we use the name of a former influential Senator who now works with us, other Senators and Senate staff are much more likely to meet with us.
As explained in this L.A. Times article, many former members or staff are just not registering as lobbyists. The lure of big money apparently overcomes all else for many of these people.
The FAIRtax and Lobbyists
Many believe that the growth in the number of pages in the federal tax code and the increasing complexity shown in this table from a Wolters Kluwer, CCH report is largely attributable to tax lobbyists.
Congressman Jim Bridenstine, a FAIRtax cosponsor, said, “Fairness has not been enhanced by the tax code, but lobbyists have been made rich, politicians have been re-elected, and the economy has been made to suffer.” The fact that changes to the FAIRtax will be visible to all of us removes one of the biggest opportunities for tax lobbyists—the ability to get changes that only a few ever see.
Can the Lobbyists Be Overcome?
These words of John Linder, the original sponsor of the FAIRtax, addresses this question, “I have seen the times when the grassroots has moved the Congress. We listen way more often to our constituents than the lobbyists. And the grassroots are going to have to do it.”
Yes, money talks but constituents vote. The only threat to their position as Members of Congress is if their constituents vote them out of office. While they may have their “golden parachute” opportunity to become a lobbyist, a Member of Congress who has been “fired” by their constituents loses much of their power. They no longer are treated with the deference and respect reserved to Members of Congress.
We need to keep demanding that our Members of Congress have meetings with us and explain how they can support a failing tax system.
To paraphrase the words of Abraham Lincoln about slavery, If the income tax is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
America’s Big Solution
If you haven’t visited the BigSolution.org website recently, it is time to go there. Here you will find information about how to reach out to more of your friends to help them join us in promoting the FAIRtax.
1040 Club
If you are not a member of the 1040 Club, please join. We have a wonderful opportunity to have our message heard in D.C. and around the country but we need your support. Please go to this link and sign up.
FAIRtax Power Radio
Recently The FAIRtax Guys interviewed Randy Fischer who is a local Marion County, Florida volunteer, a Board member of FFTEA, a Board member of AFFT and the Chair of the AFFT Communications Committee. The main subject of the interview was the new AFFT campaign “America’s Big Solution” and the new website, BigSolution.com. We split the interview into three segments which are now included in Programs 26, 27 & 28 of FAIRtax Power Radio. The links to these programs are included below.
I recommend all FAIRtax Leaders spend the time to listen to Randy explain how the new campaign was conceived, how it was developed and what we hope to achieve with it. If you want to be an effective FAIRtax leader, you need understand this new campaign and FTPR is one of the most efficient ways to gain that knowledge.
To listen to FTPR on SoundCloud (free and audio only) go to these links:
FTPR 26 http://bit.ly/20Revmn
FTPR 27 http://bit.ly/1oYMmOp
FTPR 28 http://bit.ly/1L6YAyg
To “watch” the radio show on YouTube (also free) use the following links:
FTPR 26 http://bit.ly/1TvTi0B
FTPR 27 http://bit.ly/1XIZB1y
FTPR 28 http://bit.ly/1mTEbkL
AFFT National LOGO Store
Your FAIRtax Store carries both 6 foot and 8 foot banners made of 13 ounce commercial grade vinyl material printed on one side and hemmed all sides with grommets spaced every 12 inches. The placement of the grommets allow hanging/displaying in any event environment.
The photo below shows a banner hanging from a standard 8 foot long event table at a recent AMAC Convention in Central Florida. Please note that these banners are only 28” in height which allows hanging from a standard table without hitting the floor.
Don’t forget, for every banner ordered, you will receive a free FAIRtax Thermos with carrying case valued at $24.98. The SS Thermos is double-wall constructed for insulation of hot or cold liquids and has a screw on top, spill-resistant lid plus a pop-up lid for pouring. The carrying case is black leatherette zippered with an adjustable strap. Both the SS Thermos and case have FAIRtax logos.
Visit your National FAIRtax Store frequently and secure supplies for educational meetings, debates, town hall meetings, and other political events. Don’t forget to order extra supplies of FAIRtax Palm Cards – never run out of Palm Cards when the opportunity exists to educate the public.
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!
