The Grassroots Corner January 10, 2022

 

“I don’t want my kids to grow up in an Uganda," said FAIRtax pledge signer Martin Etwop, who is running for Congress in the Second Congressional District of Texas. “Growing up in Uganda was chaos. I got into this race because America, unlike my native Uganda, has been the land of freedom, but now it is starting to look like Uganda. I have three kids, and I don’t want this to happen.”

Martin Etwop came to the United States in 2005 as a missionary, working at a school and then at a church. Martin’s host group was planning a church in Victorville, California. He had never been across the Pond before, and Martin recalls that the first couple of weeks here were rather strange. The people he was supposed to work with left for a two-week seminar in Florida, leaving him somewhat stranded.

After living in Victorville and later in Hollywood, Martin met the girl he married. For a while, he worked for Tesla in California. Martin approvingly recalls that his company eliminated our reliance on Russia to take our astronauts into space. He and his soon-to-be wife moved to Fremont, California. Martin attended Liberty University, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration. He then went to Law School in San Francisco. He recalls being one of only five conservatives in the law school. He held out for a while, but it got to the point where he needed “his people” around him, and his people were in Texas. So, Martin and his wife moved to Texas.

Martin had been following U.S. politics since 1992, when he was twelve years old. He saw that the food donations that the people in Uganda relied on during all the wars came from the United States. This observation was important because if the U.S. were to say, “I don’t care anymore,” there would be war.

In 2020 Martin was concerned about the integrity of our election system. He noted that many of the ardent Republican critics of the Biden Administration whom Martin agreed with were starting to walk back their statements and change their votes. Martin was also troubled that everybody was “sitting around watching the debt going up.” Martin asked who was going to pay for it. We have debt that you and I are not going to pay. My four-and eight-year-old children are going to have to pay for our stupidity.

On socialism, Martin says he knows what "down-the-road" looks like. People say, "let's try it a little," and little-by-little you open the door and keep letting it through. Then you can't go back. People generally understand that something has to change, but they do not know what the problem with socialism looks like down the road. Martin knows because he lived there. He is like someone who is living in the future.

Martin sees people in Texas and the United States as waking up. They no longer will automatically vote for the candidate they voted for last time just because they have an “R” after their name. They know what they want, and they want it back now.

So, what drew Martin to the FAIRtax? Martin underscores that one shouldn’t be taxed just for sleeping or living. One should pay tax on what one spends. Government shouldn’t tax people for growing their own food. The FAIRtax, Martin notes, taxes you for what you consume, not for the income you earn. And you get back a monthly credit, or prebate, for tax on poverty-level spending. If you consume a lot, you will pay tax. Martin loves that if he gets coffee, he only gets taxed on the coffee, not working. Martin approves of the fact that, under the FAIRtax, everybody pays taxes.

Martin is the first candidate from District 2 to sign the pledge. Martin’s first interviewer, John Gaver, notes that Republicans are similar on most issues, but the FAIRtax lets some stand out.

When Martin talks to people out on the campaign trail, their most frequent response is, “What about an ‘equal’ tax?” meaning a flat tax. The main point here is that we still have the IRS with the flat tax. With the FAIRtax, we get rid of IRS. Today, the principal scam is people preying on senior citizens by saying they are from the IRS. There would be no such calls if we didn't have the IRS. Taxpayers spend billions of dollars to have an organization that spawns these calls.

Martin lives with his wife, two daughters, and a four-month-old son in Conroe, Texas, near Houston.

Martin is running in Dan Crenshaw’s district but has not talked to Dan Crenshaw. Crenshaw does not like debates, preferring events instead. Martin’s friend, Jamesson Ellis, is also in the Republican primary and will be the subject of another Grassroots Corner. He signed the pledge, too, as the second candidate in his district to do so.

You can watch a full interview of Martin by FAIRtax Guy Bob Scarborough at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6IdM0ne6I. You can watch an abridged version of the discussion to fit into the FAIRtax Guys’ time slot at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaK31YS8YHA. FAIRtax Guys Episode #296 aired in Podcast form on December 24, 2021.

Do you know somebody like Martin Etwop? If so, I would love to hear from you.


Take Back Control!

Jim Bennett

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