VEGAS, BABY!
It all started with a text message from North Carolina state FAIRtax Director Laura McCue. “I’ve come across a really good FAIRtax opportunity. Call me and we’ll talk about it”.
It turns out that this “really good opportunity” was an invitation Laura had received. It’s no surprise that with all the dissatisfaction in today’s political climate that there would be a larger than normal number of people wanting to replace sitting Members of Congress. However, many of these candidates are running for the first time and need some guidance on how to run a successful campaign. Thus, a conference was organized as sort of a candidate boot camp, and the organizer wanted Laura to address the attendees on the FAIRtax.
After sharing what she knew about it, Laura popped the $64,000 question. Would the FAIRtax Guys be willing to join her at this conference in Las Vegas?
I had never been to Vegas, and quite honestly, I never really had any desire to go. I’m just not into gambling and gaudy entertainment, but the chance to educate a whole conference full of potential Congressional Representatives on the FAIRtax was too good to pass up. Fortunately, my FAIRtax Power Radio partner Ron Maiellaro agreed, so on April 23, we hopped a plane from Tampa to Vegas. Nonstop. Five hours in the air shoehorned into a small economy class seat. The things we do for the cause. [Editor’s note: Bob, Ron, and Laura all paid their own expenses, too.]
Upon arriving at the hotel, we caught up with Laura to go over our presentation. We would have a 40-minute time slot to do whatever we wanted. Since this was a different audience than we had ever presented to before, we took a different approach. These were candidates running for office. They didn’t need to know the nuts and bolts of how the FAIRtax works. They needed to know how to use the FAIRtax to appeal to voters.
We knew that our best tool would be Paul Wizikowski’s “Lunch and Taxes” videos. If you haven’t seen them, check them out here. These videos are now twelve years old, but they’re still the best illustration I’ve ever seen showing just how absurd the income tax is when compared side by side with the FAIRtax.
We had everyone watch the videos with the mindset that the young lady was an undecided voter. The two men were candidates running against each other describing their vision for what taxation in America should look like, and the young lady was trying to decide who to vote for. By the time the last video was over, it was game, set and match for the FAIRtax.
We intentionally cut our presentation short to allow time for Q&A. Some who were not familiar with the FAIRtax asked some pretty basic questions. Others asked deeper ones, but the questions came nonstop. Clearly our audience had been paying attention and liked what they heard. There were still plenty of questions left in the audience when our time ran out.
For the rest of the day, we were answering questions in the hall and collecting signatures on FAIRtax candidate pledges. The high point for me came from Rubin Young who will be running in Florida’s 23rd district trying to unseat Debbie Wasserman Schultz next year.
We had met Mr. Young at CPAC. He was not familiar with the FAIRtax then and we gave him a brief introduction in the short time we had with him. In the hall after our presentation, he came up to me and said, “You sealed the deal today. I’m a FAIRtax man all the way”. That made the whole trip worth it.
For the trip back to Florida, we had gotten smarter. Instead of a five hour direct flight, we took a break in Jade Walle’s stomping grounds opting for a connection in Denver. Our heartfelt thanks to Laura McCue for making all this possible and we hope to repeat our success at other such conferences in the future.
It all started with a text message from North Carolina state FAIRtax Director Laura McCue. “I’ve come across a really good FAIRtax opportunity. Call me and we’ll talk about it”.
It turns out that this “really good opportunity” was an invitation Laura had received. It’s no surprise that with all the dissatisfaction in today’s political climate that there would be a larger than normal number of people wanting to replace sitting Members of Congress. However, many of these candidates are running for the first time and need some guidance on how to run a successful campaign. Thus, a conference was organized as sort of a candidate boot camp, and the organizer wanted Laura to address the attendees on the FAIRtax.
After sharing what she knew about it, Laura popped the $64,000 question. Would the FAIRtax Guys be willing to join her at this conference in Las Vegas?
I had never been to Vegas, and quite honestly, I never really had any desire to go. I’m just not into gambling and gaudy entertainment, but the chance to educate a whole conference full of potential Congressional Representatives on the FAIRtax was too good to pass up. Fortunately, my FAIRtax Power Radio partner Ron Maiellaro agreed, so on April 23, we hopped a plane from Tampa to Vegas. Nonstop. Five hours in the air shoehorned into a small economy class seat. The things we do for the cause. [Editor’s note: Bob, Ron, and Laura all paid their own expenses, too.]
Upon arriving at the hotel, we caught up with Laura to go over our presentation. We would have a 40-minute time slot to do whatever we wanted. Since this was a different audience than we had ever presented to before, we took a different approach. These were candidates running for office. They didn’t need to know the nuts and bolts of how the FAIRtax works. They needed to know how to use the FAIRtax to appeal to voters.
We knew that our best tool would be Paul Wizikowski’s “Lunch and Taxes” videos. If you haven’t seen them, check them out here. These videos are now twelve years old, but they’re still the best illustration I’ve ever seen showing just how absurd the income tax is when compared side by side with the FAIRtax.
We had everyone watch the videos with the mindset that the young lady was an undecided voter. The two men were candidates running against each other describing their vision for what taxation in America should look like, and the young lady was trying to decide who to vote for. By the time the last video was over, it was game, set and match for the FAIRtax.
We intentionally cut our presentation short to allow time for Q&A. Some who were not familiar with the FAIRtax asked some pretty basic questions. Others asked deeper ones, but the questions came nonstop. Clearly our audience had been paying attention and liked what they heard. There were still plenty of questions left in the audience when our time ran out.
For the rest of the day, we were answering questions in the hall and collecting signatures on FAIRtax candidate pledges. The high point for me came from Rubin Young who will be running in Florida’s 23rd district trying to unseat Debbie Wasserman Schultz next year.
We had met Mr. Young at CPAC. He was not familiar with the FAIRtax then and we gave him a brief introduction in the short time we had with him. In the hall after our presentation, he came up to me and said, “You sealed the deal today. I’m a FAIRtax man all the way”. That made the whole trip worth it.
For the trip back to Florida, we had gotten smarter. Instead of a five hour direct flight, we took a break in Jade Walle’s stomping grounds opting for a connection in Denver. Our heartfelt thanks to Laura McCue for making all this possible and we hope to repeat our success at other such conferences in the future.
[Editor’s note: We thank FAIRtax Guys Bob Paxton and Ron Maiellaro and North Carolina State Director, Laura McCue, for making this event successful. If even one of the candidates at the Las Vegas event breaks through in 2022 and is elected to Congress, the trip will have made a huge difference.]
Yours In the FAIRtax Movement!Jim Bennett
AFFT Grassroots Coordinator & Secretary
🇺🇸 We've Got You Covered If You Let Us Know - If you are planning an event, we have event insurance coverage available for you. Email me the "who-what-where-when" and I will obtain for you a COI. Once the event is underway, it's too late.
🇺🇸 Call For Pictures & WriteUps - When others see your activity, they are inspired, the process snowballs and Representatives, Senators and, yes, even the President start to listen to you and me. Please send your material to me at Jim.Bennett@FAIRtax.org.
🇺🇸 The Official FAIRtax Store - Don’t forget to order your FAIRtax gear from the FAIRtax Store.