[gilligan]

FAIRTAX NEWS ... SOFT-COVER WITH NEW MATERIAL ON THE WAY!

We've received word from Regan Books that there will be a soft-cover edition of The FairTax Book published in May! Not only will there be a soft-cover edition, but John Linder and myself will be given the opportunity to make various edits and to add an "afterword" to the book.

It was just about this time last year when we were busy compiling the research and putting together what was to be The FairTax Book. Nobody; not John Linder, not myself, and certainly not the publisher, thought that the book was going to turn out to be such a huge success. We wrote in the book that much opposition to The FairTax would come from the K Street lobbyists. Over the past few weeks of the Abramoff scandal you have learned just how influential these lobbyists are, and how closely connected they are to the men and women on Capitol Hill who actually make the rules. Well, we were only half-right. The lobbyists did, indeed, step forward to fight the idea of The FairTax. There are tens of thousands of these people in Washington, and most of them owe their incredible incomes to their ability to influence legislators to manipulate our current tax code for the benefit of their clients. The lobbyists are fighting The FairTax, and they're having an affect.

But, as I said, we were only half-right. I can't speak for Congressman Linder here, but I was frankly surprised at the level of opposition to The FairTax that has been expressed by many members of Congress. Thanks to the efforts of my listeners, I have been collecting letters from Congressmen to constituents explaining opposition to The FairTax. Amazingly, most of these letters illustrate a complete misunderstanding of The FairTax proposal, or, worse, a willingness to lie about the proposal to excuse their opposition. Many elected officials, Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, for instance, just do all they can to avoid the subject. Why the opposition? It's clear now that these elected officials are just frightened about the possibility of losing so much power. The adoption of The FairTax would be the largest transfer of power from the Congress to the people since this country was founded, and these politicians know it. They simply are not going to endorse an idea that would take so much power away from them unless their very political survival depends on it. That, of course, is where you come in.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about the opposition to The FairTax is that, for the most part, critics and opponents found it necessary to either change the terms of The FairTax, or to lie about it outright in order to come up with a reason for not supporting the proposal. By now you're aware of many of these distortions and lies:

The FairTax rate is 30%, not 23%

The FairTax would place a horrible burden on the poor.

The FairTax would increase the tax burden on the middle class.

The FairTax isn't progressive enough.

The real rate would have to be 60%.

The IRS wouldn't be eliminated.

We'll have the retail sales tax plus an income tax.

It can't be done.

So, when the soft-cover edition of The FairTax Book hits the bookstores it will have a great deal of additional information detailing the criticisms and answering them. We'll use some of the letters from elected officials to their constituents to show that the opposition is either base in a lack of understanding, or on lies. We'll answer the objections set forth in papers developed by such institutions as the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the Brookings Institute. We'll also show how The FairTax is the answer to our current trade difficulties with China and other emerging economic giants.

So ... something to look forward to!



w0000t!!

[HailChickenWing]

I may well have to buy this new edition and see what the deal is. I'm only really aware of the most basic principles right now.

[gilligan]

^^ fuck yea, most people dont give a rip...

its a great tax system.

[TheBagman]

Fair Tax poans all!