Free Republic

The Second American Revolution by: Allie Winegar Duzett, October 08, 2009 “This is the real second American Revolution,” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal announced to the applauding audience at the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Defending the American Dream Summit on October 3, 2009. Moore began by addressing the economic troubles America faces today. “It was really very depressing to me to see that we now have an unemployment rate that’s just below ten percent, the highest it’s been in twenty-six years,” Moore said. “It is one of the great tragedies of the past fifty years that we have...

Please, Read and Comment!!! A quick note from the author. First, I want comments. Make a comment, please. Even you just say “it’ll never work,� or “Sounds good to me.� However, I make one other request. For this discussion, I ask you to acknowledge that we currently have an income tax system with various allowances for deductions and credits. This proposal works within that system. I understand that many people wish to reform or replace that entire system. And that there are many opinions on these other reform and replacment proposals. Like most FReepers, I support some of these proposals...

VIDEO: Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, recently appeared on the FOX Business Channel to discuss overhauling the nation's overbearing tax system. Huckabee makes a convincing case in favor of abolishing the IRS and implementing the Fair Tax.

September 14 Monday Fayetteville FairTax September 14, 2009 from 7:30pm to 8:30pm – Cliffdale Library Speaking engagement for the SouthGate Community Watch Program Organized by Scott Manning | Type: fairtax, event September 16 Wednesday Jarrod Martin September 16, 2009 from 7pm to 8:30pm – Peace Luthern Church Jarrod Martin has agreed to come out to talk with us at a meeting of the Beavercreek Liberty Group. Jarrod holds the seat in Ohio's 70th district. Jarrod is a Repub and is a staunch Fair tax advoca... Organized by Phil Claypool | Type: special, meeting September 17 Thursday Fayetteville FairTax September...

"Taxes are the price we pay for civilization" ... Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. The U.S. Tax Code is a perennial whipping boy, and rightly so. It's unfair and monstrously complex. Some would like to replace the entire Tax Code and the IRS with a totally new system. One such idea is the so-called FairTax, which is essentially a national retail sales tax. Although Bruce Bartlett in "FairTax, Flawed Tax" and others have roundly criticized this idea, here are my main reservations about the FairTax: The FairTax treats savers badly. Under the current system, savings have already been taxed. But with...

The article can't be posted due to copyright complaints. The link to the article is below. 'Fair Tax Book' makes a surprisingly strong case

COLUMBIA — According to rally organizers, about 4,760 people attended the Midwest FairTax rally Saturday afternoon to speak in favor of the tax plan that would essentially replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. The rally was held from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The director for the consumption tax movement in the 9th Congressional District, Colin Malaker, has been busy with not only renting the fairgrounds, but also paying for the travel costs of flying in Georgia State Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, and *Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the...

A daylong rally in support of replacing the federal income tax with a 23 percent retail sales tax drew thousands to the Boone County Fairgrounds yesterday. In the style of a Southern revival meeting, a series of speakers took the stage to rail against a government they see as recklessly speeding toward socialism and mortgaging the wealth of future generations in the process. Nearly all interviewed for this story believe it is high time to put the Internal Revenue Service out of business. “Our tax code right now is a man-caused disaster,” said Neal Boortz, a nationally syndicated radio host...

In today’s Washington Post, the White House floats a really scary trial balloon—a new national Value-Added Tax (VAT) to pay for out-of-control spending and a Washington take over of health care. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad appears to be on board. So does Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel, who has been hired by the White House budget office to help design the health care plan and whose book on health care uses a VAT to fund the new government program. Obama economic adviser Paul Volcker is also on-board the VAT-train. ————— "We need to draw...

Wade Founder's Day June 6, 2009 all day – Wade Community Park Wade Founder's Day Event. Providing handout material and Yard Signs, Bumper Stickers, T-Shirts, and FairTax Books Organized by Scott Manning | Type: fundraiserYou have not responded. Dothan, AL Fair Tax Information/Action Seminar June 6, 2009 from 9am to 12pm – Houston County Farm Center Learn about the Fair Tax and see what you can do to help bring it to a reality. Organized by Wiregrass Area Fair Tax Group | Type: seminar You have not responded. June 7 Sunday Murphreesboro TN FairTax Rally June 7, 2009 from...

To raise additional money for the government, just 18% of Americans nationwide favor a national sales tax. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% oppose such a tax. There is more support for the concept if sales tax revenue is used to provide health insurance for all Americans. In that scenario, 40% favor a national sales tax and 49% are opposed. Democrats strongly support a national sales tax to provide universal health insurance coverage. Republicans are opposed by a three-to-one margin, and those not affiliated with either major party are opposed two-to-one. A plurality of Americans would...

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax. Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax -- called a value-added tax, or VAT -- has not been seriously considered in the United States. But advocates say few other options can generate the kind of money the nation will need to avert fiscal calamity. At a White House conference earlier this year on the government's budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded...

Levy Viewed as Way to Reduce Deficits, Fund Health Reform With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.

On May 19, Californians sent a message that the people mean business when it comes to high taxes and big spending. Four ballot initiatives in a special election intended to allow the state government to raise taxes to cover a 21 billion dollar budget shortfall, were soundly defeated sending an unwelcome message to Sacramento that the people picking up the tab for California’s liberal policies have had enough. But it didn’t start, nor did it end, on May 19 in California. Organic tax protests that started as “tea parties” have grown and are now taking shape in different forms even...

FairTax News Alert An Important update for FairTaxers in Seminole County and Greater Orlando May 23, 2009 New FairTax Webinar Thursday, May 28th, at 8 PM Eastern. Following up on last month’s introduction to the FairTax, Marc Manieri’s second live Internet seminar will look at the need for stability of government revenue. Marc will contrast stability in the current income tax system with the stability of a consumption tax (i.e. the FairTax). There will be a presentation followed by Q&A. Audience participation is encouraged. To attend (from the comfort of your own home, of course) you need to register in...

(snip) Rubio's pitch was classic Republican dogma: government is not the answer. He called for a federal balanced budget amendment, term limits, a strong national defense and tax reform -- he said he's a "fan'' of the fair tax and also likes the flat tax. He drew applause for sending his children to "faith-based'' schools and decrying government intervention in the healthcare system. "The more that we are like Democrats, the less need there is for a Republican party,'' he said. In response to a question about immigration, Rubio dropped his previous pleas against harsh attacks on illegal workers. He...

If there’s a positive to the leftward economic lurch among our political class, it has to do with the certainty that the imposed initiatives will fail. No matter the political party or supposed ideology overseeing it, when politicians seek to share the gains of the productive, their efforts come up short. Simplified, collectivism applied is collectivism’s capitulation. So while there’s good reason right now to be pessimistic, there’s also reason to be optimistic given the certainty that we’ll eventually move in the other direction. On the tax front, whatever the result of President Obama’s attempts to move the cost of...

WASHINGTON – Social Security and Medicare are fading even faster under the weight of the recession, heading for insolvency years sooner than previously expected, the government warned Tuesday. Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, a year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner, trustees reported. Medicare is in even worse shape.

“TEA” in Tea Parties has been interpreted as standing for “Taxed Enough Already.” This is catchy and a clever linkage to the original Boston Tea Party. However it is such a narrow acronym that it seriously understates the scope of the current protest movement and lends credence to the left’s assertion that Tea Party protestors are just greedy rich people afraid they’ll have to pay a little more in taxes. The hundreds of thousands who are involved in today’s Tea Party movement are well informed Americans, deeply concerned about a host of issues beyond taxes: national security, socialization, corruption, voter...

Unemployment rate hits 8.9%

... and this time it's none other than Dave Ramsey. The FairTax is a bold proposal. It is only natural that people are going to try to criticize it. Is it too much to ask for these people to do at least a modicum of research so that they at least appear to know what they're talking about? This time the culprit is Dave Ramsey. I like the guy, and I like his approach. His sermons on living debt free are right on, and no doubt he's helped millions of people to improve their financial. OK .. mighty fine. But...

President Barack Obama's move to curb overseas tax havens and job outsourcing was his first major proposal in what promises to be a broad overhaul of the U.S. tax system. Obama chose a relatively populist initial step. Daniel Griswold, an expert at the Cato Institute think tank, said locating affiliates in foreign markets is now the chief way that U.S. companies reach new customers outside the United States. "This demagogic grab for more revenue will only cripple the ability of U.S. companies to expand their sales in global markets, putting in jeopardy the U.S.-based jobs that support their foreign affiliates,"...

Over a year ago, Mitt Romney was losing primaries to John McCain, and conservative pundits from Ann Coulter to Rush Limbaugh predicted the end of the GOP – Coulter went as far as promising she would campaign for Hillary Rodham Clinton if McCain became the party's nominee. By November 2008, the GOP had embraced a nominee who had considered switching parties twice, had opposed tax cuts, and had failed to advance an aggressive shift in a foreign policy that left the GOP discredited in an area it had always trumped in. It's not that McCain's willingness to reach across the...

Boehner says Obama's bills makes him 'want to throw up' Kara Rowland (Contact) The top House Republican said Tuesday that the liberal bills being pushed by President Obama and congressional Democrats make him "want to throw up" and that Mr. Obama's first 100 days in office have shown he has "no plan for keeping America safe." Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said in an interview that decisions such as closing Guantanamo Bay prison and releasing classified memos on CIA interrogation techniques reflect a dangerous, "piecemeal approach" to national security. "I'm just looking at some of these tactical moves...

A quick tour through the week’s headlines suggests the Republican Party is beginning to come to terms with the last election and that consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues. There was Sen. John McCain's daughter and his campaign manager who last week demanded that their fellow Republicans embrace same-sex marriage. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman – the most devoted modernizer among the party's 2012 hopefuls – won approving words from New York Times columnist Frank Rich for his call to downplay divisive values issues. The party’s top elected leaders in...

This is a new book that I have co-authored with Hank Adler, a professor at Chapman University's business school, a post he took up after retirement from a long and successful career as a partner with Deloitte. Hank and I undertook this project because we had --independent of each other and for different reasons-- arrived at the same conclusion: That the "Fair Tax" proposal put forward by my radio tal show host Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder is a disastrous mirage that far too many Republicans have been drawn too, and for all the wrong reasons. "The Fair Tax"...

I attended the Atlanta Tea Party on the 15th. I carried a sign promoting the Fair-Tax. Traveling to the event I wondered if I would see any other Fair-Tax supporters. To my surprise support for the Fair-Tax was everywhere. An outsider stumbling onto the scene would have had trouble determining if this was an anti-tax rally, or a pro-Fair-Tax rally. There were three chants that were regularly yelled by the crowd: USA Fair-Tax Freedom Why did these people associate the Fair-Tax with patriotism and freedom? Because they understand the truth. That the current tax system in this country isn't about...

A ny American who's fretted through filling out his or her income tax returns, churned through the confusing TurboTax online maze or plopped their shoe boxes of receipts down on their H&R Block representatives' desk has to be mumbling today, "There's got to be a better way." A predicted half million frustrated taxpayers will hit the streets nationwide today - the day that tax returns are due - to vent about increasing tax rates, wasteful spending, trillion dollar bailouts and debt being thrust onto our kids and grandkids. But after all the spouting, will anything change in the way we...

I attended the Atlanta Tea Party on the 15th. I carried a sign promoting the Fair-Tax. Traveling to the event I wondered if I would see any other Fair-Tax supporters. To my surprise support for the Fair-Tax was everywhere. An outsider stumbling onto the scene would have had trouble determining if this was an anti-tax rally, or a pro-Fair-Tax rally. There were three chants that were regularly yelled by the crowd: USA Fair-Tax Freedom Why did these people associate the Fair-Tax with patriotism and freedom? Because they understand the truth. That the current tax system in this country isn't about...

Mainstream Media (MSM) reporting the protests were on opposite sides of the spectrum, one camp supportive of the protests and some against. Some MSM outlets reports I watched last night revealed a noticeable diversion from the description reported of the protestors I witnessed, here in New Hampshire. The reporting against the protestors was highly inflammatory and outright disgusting in my opinion. Calling the protesters 'teabaggers' and then proclaiming to a global viewing audience (with funny little smirks) that the slang was deserved because of the symbolic intrument of tea bags utilized seemed like an attempt to be cute in there...

If people need any more concrete explanation of this, start with the staff of life, a loaf of bread. The simplest thing; the poorest man must have it. Well, there are 151 taxes now in the price of a loaf of bread — it accounts for more than half the cost of a loaf of bread. It begins with the first tax, on the farmer that raised the wheat. Any simpleton can understand that if that farmer cannot get enough money for his wheat, to pay the property tax on his farm, he can’t be a farmer. He loses his...

Interview conducted today with Lori Klein, national spokesperson for fairtax.org on the issue of Fair Tax legislation as well as the upcoming Tea Party events coming up this week. Interview conducted by Tom Fredriksen, Old Glory Radio. - LINK TO AUDIO / VIDEO INTERVIEW -

. . . If opening day is the best day of the year for professional athletes, then April 15 -- tax day -- is probably the worst. Especially now that 20 of the 24 states with franchises in at least one of the four major pro leagues -- the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball -- have laws that require visiting athletes to pay state income tax for each game they play there. Considering that top-level athletes in football, basketball, hockey and baseball now make an annual average salary of $2.9 million, that means big bucks for states such...

Waging war against the IRS.

Tax Lovers of America, I wish to alert you to a serious problem. There is a movement across the country to dispose of the Federal Income Tax System and replace it with a National Sales Tax, also called a "consumption tax." It's known as the FairTax proposal. Not only will we lose our income and payroll taxes but we will also lose our gift taxes, estate taxes, capital gains taxes, alternative minimum taxes, Social Security/Medicare taxes, self-employment taxes, and corporate taxes. All this WITHOUT reducing revenue to the Federal Government! The problems with this may already be obvious to you...

Our current income tax system, inaugurated in 1913 with the adoption of the 16th Amendment, began with a 1 percent tax on taxable income above $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples). A series of surcharges of up to 6 percent were applied to higher incomes, with the maximum rate being 7 percent on taxable income over $500,000. Less than 0.5 percent of the population ended up paying income tax. From these humble beginnings, the income tax soon blossomed, thanks to World War I, into a tax with a minimum rate that doubled and a maximum rate that reached 77 percent on...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The White House Wednesday announced a new task force headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to reform the Byzantine US tax code in the hope of recouping billions in lost revenue. White House budget chief Peter Orszag said Volcker and four other top economists will report their recommendations back to President Barack Obama by December 4, and their review will cover three main areas. "One is tax simplification, the second is closing tax loopholes and reducing tax evasion, and the third is reducing corporate welfare," the director of the Office of Management and Budget told...

Iowa Congressman Steve King hosted a "Special Order" on the House floor on March 17 to discuss the FairTax. For an hour, Members of Congress discussed how our legislation can save the U.S. economy. Several H.R. 25 co-sponsors spoke about the FairTax during this historic session. Watch The Video Learn More

Phil Hinson, National Spokesman on Radio Monday, AM March 2, 2009 from 8:15am to 9am – Corning , NY and your computer Special heads up notice for Fair Tax Nation Members and guests. Phil Hinson, National Spokesman for FairTax.org, will be interviewed on the popular “Frankly Speaking Radio show” , with Frank Acomb,... Organized by FairTax.org | Type: radio, interview March 3Tuesday Alabama State Director, National Spokesman on Radio March 3, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm – National coverage and your home computer Special heads up notice for Fair Tax Nation Members and guests. Alabama State Director and National...

You Can Help Save the Nation For Tax Day 2009, we're collecting names to send a message to President Obama about the FairTax, the real stimulus package America needs now more than never. You can make a difference by raising your voice for the FairTax during this critical time for our country. Help us send a powerful message to the White House: Read the "Save the Nation" petition to the right and add your name below.

For Dale Allee, a second-generation cattle rancher in southern Colorado, the idiom that nothing is certain but death and taxes is now a reality. "I just turned 80 last week. You know what that means? That means I'm not going to be around here very long, and somebody's going to have to pay those taxes," said Allee, who fears federal estate taxes will thwart his plans to pass his 4,200-acre Pueblo County ranch to his children. Land-rich but cash poor, Western ranchers are lobbying Washington to exempt them from the estate tax, which can force heirs to sell their inheritance...

America’s economic woes remind us that there’s never been a more important time for the FairTax than right now. Come join thousands of your fellow FairTax supporters, and help us make that point clear to nation for Tax Day 2009. Our "Save the Nation" rally promises to be a great event. We’ll have a number of FairTax All-Stars on hand including radio show host and voice of the FairTax, Neil Boortz, Ken Hoagland, National Communications Director from Americans for Fair Taxation, and many more (final schedule and speaker list is still being finalized). Jacksonville, FL | Saturday, April 11 Doors...

Is it time for the FairTax? When they see a problem – immigration, energy, or a collapse of the credit markets – politicians step forward and announce, “We must do SOMETHING!” That part is a given. What is not a given is what SOMETHING is. And, alas, it comes down to whatever the majority party in the House and in the Senate decides it will be. It will generally be a combination of taxes and spending, and in the current trillion dollar “stimulus” package the spending portion is pork and the tax portion is welfare. To get people back to...

This isn’t a economic recover plan or a stimulus bill.  It is a Democrat wish list, a compilation of projects and schemes they have dreamed about but couldn’t get funded.  Under the advice of Obama’s Chief of Staff, they haven’t “let a crisis go to waste.”  They have even stuck a dagger in “very heart of the widely applauded Welfare Reform Act of 1996,” an Act that has proven positive results. With all the doom-speak, with all the speed and will all the spending, economist agree, this will not help the economy.  Even the Congressional Budget Office expects it to...

If we take the former Health and Human Services nominee, the secretary of the Treasury and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee at face value, federal taxes owed but not paid by each are really an indictment of the income tax system itself. Given the complexity of the tax code, their explanations are not entirely without the ring of truth. But when the chairman of the congressional committee that writes federal tax laws, the man responsible for running the IRS as the secretary of the Treasury and the nominee to head the agency responsible for Social Security...

February 5Thursday Ohio Conference Call February 5, 2009 at 8:15pm – Your house Ohio Monthly Conference Call. The call in number is 1-218-486-8700 access code is 163016. Note the number listed on the event is my cell number in case you have a question it is not the call in num... Organized by Dave Sibole | Type: Conference, Call February 7Saturday Grass Roots Freedom Ride Inaugual Ride & Event February 7, 2009 at 12pm – RaceWorldUSA, Bike with us or meet us in Cornelius, NC (north of Charlotte). Learn about the goals of GFR, enjoy FairTax camaraderie and the...

SEC. 401. ELIMINATION OF SALES TAX IF SIXTEENTH AMENDMENT NOT REPEALED. If the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is not repealed before the end of the 7-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, then all provisions of, and amendments made by, this Act shall not apply to any use or consumption in any year beginning after December 31 of the calendar year in which or with which such period ends, except that the Sales Tax Bureau of the Department of the Treasury shall not be terminated until 6 months after such...

WASHINGTON -- The No. 1 problem facing U.S. taxpayers? A tax code so complex that Americans spend $193 billion per year just trying to figure out how much they owe, said Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, in her annual report to Congress on Wednesday. That amounts to 14% of all income taxes collected, according to Ms. Olson. Tax-code changes have averaged one per day over the past eight years -- with 500 changes in 2008 alone, she said.

The FairTax has been introduced into the 111th Congress as H.R. 25. While that's good news in and of itself, here's some better news. The FairTax is being introduced with more co-sponsors than at any previous Congress. Now why do you think this is? It's because of you .. those of you who are undying in your support of this badly needed tax reform proposal. Now ... since PEBO is making a big time speech today on the economy, here's a little reminder about the FairTax. PEBO is considering a one trillion dollar stimulus bill. Well, what about a $13...

There’s a lot of talk in Washington about yet another so-called “stimulus” package. If the next one is anything like the last one it will simply be a mechanism for taking money away from people who aren’t spending it the way politicians would like, and transferring it to people who will. Our soon-to-be ruler feels like adding some grandiose public works projects (raking leaves in a National Forest) to the list. Let’s break away from these political stimulus ideas for a few minutes and study an absolutely brilliant idea from Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert. Now Louie hasn’t been around...