Free Republic

It's been 50 years since the War on Poverty was launched and after all that time and trillions of dollars spent about one of every seven people in the country is still living below the poverty line. Everyone on the right and the left seems to agree: in the war on poverty, poverty is clearly winning. So what should be done? You may have noticed that Paul Ryan and the Republican presidential candidates were guests of the Jack Kemp Center in North Carolina the other day, trotting out their ideas on how to combat poverty. But what about the Democrats?...

WASHINGTON — Mike Huckabee, one of the most conservative Republicans in the 2008 presidential race, has embraced one of the most radical ideas on the campaign trail: a plan to abolish all federal income and payroll taxes and replace them with a single 23% national sales tax. The idea -- dubbed the "fair tax" by proponents -- has been a political asset for Huckabee; its well-organized backers have helped catapult him from the back of the presidential pack to its top tier. Sales tax proponents have tapped into seething voter hostility toward the Internal Revenue Service to become a below-the-radar...

Do people on the dole have a reasonable expectation of privacy vis-à-vis their financial affairs? No. That question, though not always my answer, is coming up frequently as defenders of the Democratic Party's $35 billion SCHIP expansion proposal condemn bloggers and talk show hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, who have examined the statement penned by aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and delivered as the official Democratic Party rebuttal to President Bush's weekly radio address by 12-year-old Graeme Frost, that the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is for "families like mine." The questioners' question: If Graeme Frost's family isn't...

The snob appeal of regressive solar energy taxes The Pasadena Pundit - Jan. 21, 2007 Recently, the mainstream media has been surprised that a few "conservatives" are becoming "converts" to green solar power while missing the bigger story that "liberals" across-the-board are now supporting regressive "green power" taxation. The January 12 issue of the Daily Breeze newspaper in the South Bay of Los Angeles believes it was newsworthy to caption a column by New York Times reporter Gregory Dicum "Seeing the Light: Political conservatives begin to embrace solar power as an alternative energy." http://www.dailybreeze.com/today/articles/5167237.html Dicum reports to his astonishment that...

September 11, 2006 Raising the Cigarette Tax is Bad Policy California Prop. 86 Should Be Defeated By: Matt Schumsky In less than two months, Californians will vote on a new $2.60 per pack tax on cigarettes. The new tobacco tax would bring the total cigarette tax to $3.47 a pack. The ballot measure to increase taxes by more than 250 percent is called Proposition 86, or the Tobacco Tax Act. According to California’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst, the total revenue from the Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 could be up to $2.1 billion. What will happen to this new revenue? The...

Ron Deval - boomer, ecologist, humanist, peacenik, political agnostic and unapologetically Canadian - has a surprise for fans of all causes liberal. Reliably left on most issues, Deval is nonetheless passionate about a tax revolution whose growing army is populated largely by conservatives and libertarians. Describing himself as an "advocate of things that favor humanity," Deval is, in short, a Fair Tax maniac. Encouragingly, the Land O' Lakes man is not just another guy with an opinion and a couple of Web sites. He can navigate a spread sheet. After about 20 years designing programs that helped wealthy clients of...

James thought you might be interested in this video on Yahoo! Video: Chuck Anher Fairtax CandidateJames added this message: You need to watch this video. It proves that the Fairtax is picking up steam.

FairTax Rally and a special invitation to you You are invited as special guests and participants to the Neal Boortz FairTax Rally to be held May 24th at the Gwinnett Convention Center outside Atlanta. Not only will this rally feature Congressman John Linder, WSB talk show host Neal Boortz, and FOX News star and conservative commentator Sean Hannity, but also FairTax.org leaders will be on hand, as well as FairTax activist and leader Herman Cain. The goal of this rally, which will be broadcast nationally on Sean Hannity's FOX program, “Hannity & Colmes,” is to "kick up" the heat on...

In Congress today is a tax reform bill called “The FairTax.” I want to tell you a little about it and then tell you why it is important for the immigration debate. The FairTax would institute a national retail sales tax and eliminate the personal income tax, the payroll tax, and the taxes hidden in business but paid by the consumer. It replaces all of these taxes with a 23% tax on personal consumption, meaning that out of every dollar spent by consumers, 23 cents will go to the tax man and 77 cents will go to the merchant. This...

[Note: this is from Nealz Nuze for today. Neal also has a poll about this. Follow this link to participate.] We're working on it. The idea started with a simple book signing for the Atlanta area after the release of the soft-cover edition of The Fair Tax Book. Then we started talking about a venue. Where we we go? A book store? Shopping mall? All the while I have people emailing me begging for some large FairTax rally somewhere. Frankly, I've been reluctant to endorse the idea of trying to have a large rally. When you have 1000 people crowd...

Americans for Fair Taxation Educational and Networking Conferences It was my pleasure to attend an AFFT Educational and Networking Conference in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, January 21st, along with about 300 enthusiastic FairTax supporters. The cost was $10.00 per person to cover lunch and handout materials, which included a nicely done FairTax Volunteer Manual and a Florida Congressional Contact sp;readsheet. Hosted by David Allen, a local talk show host and ardent FairTax supporter, the meeting was focused on grassroots organizing and creating effective citizen action teams to move the FairTax issue forward in Jacksonville and the state of Florida. Following...

FAIRTAX UPDATE There is no doubt that the story of H.R. 25, the FairTax, has been pushed into the background by the Katrina disaster, and perhaps that is as it should be. When hundreds of thousands of people are suffering as they are in the aftermath of Katrina, that is the story. The FairTax is, however, still on the minds of the political class in Washington DC. Congressman Linder tells me that the Republican leadership is more than impressed with the success of The FairTax Book. They have been receiving a steady stream of phone calls, emails, faxes ... and...

I recieved this email. I won't be able to attend, but thought I'd let it be known to others interested. Please attend and support the FairTax!! If you will be able to make this event - you need to RSVP to the person at Heritage below. In addition, we would like to know you will be attending. Please email us at info@fairtax.org and put in the subject line - HERITAGE EVENT. Thank you! FairTax Grassroots Team 1-800-FAIRTAX The Heritage Foundation Cordially Invites You To a Luncheon Seminar *** 2360 Rayburn House Office Building*** Reforming the Tax Code: Flat Tax vs....

Should the U.S. implement a federal sales tax instead of an income tax?

<p>State transportation officials said they need to start charging drivers who use Interstate 95, one of the most heavily traveled interstates on the East Coast.</p> <p>Officials want to install six toll plazas along the interstate in North Carolina. Officials propose to charge $3 at each plaza, which means it could cost $18 to travel in North Carolina on I-95 from the Virginia border to South Carolina.</p>

Dear Supervisors, It seems that the lessons of the spring of 2002 were short lived on the Milwaukee County Board. Do you remember a guy by the name of Tom Amnent? He used to work there; he used to be the County Executive. He's not there anymore is he? Neither are a number of your former colleagues. Yet, again I am hearing the all too familiar rumor of Property Tax Increases from the County Board. Perhaps the lesson wasn't strong enough? Although, having Scott Walker as the new County Exec should be a constant reminder since he ran on a...