The Web site for Mr. Goodman’s candidacy, www.JackGoodman.org, does not specifically address the issue of tax reform. Nor have I seen his position on tax reform stated in any printed materials. So, I made a call to the number listed on the Web site and asked. I was told that Mr. Goodman does indeed support the FairTax plan, and that if elected he would not only support it but would work to promote it as a U.S. Congressman.

In an interview conducted by KY3 News on July 19, 2010, Mr. Goodman had this to say when asked about his view of the FairTax initiative:
“I support the FairTax with minor modification and think the economic potential is tremendous, especially if we are able to pass a federal version.  In 2009, I was the Senate handler for Missouri’s version of the FairTax. The FairTax is transparent, eliminating the hidden layers of imbedded taxation in the retail price of products.  It also forces those who currently evade taxation to pay their share, such as drug dealers, illegal aliens and those in organized crime.  The Fair Tax would also be a huge incentive to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.”

While I would have liked to see a more demonstrative statement of his support of the FairTax plan in his candidacy materials I have to conclude that Jack Goodman is certainly worthy of consideration for the Missouri District 7 seat. I’ll leave you to evaluate his position on other issues, but as for the FairTax plan I believe he, ‘gets it.’

SUMMARY AS OF:
1/22/2009–Introduced.

Fair Tax Act of 2009 – Repeals the income tax, employment tax, and estate and gift tax. Redesignates the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as the Internal Revenue Code of 2009.

Imposes a national sales tax on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services. Sets the sales tax rate at 23% in 2011, with adjustments to the rate in subsequent years. Allows exemptions from the tax for property or services purchased for business, export, or investment purposes, and for state government functions.

Sets forth rules relating to: (1) the collection and remittance of the sales tax; and (2) credits and refunds. Allows a monthly sales tax rebate for families meeting certain size and income requirements.

Grants states the primary authority for the collection of sales tax revenues and the remittance of such revenues to the Treasury. Sets forth administrative provisions relating to: (1) the filing of monthly reports and payments of tax; (2) accounting methods; (3) registration of sellers of goods and services responsible for reporting sales; (4) penalties for noncompliance; and (5) collections, appeals, and taxpayer rights.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to allocate sales tax revenues among: (1) the general revenue; (2) the old-age and survivors insurance trust fund; (3) the disability insurance trust fund; (4) the hospital insurance trust fund; and (5) the federal supplementary medical insurance trust fund.

Prohibits the funding of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after FY2013. Establishes in the Department of the Treasury: (1) an Excise Tax Bureau to administer excise taxes not administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and (2) a Sales Tax Bureau to administer the national sales tax.

Terminates the sales tax imposed by this Act if the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (authorizing an income tax) is not repealed within seven years after the enactment of this Act.

As you can see this is the briefest of overviews of what the bill actually calls for, but we’re going to take the bill one tasty morsel at a time, chew it, digest it and analyze it for ourselves. Along the way we’ll also take a look at the criticisms and claims of those on both sides of the issue, and hopefully we can bring you reasoned input from both sides.

No, the FairTax is not a perfect plan. No tax system ever will be. But, it is fair; it makes sense; and, it is transparent. It is the catalyst that will change the direction of our Country and enable us to regain the path to prosperity.

Billy Long seems to be leading the pack of the Republican candidates so I decided to take a look at his position first. Mr. Long seems like a strong candidate in most respects, but unfortunately when it comes to the FairTax his position is a little weak and muddled. In his ads online and in print he indicates that he is in favor of “Fair Tax” (with the space between the two words). There’s a big difference between “Fair Tax” and the FairTax plan. Everyone claims to be in favor of “Fair Tax.” That is not specific support of the FairTax plan. In fact, Mr. Long’s stance on the issue of taxes states, “Billy is open to either a flat tax or a fair tax as a way to fix our tax system.”

This is like saying, “I’d be happy to take more poison or the antidote as a way to recovery.” The tax on income is the fundamental problem, and no amount of tinkering with it is going to fix it. Mr. Long’s openness to a flat tax indicates that he either doesn’t truly understand the problem, or he wants to ride the wave of support for the FairTax into a Congressional office.

I placed a call to the offices of ‘Billy Long for Congress’ to confirm his position on the issue, and was told that although his first choice would be the FairTax he is also open to a flat tax on income because of the difficulty of getting the FairTax passed. I’m sorry, but this is exactly the kind of wishy-washy stance we do not need in Washington.

There is no ‘either, or’ in the issue of tax reform. This Country will crumble under the weight and corruption of the income tax system, and we need representatives that understand that and are eager to fight for a new future. Accepting more of the same just because something is better than nothing isn’t going to cut it any longer. The only solution to our Country’s fiscal woes is to rid ourselves of taxes on income. Anything less is just politics. I wish Mr. Long all the best, but at this point I couldn’t vote for him.

I’ve come to realize, though, that by trying to keep up with every issue I am not truly keeping up with any. While I may be somewhat familiar with the issues surrounding border security and immigration, terrorism and terrorists, tax reform, the economy, the environment, our health, our military conflicts, education, the oil spill in the gulf, and the ongoing tragedy of Lindsay Lohan, just to name a few, I can not hope to become and remain fully informed on all of them. So, what’s a voter to do?

I have decided that for the time being and for the foreseeable future I’m going to pick one as my primary issue. I’ll still follow the other important issues, of course, but my primary issue will be my focus. And, this primary issue is going to be tax reform, or more specifically the FairTax.

The November elections will soon be upon us and all the candidates will march about saying all the things they think we want to hear. Their position on most issues is predictable. No candidate is going to come out against border security, or for terrorism. Their positions on most issues will differ only by degrees and approach.

But, the issue of the FairTax is a line in the sand. The FairTax specifically proposes the abolishment of the federal income tax, and its replacement with a national consumption tax. American citizens, tourists, immigrants, anyone who spends money in America at the retail level will contribute to our national coffers. We determine how much tax we pay by how much we spend, and everyone pays the same percentage amount. The government’s ability to control the Country by manipulating the tax code goes away. And, any political candidate who supports handing the reins of the Country back over to the citizens of the Country by passing and enacting the FairTax is worthy of serious consideration.

I chose this as my primary issue because I am convinced that passing the FairTax plan is the single most important step we can take in preserving this republic of the United States of America. Our politicians and our government have become corrupt beyond reason and they will not correct themselves. Only by forcing them to relinquish their power to manipulate the flow of money can we hope to find equilibrium.

This is not to say that the other issues we face are not equally important, but I believe the FairTax is our best chance of returning our Country to prosperity through government by the people.

So, in the coming months we will be looking more closely at the FairTax plan and how it is meant to work. We will also look into the political candidates who support it or don’t support, as well as those who merely claim to support it as a bid for your vote.

If you want to learn more about the FairTax I urge you to visit the Americans for Fair Taxation Web site at www.FairTax.org.

The Star Spangled Banner
1814
Words by Francis Scott Key, Music by John Stafford Smith

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep.
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the Star-Spangled Banner! O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the Star-Spangled Banner, in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: “In God is our Trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The National Anthem Project

I just watched one of the most brilliantly conceived, and apparently misunderstood, films I have ever seen. It’s called “The Day My Parents Ran Away.” It’s from 1993 but it’s incredibly pertinent today.

In the movie, Matt Miller is this spoiled little teenager who manipulates his parents and every other adult around him into giving him whatever he wants. He goes blithely through his days innocently convinced that he is entitled to everything his parents provide for him, and more. He thinks it unfair that his parents have the larger bedroom in the house when he has twice as much stuff as they do. He is completely bemused when his parents get tickets to a concert and plan to use their car on a night when he intended to use it. In other words, Matt is a liberal.

Matt’s parents, Bob and Judy, finally get fed up and leave. Of course, they leave him the house and a credit card and Matt is in Donkey heaven mindlessly piling up charges for a non-stop teenage party. He’s perfectly happy with this new arrangement so long as he continues to get everything he wants. In fact, he thinks he is representative of teenagers everywhere. Everything is groovy until the credit card is maxed out, the house is in shambles, the electric company turns out the lights, and his girlfriend, Melanie, dumps him on grounds of stupidity.

Eventually Matt learns that his future is ultimately up to him. He does some growing up and goes to work. Melanie, who saw his potential all along, gives him another chance. Bob and Judy come home and everybody lives happily everafter.

This quirky little film is a perfect mirror of our society. The liberals are convinced of their entitlement to all things. So long as they get whatever they want they don’t care, or even consider, who’s paying the bills. The more they get the more they want, and the very idea that a person deserves what they earn is just too confusing to even think about.

What, I wonder, would happen if those who actually are working and footing the bill in our society suddenly said, “You know what? We’ve had enough. Here’s the keys. Whatever’s left in the treasury is yours. Give us a call when you grow up.”

True, it’s not practical but it sure is fun to think about.

What do you think?

I tried to explain that the government was only sending him back his own money, less any interest he could have earned on it. He wasn’t being given anything. But, it didn’t seem to matter. He was getting a check from the government.

I came home and logged on to Facebook. There was a post by my niece, “Yay!! We’re getting our tax refund on Friday!”

I don’t get it. How have we allowed ourselves to be convinced that a tax refund is a good thing? That means that during the past year you paid more taxes than you should have. The government used your money, or more properly misused it, and now they are going to send you a little portion of it back. And forget about the interest you could have made on that money. The Gov doesn’t pay interest. That’s just gone. Except, of course, that they earned interest on it while they had it, and they keep that money.

Why are we still putting up with this nonsense? Income tax was not part of the original plan. Every system of taxation that exists today existed back in 1787. If income tax were a good idea it would have been included in the Consitution from the beginning. But, it’s not a good idea. In fact, it is a horrible idea. The harder you work, the more they take. The more you earn, the more they take. The more you have, the more they take. It punishes us for striving to do what our natural instincts drive us to do, succeed.

It’s time to stop the madness. In 1913 the government pulled the wool over the eyes of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers when they convinced them that a tax on income was necessary. Now, generations later, we are still wearing that wool. Only now it’s grown wet and stinky and too heavy to carry any longer. It’s time to say, “Enough.”

There is an Online Tax Revolt going on right now, and you can join in and add your voice to those of your family, friends and neighbors from all over the Country. It’s free to join. It’s a virtual march on Washington that began last week and will culminate with an actual march that will take place on April 15. You can participate in the virtual march online or you are most welcome to actually go to Washington and be a part of the historic event in April. Do one, or do both, but for the sake of our Country and the future of our grandchildren please do something.

Go to Online Tax Revolt.com and sign up right now.

Cordially,

Tim Couch

The story goes that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out to save its life. However, if you place a frog into a pot of cool water and then slowly raise the temperature of the water the frog will stay in the pot and die.

So, I got me a frog, and a pot, and some water. I brought the water to a boil and dropped the frog in, and sure enough that little sucker came out of there like he’d been shot out of a little frog-cannon.

Next, after finally catching the frog, I filled the pot with cool water and placed the frog in it. Then, I slowly turned up the heat under the pot. The frog continued to swim around in the pot even as the water grew hotter and hotter. I waited long enough to satisfy the experiment but not long enough for the frog to die because that would be cruel, and frogs aren’t easy to find in February.

Next, I placed a copy of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Mark Levin’s “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto”
into the pot with the frog. After a couple of days I again slowly increased the heat under the pot, and once again the frog just swam around until he was almost frog soup.

So one more time, I filled the pot with cool water and placed the frog inside. I set the television to the Fox News channel and tuned in talk radio. After a couple of days I returned and once more turned up the heat. The water grew warmer and warmer, and I could see that the frog was increasingly uncomfortable but yet he continued to swim. Then, just as steam began to rise from the pot the frog swam over to the side, climbed up onto the rim, and hopped down onto the counter-top. He turned, looked up at me and slowly shook his head from side to side. He hopped over to the knob on the stove-top and turned the burner under the pot off. He raised one little wet frog-finger and with it he drew a coiled rattlesnake in the condensate moisture, and below the snake he wrote, “Don’t Tread On Me.” And then, he hopped back into the pot. Thus, proving conclusively once and for all that frogs don’t read.