Eye on the Candidates

Just went and looked at the Presidential Scorecard kept by the Fair Tax people - Fred Thompson has somewhat dropped off my list after he said supported a flat tax system. I've been keeping an eye on Ron Paul - he's not in the line of the mainstream polls because he's embracing the new media - the internet and the youth that know how to use it.

Think I'll keep an eye on Mike Huckabee too. I love the quote from him "I want to be the president of the United States that nails the going-out-of-business sign on the Internal Revenue Service and ends a $10-billion-a-year nightmare called the IRS."

If people would just wake up ...

Seceding

While I might not agree with some of their rhetoric, they have the right idea - Seceding from the Union. I too am tired of the federal government trying to tell me what to eat, drink, wear and think. Let's not even get into taxes or social insecurity.

From this article The Once and Future Republic of Vermont:

The United States has destroyed the 10th Amendment, which says that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Doing a little gleaning, seems like Vermont isn't the only state thinking like this. Other state including Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Texas are thinking along the same lines.

I'll try and hunt down the "official" website devoted to each states movement, but I'm sure there is enough chatter for you to be able to Google the topic.

It's something to think about - government has gotten too big, politicians are making careers out of what should have been a short service to city, state or country. Forcing laws on us treating us like we are too stupid to think for ourselves. The list goes on and on.

Good Riddance, Cindy Sheehan

First, let me preface this with I am sorry for the loss of Cindy Sheehan's son. But what his mother still does not get to this day is that he died defending her freedom to protest. That's the oath we all take when we enlist, "...I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." He died defending her right to say what she felt.

The Fair Tax Plan - The Best Way To Tax Illegals

It took me a little while to wrap my brain around this plan. All I could think of was going to the store and seeing 23% sales tax added on top of my purchase. I could not have been more wrong. Reading through The FairTax Book by Neal Boortz & Congressman John Linder
cleared that misunderstanding right up and gave me quite an economics lesson. I understand "embedded" taxes much better now.

My gut feeling is that there are quite a few other people who may be under the same misconception that I held - 23% sales tax at the register. So let's start with just the basics - here is a thumbnail sketch (from www.fairtax.org):

Thumbnail Sketch of the FairTax

(PDF VERSION)

The FairTax proposal is a comprehensive plan to replace federal income and payroll taxes, including personal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security/Medicare, self-employment, and corporate taxes. The FairTax proposal integrates such features as a progressive national retail sales tax, dollar-for-dollar revenue replacement, and a rebate to ensure that no American pays such federal taxes up to the poverty level. Included in the FairTax Plan is the repeal of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. The FairTax allows Americans to keep 100 percent of their paychecks (minus any state income taxes), ends corporate taxes and compliance costs hidden in the retail cost of goods and services, and fully funds the federal government while fulfilling the promise of Social Security and Medicare.

Americans take home their whole paychecks.
Not only do more Americans have jobs, but they also take home 100 percent of their paychecks (except where state income taxes apply). No federal income taxes or payroll taxes are withheld from paychecks, pensions, or Social Security checks.

The prebate makes the FairTax progressive.
To ensure no American pays tax on necessities, the FairTax Plan provides a prepaid, monthly rebate (prebate) for every registered household to cover the consumption tax spent on necessities up to the federal poverty level. This, along with several other features, is how the FairTax completely untaxes the poor, lowers the tax burden on most, while making the overall rate progressive. However, the FairTax is progressive based on lifestyle/spending choices, rather than simply punishing those taxpayers who are successful. Do you see how much freer life is with the FairTax instead of the income tax?

No tax on used goods. The amount you pay to fund the government is totally visible.
With the FairTax you are only taxed once on any good or service. If you choose to buy used goods − used car, used home, used appliances − you do not pay the FairTax. If, as a business owner or farmer, you buy something for strictly business purposes (not for personal consumption), you pay no consumption tax. The FairTax is charged just as state sales taxes are today. When you decide what to buy and how much to spend, you see exactly how much you are contributing to the government with each purchase.

Retail prices no longer hide corporate taxes or their compliance costs, which drive up costs for those who can least afford to pay.
Did you know that income taxes and the cost of complying with them currently make up 20 percent or more of all retail prices? It’s true. According to Dr. Dale Jorgenson of Harvard University, hidden income taxes are passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices for everything you buy. If competition does not allow prices to rise, corporations lower labor costs, again hurting those who can least afford to lose their jobs. Finally, if prices are as high as competition allows and labor costs are as low as practical, profits/dividends to shareholders are driven down, thereby hurting retirement savings for moms-and-pops and pension funds invested in Corporate America. With the FairTax, the sham of corporate taxation ends, competition drives prices down, more people in America have jobs, and retirement/pension funds see improved performance.

The income tax exports our jobs, rather than our products. The FairTax brings jobs home.
Most importantly, the FairTax does not burden U.S. exports the way the current income tax system does. The FairTax removes the cost of corporate taxes and compliance costs from the cost of U.S. exports, putting U.S. exports on a level playing field with foreign competitors. Lower prices sharply increase demand for U.S. exports, thereby increasing job creation in U.S. manufacturing sectors. At home, imports are subject to the same FairTax rate as domestically produced goods. Not only does the FairTax put U.S. products sold here on the same tax footing as foreign imports, but the dramatic lowering of compliance costs in comparison to other countries’ value-added taxes also gives U.S. products a definitive pricing advantage which foreign tax systems cannot match.

The FairTax strategy is revenue neutrality: Neither raise nor lower taxes so consumer costs remain stable.
The FairTax pays for all current government operations, including Social Security and Medicare. Government revenues are more stable and predictable than with the federal income tax because consumption is a more constant revenue base than is income.

If you were in a 23-percent income tax bracket, the federal government would take $23 out of your paycheck for every $100 you made. With the FairTax, if the federal government gets $23 out of every $100 spent in America, the same total revenue is delivered to the federal government. This is revenue neutrality. So, instead of paycheck-earning Americans paying 7.65 percent of their paychecks in Social Security/Medicare payroll taxes, plus an average of 18 percent of their paychecks in federal income tax, for a total of about 25.65 percent, consumers in America pay only $23 out of every $100. Or about 30 percent at the cash register when they elect to spend on new goods or services for their own personal consumption. And this tax is collected only on spending above the federal poverty level, providing important progressivity.

Tax criminals don’t make criminals out of honest taxpayers.
Today, the IRS will admit to 25 percent noncompliance with the code. FairTax.org will be generous and simply take the position that this is likely a conservative estimate of the underground economy. However, this does not take into account the criminal/drug/porn economy, which equally conservative estimates put at one trillion dollars of untaxed activity. The FairTax does tax this criminals love to flash that cash at retail while continuing to provide the federal penalties so effective in bringing such miscreants to justice. The substantial decrease in points of compliance from every wage earner, investor, and retiree, down to only retailers also allows enforcement to concentrate on following the money to criminal activity, rather than making potential criminals out of every taxpayer struggling to decipher the current code.

What is the FairTax Plan?
The FairTax Plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue replacement, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment. This nonpartisan legislation (HR 25/S 1025) abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities. The IRS is disbanded and defunded. The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

What is Americans For Fair Taxation (FairTax.org)?
FairTax.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots organization solely dedicated to replacing the current tax system. The organization has hundreds of thousands of members and volunteers nationwide. Its plan supports sound economic research, education of citizens and community leaders, and grassroots mobilization efforts. For more information visit the Web page: www.FairTax.org or call 1-800-FAIRTAX.

It's a lot to read through - take your time - it took me a few reads to put it all together.

Paul Harvey's Thoughts On Gun Control

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

"Are you considering backing gun control laws???"

Do you think that because you may not own a gun, the
rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment don't
matter?

CONSIDER THIS...
In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control.
- From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million
dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control.
- From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to
defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938.
- From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies,
homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others, who were
unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935.
- From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents,
unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
- From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to
defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970.
- From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to
defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
- From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people,
unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

That places total victims who lost their lives because
of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last
century.

Since we should learn from the mistakes of history,
the next time someone talks in favor of gun control,
find out which group of citizens they wish to have
exterminated.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in
Australia were forced to surrender 640,381 personal
firearms to be destroyed, a program costing the
government more than $500 million dollars.
- The results Australia-wide; Homicides are up 3.2%,
Assaults are up 8 %, and Armed robberies are up 44%.
In that country's state of Victoria, homicides with
firearms are up 300%.

Over the previous 25 years, figures show a steady
decrease in armed robberies and Australian politicians
are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no
improvement in "safety" has been observed after such
monumental effort and expense was successfully
expended in "ridding society of guns."

It's time to state it plainly; Guns in the hands of
honest citizens save lives and property and, yes,
gun-control laws only affect the law-abiding citizens.
Take action before it's too late, write or call your
delegation.

Paul Harvey