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“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in
common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of
their people in their time.” - John Galbraith
Presidential Support of the FairTax Bill
The FairTax is the most transformational piece of
legislation in Congress right now and 67
co-sponsors have signed onto the bill with grassroots’ support!
But where do the presidential candidates stand on this issue
of extreme importance to every American?
Now that Gary Johnson has been nominated to represent the
Libertarian Party in November, we have a clearer picture of the candidates and
their positions and have updated the Presidential Scorecard at FairTax.org/Scorecard.
Gary Johnson –
Libertarian Nominee
 On his website the FairTax is a key issue:
“Abolish the Internal
Revenue Service. Enact the Fair Tax to tax expenditures, rather than income,
with a 'prebate' to make spending on basic necessities tax free. With the Fair
Tax, eliminate business taxes, withholding and other levies that penalize
productivity, while creating millions of jobs.”
President Barack Obama –
Democrat Nominee
 The White House launched a website for Americans to petition
the government but distorted the FairTax in their response:
"In short,
because it raises burdens on middle-class families and asks less from the most
fortunate, this national sales tax is inconsistent with President Obama's
principles for tax reform."
Ron Paul – Republican
Party
 While not supporting the FairTax legislation in the House,
Congressman Paul says he is focused on other issues:
"I'm not a
co-sponsor of that but I'd probably vote for it… But the big thing is, you got
to cut spending.”
Mitt Romney –
Presumptive Republican Nominee
His response to the FairTax is somewhat positive but his
reservations lack any factual support:
 "That
has a lot going for it... The study that's been done on it so far is that it
tends to lower taxes a lot on the very high income people and then raise taxes
on middle income people. And that's not a good idea. So I like the idea of a
consumption based tax but it’s got to be structured in a way that it doesn't
provide a windfall for the very, very wealthiest and a burden on middle income
Americans.
Responding to
Distortions with Facts
Dan Mastromarco, co-depeloper of the FairTax plan, penned
a factual defense to the tired claims that the FairTax would increase the
burden of the middle class:
“The Kotlikoff
study [of the FairTax] examined 42 hypothetical families, including a
middle-aged couple with two children earning $20,000, $70,000 and $500,000 per
year…
The low-income family received an 86 percent cut in its
average remaining lifetime tax rate; the middle-income family a 46 percent cut,
and the high-income family a 42 percent cut.
The Fair Tax's progressivity is attributable partly to
repeal of payroll taxes middle-income wage earners bear, and to the novel
concept that government should not tax us before we have met our own
sustenance. The Fair Tax totally exempts from taxation expenditures below the
poverty threshold for all households.
But fairness is defined in many ways. Whether taxpayers have
more money in their pockets after enactment is one common-sense definition. Another
Kotlikoff study shows that low-, middle- and high-income households
respectively experience a 26.7, 10.9 and 4.7 percent welfare gain.
Because the Fair Tax untaxes work, savings and investment,
but taxes spending, it promotes economic growth, raises marginal labor
productivity and real wages, creates jobs and encourages upward mobility.
Neither study incorporated the more than $380 billion in compliance-cost
savings from the Fair Tax."
But why the needless distortions of the FairTax? Why the misinformation
when our current tax code continues its rampage through our economy and sacrifices
new jobs to Washington’s tax games? Mr Mastromarco reminds us:
The FairTax movement
presents presidential candidates with a choice they would prefer never to make:
Pander to the corporate lobbyists on which their campaign contributions depend,
or assume the political risk of a new idea that the
special interests oppose.
Indeed. It’s our job to ensure they are forced to make this
choice as publically as possible and are rewarded or condemned accordingly.
Thank you for
your efforts to transform our nation!
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