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"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." - Patrick Henry
Two New Co-Sponsors and One Townhall
What a week for the FairTax!
We
are pleased to announce two more co-sponsors have signed onto the FairTax Act
of 2011, which brings the total to 70 Congressmen and Congresswoman who have
publically called for transforming our nation by replacing our outdated and destructive
federal tax code with the FairTax.
Do
you want to see your Representative become a co-sponsor? A new FairTax leader
in Alabama did too, and he is responsible for helping bring our one of our
newest co-sponsors on board! We asked grassroots activist and District Director,
Tony Gasbarro, to share how he moved Washington. In his own words:
"Shortly after being officially accepted as the District
Director for Americans for Fair Taxation, I called Congressman Bonner’s office to
try to understand why he was not a co-sponsor of HR25. I finally got through to his chief aide, Mike
Sharp.
Mike’s response revolved around
two points. First was that the ultimate
rate would be north of 50%; and secondly, the prebate was nothing more than
another entitlement program. I asked if
he had read either of the two Linder and Boortz books. He had not. I emailed him the info.
During a subsequent town hall meeting, Rep. Bonner was
talking about the economy and unemployment rate when I asked, “Why not the Fair Tax
to solve this problem, and why aren’t you a co-sponsor?” I then explained the basics and stated that
my favorite part of the bill was how it lowered the cost of doing business in
the States by 23%.
I relayed that I had
been part of a team that acquired more than a dozen businesses during my work
career. We always moved the
manufacturing locations of those businesses offshore, because off shore and not
the USA was the low-cost place to do business. This practice has been going on since the mid-eighties. Consequently, manufacturing jobs have dried
up.
At this point in the conversation
the entire room was shaking their heads in agreement and the Congressman was
still. I then again asked, “Will you be
a co-sponsor of HR 25?” He surprised the
heck out of me when he said he would. I
thanked him three times, probably too many, but I was nervous.
After the meeting ended, a number of his aides approached
and committed that upon arrival in DC they would get the process started.
I would encourage all FairTax supporters to contact their
Congressman and Senators and make your argument for our bill. I got lucky and spoke out at the right time
but it takes all our calls and letters to get sufficient co-sponsors to pass
our bill."
Tony Gasbarro
Alabama FairTax Volunteer
Director, Alabama District 1
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