MISC (WEEKLY)
15 – 16 January 2011
Since last week’s issue was BLOCKED by COX COMMUNICATIONS as SPAM, I will start on Part 2 of MISC (WEEKLY) Sunday, 9 January 2011. COX says they do not BLOCK E-Mail, but the COX’s message said ‘NOT SENT’
17 Dec 2010
"If we were to get rid of ... the income tax and the payroll tax and all compliance costs, we would be so ferociously competitive in a world economy that corporate America would not be competed with unless foreign corporations started building their plants in America." - Congressman JohnLinderWeekly Feature
The North Pole Gazette
Christmas canceled - Santa forced to outsource
North Pole Kristofer Kringle, aka “Santa,” the CEO of the world’s largest toy distributor Santa Claus, Inc., announced Monday that Christmas has officially been canceled this year. “He just couldn’t compete this Christmas,” stated Santa’s button-nosed and visibly melting senior spokesman, Fross T. Snowman, at a press conference in front of Santa’s Los Angeles factory. A statement released to the press from Santa stated, “I must regretfully inform the world that Christmas has officially been canceled this year. I will be moving my factories out of the United States and back to the North Pole after the New Year to reduce the strain the federal tax code places on our competitiveness. I am confident that the North Pole’s vastly more favorable FairTax system will better position the company to become a leader in the industry once again.”
While millions around the world are surely shocked by the news, analysts closely following Santa Claus, Inc. are not.The Wall Street Journal reported lower than average July numbers and the layoff of over 25,000 union elves after last year’s peak season as evidence of Santa’s decline. Advisors close to Santa have said that a main culprit for the decision was the federal tax system, which was killing his competitiveness and driving up consumer prices. Economists have shown that the current federal tax code places as high as a 20 percent price disadvantage on American products over their foreign competitors due to foreign products bearing no federal tax burden when imported, while exported American products bear both the costs of our federal taxes and foreign taxation.
Although this is the first time Christmas has been canceled, the long history of close calls is well known. They include the Miracle on 34thStreet in 1947 when Santa was held up in judicial matters and also in 1897 when Santa grew ill from children’s lack of believing. The New York Sun’s editorial “Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus” gathered the needed support to save Christmas at that time.
While Christmas lovers everywhere are sure to be devastated by the news, there are still some pleased by the cancellation. Tax lobbyist and year-round Christmas loather Mr. Grinch was overjoyed when the news hit, saying, “I have been waiting for this all my life; it’s a dream come true. I’ve tried old-fashioned sabotage schemes but nothing has worked. This year I got a wonderfully awful idea. You want to know my great Grinchy trick to kill Christmas and make money doing it? Why, by lobbying of course!” Manipulation of the tax code is, of course, big business and the most powerful of the power games in Washington, where roughly half of all lobbyists are said to be tax lobbyists. Others happy about the cancellation of Christmas include Black Bart, who was on Santa’s naughty list and expecting coal anyway; old man Scrooge, who is looking forward to another cold and cranky day of work; and foreign toy manufacturers, who are sure to see sales skyrocket. Hope for Christmas still looms as the president has ordered Congress to hold a special session next week to discuss how to save Christmas.
Stay tuned for developments in next week’s FairTax Friday.
Did You Know?
Manufacturing’s share of the U.S. economy has been in a relentless decline to less than 50 percent of what its share of the gross domestic product (GDP) was in the 1950s. The FairTax plan reduces the cost of American manufacturing and agriculture considerably.
- Read The impact of the FairTax on American manufacturing, agriculture, trade, and international competitiveness
FairTax in the News
Your Opinions: FairTax would create prosperity – Battle Creek Enquirer
...Eliminate all business taxes, income taxes and personal property taxes and replace them with an increase of 5 percent to our sales tax, extending the tax to services and instituting a “prebate” (a refund of future taxes a citizen would pay for goods and services up to the poverty level, paid to them in advance). Michigan would see an unprecedented surge of business growth. Our state would be crying for people to help fill the need for employees.
The same boom time would happen if our national legislators were to eliminate the IRS completely and replace it with the “FairTax.” The trillions of dollars now overseas avoiding our anti-business climate and taxes would suddenly return to the United States. Products made in the United States and Michigan would now be extremely competitive in world markets as industry would no longer have to factor in the average 22 percent cost increases imbedded taxes impose.
These are only some of the advantages of the “FairTax.” Check out the website fairtax.org. You will see what we are missing by not reminding our legislators to consider this revolutionary method of taxation.
Richard L. Hansen - Bedford, MI
24 Dec 2010
Weekly FeatureWashington,D.C.Gazette
FairTax saves Christmas!
Washington,D.C.- After round-the-clock deliberations on Capitol Hill during a special session of Congress called to save Christmas, a nonpartisan agreement was made to overhaul the federal tax system. With hundreds of thousands rallying on the National Mall, the FairTax was officially passed nearly unanimously at10:00 p.m., just hours before Christmas Eve.
In one of the most unified rallies since the civil rights movement, people from all backgrounds and political leanings came together to save Christmas by standing up to Congress and demanding passage of the FairTax legislation (H.R. 25 and S. 296).
Congressman John Linder of Georgia, FairTax sponsor and co-author of The FairTax Book, stated, “This is a great day for the American people. This proves that the citizens of this nation still hold the power, and when legislation as unifying as the FairTax is on the table, the American people serve as the fuel to the wildfire commanding their congressmen to pass the FairTax.”
The FairTax replaces the income tax system with a transparent and simple national consumption tax of 23 percent levied only on new goods and services after the purchase of necessities. The FairTax provides the same amount of funding to the federal government as the income tax. Many economists favor a consumption tax over the current system, as it is a more stable and economically stimulating form of taxation.
Bob Cratchit, a low-paid clerk, said, “I have a minimum-wage job, and after FICA taxes are taken out of my paycheck I barely have enough to survive on. With the FairTax in place I’ll get to keep that 15 percent and the prebate will help my family tremendously.” The prebate is provided toevery legal American,making all spending up to the poverty level ($29,140 for a family of four) federal tax free.The FairTax also broadens the national tax base, thereby lowering almost every taxpayer’s marginal tax rate by capturing taxes from accumulated wealth, the underground economy, illegal immigrants, and millions of foreign visitors.
A large contingent of Gingerbread House Builders and United Elf Workers were also present at the rally. Both groups cite “keeping our whole paychecks and bringing American jobs back” as reasons for their support.
With Christmas’ fate on the line it was no surprise that leaders of the next generation were well represented. Small children as well as young adults came out in droves to The Mall to voice their support for Santa as well as the FairTax. Organizers of these young patriots calling themselves the “True Believers” were Charlie Brown and Tiny Tim. By using Facebook, these young tykes were able to build up enough ruckus in the cyber community to bring out nearly 50,000 ofAmerica’s youth. Charlie Brown said, “I was having trouble figuring out what Christmas was all about. I realized it’s not about presents; it’s about coming together with friends and family. This whole mess with losing Christmas will be looked back upon as the turning point in our future because of the FairTax.”
Moments after the FairTax’s passage, Santa’s sleigh could be seen doing a flyby of the Capitol building filled with packages. Eyewitnesses said that he seemed both “holly and jolly” and that he shouted out a hearty “Merry Christmas to all, and to all the FairTax.”
Editor’s note: Reports have been made that K Street has become a ghost town and that nearly half of Washington’s lobbyists have reportedly gone into hiding, the other half have been spotted filling out applications to become elves.
Did You Know?
We are at a pivotal juncture in our national history. We can no longer afford a tax system which puts U.S. producers at such a disadvantage as our current system does. The American people need to awaken from their slumber and realize the seriousness of the threat.
- Read The FairTax and the global economy
Tax Reform in the News
Obama Eyes Tax Code Overhaul To Raise Revenue – NPR
In hisOval Office interviewwith NPR's Steve Inskeep, President Obama indicated that, as he looks ahead, he wants to place remaking the nation's complex tax code on the national agenda. It would be a way of both simplifying the convoluted code and broadening the tax base in order to raise revenue.
One interesting aspect of this is that it is potentially another area where there is agreement by people across the political spectrum...
Here's the relevant excerpt from Steve's interview with the president:
STEVE:What do you plan to do to the tax code in the next couple of years?
OBAMA:Well, I think we're going to have to have a conversation over the next year. And if you think about the last time we reformed our tax system back in 1986 — it didn't happen right away, by the way. It required a lot of conversations among a lot of different parties. But people of good will came together and realized that if we eliminate what happens to the tax code every decade or so — loopholes get built in, special interest provisions get built in — the nominal rates end up high, but the actual tax rates that well-connected folks or people who have good accountants pay end up being a lot lower. Ordinary people end up getting squeezed.
So typically, the idea is simplifying the system, hopefully lowering rates, broadening the base — that's something that I think most economists think would help us propel economic growth. But it's a very complicated conversation...
31 Dec 2010
Message From Leo Linbeck, Jr.
As we look at the year through the rear view mirror of our FairTax vehicle, one can observe a mixture of success and failure. The failure was embodied in the decision to terminate for cause the services of our consultant who directed The National FairTax Victory Campaign. We embarked on the NFTVC with high hopes and expectations only to find disappointment in the efforts of our selected leader. Although there were episodic events which elevated the FairTax in the period around April 15, on balance, the year failed to meet our hopes and expectations.
On the success side of the ledger our grassroots leadership began to coalesce around a group of patriots who are focused on the passage of the FairTax Plan into law. As we all know, success will only be achieved when the citizens of this country decide they have had enough of the current system and they will rise-up and demand that their elected representatives replace the current income/payroll tax system with the FairTax Plan, starting with the constitutional amendment and the legislative statute (HB25) required to create a new foundation upon which our country can create jobs and grow our economy in a comprehensive manner.
In looking ahead, not in the rear view mirror, the political environment may have reached the point where a broad cross-section of the people have come to realize the critical need to replace the current income/payroll tax system. It is our sense that the nation is yearning for an issue around which unity can be expressed, not divisiveness or class warfare. For far too long the electorate has been “played” by those in the political establishment by emphasizing differences rather thantheunifying principles embedded in our Founding Documents. We are convinced that the FairTax Plan is just such a unifying issue.
To that end we are developing two plans- A and B.
Plan A assumes a 180 day effort wherein the economicenvironment will be viewed as approaching the point of no return based on the enormous debt, both current and long term, which cannot be mitigated with our current tax system. If this reality is understood broadly enough across the full spectrum of the body politic, quick action will be required. Therefore, wearepreparing our Plan A budget, staffing, vendor engagement and grassroots resources tosatisfy the requirements of such an accelerated effort. In preparing, we understand there is a very low probability that the underlying factors will occur within this time frame. If they do, we will be prepared.
Plan B is more likely to be required. The time line assumptions call for adoption of the FairTax Plan by Jan 2013. The attendant variables of budget, staffing, vendor engagement and grassroots resources will all be required butwith a different timeline and mix.
The work product for both A and B will be ready by the first week in January.