Replace All Federal Taxes on Income with the Fair Tax Act , HR 25
Response from Congressman Lamar Smith R-TX
As one of only about 10 Republican congressmen to actively OPPOSE the FairTax, I wrote Lamar Smith (my congressman) to ask why and to ask him to reconsider. Here is his "thoughtlful" response:
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January 26, 2009
Dear Conroy,
Many thanks for taking the time to give me your opinion. I appreciate hearing from you.
In representing your interests in the Congress, it is very helpful to me to have the benefit of your personal perspective on issues confronting the country. Be assured that as this or related matters come before the House, I will have your views in mind.
For more information on issues of interest to you or to send me an electronic message, please visit the 21st District's Website, http://lamarsmith.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Lamar Smith
Member of Congress
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What's funny about it is that when I worked in Washington in the mid 70s, we had a standard response to "kook letters" as we called them, that went something like this:
"Rest assured that your input will become a valuable part of the decision making process."
I think my letter about the FairTax just got classified as a "kook letter" by Mr. Smith.
Maybe this means he is getting a lot of letters about the FairTax.
*************************************
January 26, 2009
Dear Conroy,
Many thanks for taking the time to give me your opinion. I appreciate hearing from you.
In representing your interests in the Congress, it is very helpful to me to have the benefit of your personal perspective on issues confronting the country. Be assured that as this or related matters come before the House, I will have your views in mind.
For more information on issues of interest to you or to send me an electronic message, please visit the 21st District's Website, http://lamarsmith.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Lamar Smith
Member of Congress
***************************************************
What's funny about it is that when I worked in Washington in the mid 70s, we had a standard response to "kook letters" as we called them, that went something like this:
"Rest assured that your input will become a valuable part of the decision making process."
I think my letter about the FairTax just got classified as a "kook letter" by Mr. Smith.
Maybe this means he is getting a lot of letters about the FairTax.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jim Tomasik on
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You are a kook until you figure out a way to replace him.
Then you will be called another name....
Maybe you should go look at what Dennis Keller blogged and that would be a good thing to plan for your district.
Jim
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Permalink Reply by Pat Conroy on
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Unfortunately, he's pretty entrenched. He didn't have a Democrat opponent in 2008 -- only a Libertarian. He won about 80% of the vote. The 20% received by the Libertarian candidate was more than any other Libertarian candidate received among the 32 congressional races so maybe there is hope that if a Democrat runs against him in 2010, a Libertarian candidate would be able to take enough votes away from him.
Maybe the answer is to find a Democrat who supports the FairTax to run against him. Tha would be an interesting race to watch.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Sibole on -
How many member from this network and the Zappers are from your district? How many have written him recently?
Dave Sibole
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Permalink Reply by Tony on
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Have you tried calling his office and asking his 'tax man/woman' why he opposes it?
If they hang up on you.....take a drive down there and say 'well as your phone lines seem to be dodgy as we were rudely cut off, I figured I'd come down so you can tell me in person'
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Smith's local office is only about a mile from my office. But as someone who has been in the political business before, I know that the local office people are simply constituent services people (help me get my social security check, is there a government housing program for my elderly mother-in-law, etc.). So I don't think I will waste my time going there.
Maybe John Linder or FairTax.org will know why there are about a dozen republican congressmen who oppose the FairTax. I think it would be useful to identify the larger trade associations to determine which ones are for/against the FairTax. I'm sure that information exists somewhere.
It is my understanding that most of the retail organizations are against it. It's going to be difficult to get the FairTax passed without fairly unanimous support (or at least neutrality) from the big trade associations. Does anyone know if this information is available somewhere?
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Permalink Reply by Peter D. on
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The retail opposition floors me, really. You would think that the facts that a) they are already set up for it and b) are compensated for it would alleviate any resistance.
Why would ANY retailer be against me having 100% of my paycheck? I jut don't get that at all....
We need to set up a special section of FTN that informs our members who supports, opposes, or is non-committal to the cause. Then we can actively target our efforts to the right people. It's too much to ask of the "average bear" to locate and contact all the correct people/groups. If we make it simple for people, then we are more likely to gain their support and have action taken.
I am a part of a few different organizations that use online "send a fax" or "send an e-mail" to your congressman/senator features. We need one here badly... with pre-written letters that our members can personalize and send either electronically or by printing and mailing.
We've only got 2 years until the mid-term elections...we need to light the fire!
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