Replace All Federal Taxes on Income with the Fair Tax Act , HR 25
Meeting follow up
Hey everyone,
I was thinking about the stuff we talked about last night, and I had a few ideas that I wanted to run past all of you. Premo and I sort of discussed this last night briefly, but I think we should consider forming some sort of an organization and elect leaders. I know you all have been discussing this for a while, but I think it would add more to the meetings if new people could see there was an organization with a plan to do something. Another suggestion would be to have the “internal” meeting to discuss business and organization at some other time than when new people are present. While I don’t mind staying for a 2 - 2 ½ hour meeting, I’m afraid it may run some people off who just want to see the presentation. What about doing the internal stuff starting at about 6 or 6:30, and then the presentation at 7:30 or so…or on a different day? Here are some ideas about getting the word out:
1. Start a newsletter and send it out to the e-mail list. That way even if people don’t come to the meetings, they can still get some information and maybe send it to other people.
2. Consider setting up a joint meeting/presentation with the ASA (www.americanseniors.org) I’ve heard of them before, and somebody mentioned last night that they supported the FairTax. Their website actually lists the FT as one of their 4 pillars, and they are located in Alpharetta, GA.
3. I mentioned this last night as well, but we could create marketing fliers for specific situations and relate the FairTax to those issues (health care, stimulus bill, etc.). We could potentially keep it non-partisan…for example, if someone supports the health care bill, we could show how the FT could help pay for it by increased revenues and a growing economy. The same goes for social security, medicare, and the stimulus bill.
4. We could have form letters to elected officials ready for people to sign at the meetings. Then all they would have to do is sign them, and we would put them in the mail. We could do letters for state and national officials. A few letters may not do much, but they could be a start.
That’s all I have for now.
Take care,
Cory
I was thinking about the stuff we talked about last night, and I had a few ideas that I wanted to run past all of you. Premo and I sort of discussed this last night briefly, but I think we should consider forming some sort of an organization and elect leaders. I know you all have been discussing this for a while, but I think it would add more to the meetings if new people could see there was an organization with a plan to do something. Another suggestion would be to have the “internal” meeting to discuss business and organization at some other time than when new people are present. While I don’t mind staying for a 2 - 2 ½ hour meeting, I’m afraid it may run some people off who just want to see the presentation. What about doing the internal stuff starting at about 6 or 6:30, and then the presentation at 7:30 or so…or on a different day? Here are some ideas about getting the word out:
1. Start a newsletter and send it out to the e-mail list. That way even if people don’t come to the meetings, they can still get some information and maybe send it to other people.
2. Consider setting up a joint meeting/presentation with the ASA (www.americanseniors.org) I’ve heard of them before, and somebody mentioned last night that they supported the FairTax. Their website actually lists the FT as one of their 4 pillars, and they are located in Alpharetta, GA.
3. I mentioned this last night as well, but we could create marketing fliers for specific situations and relate the FairTax to those issues (health care, stimulus bill, etc.). We could potentially keep it non-partisan…for example, if someone supports the health care bill, we could show how the FT could help pay for it by increased revenues and a growing economy. The same goes for social security, medicare, and the stimulus bill.
4. We could have form letters to elected officials ready for people to sign at the meetings. Then all they would have to do is sign them, and we would put them in the mail. We could do letters for state and national officials. A few letters may not do much, but they could be a start.
That’s all I have for now.
Take care,
Cory
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Premo Mondone on
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Cory, thanks for your comments. I'm in a rush now, but will respond in more detail later. There are a couple of things that I think we need to get out of the way.
#1: Choosing a "Leader" or "Coordinator" or whatever we're going to call it.
#2: Decide if we want to stick with the "non-partisan" angle or not. As one of the new folks at the meeting mentioned, we might be able to grow our group faster, if we incorporate some of the other issues out there. The problem is of course, if we go that route, where does it stop and what happens if we one day come across an issue that might fracture the group?
#3: The number of new folks at the meeting on August 20th was very encouraging and we need to do whatever we can to use the momentum that we have now and move forward (perhaps using some of the ideas that Cory mentioned above).
More later........gotta run right now. -
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I've got more time now. I'm thinking that the organizational part of the meeting makes more sense AFTER the meeting, to discuss where we go from there. We can let everyone know that the meeting is over, if they wish to stay, they are welcome to do so, etc.
The newsletter idea is an excellent idea. Anybody got the time to work on something like that?
The fliers are another good idea. But for that we need money and some way to funnel it legally, etc. Let me do a little checking into that.
The letter idea is very similar to the post card idea that we discussed earlier, the one where people who sign the petition, sign the post cards and they are mailed to their congressmen, senator and Charlie Rangle, head of the appropriate committee.
As for the "leadership" issue, what the Hell, consider it settled. Someone's got to do it, it might as well be me. Just let me know what my title is. Coordinator? Director? Chief Flunky? -
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Consider yourself drafted. Be sure to get with Cory for any help that you need, as he was kind enough to offer his help.
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Permalink Reply by M. Dion on
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About the fliers, see discussion below regarding Marilyn Ricket and Illinois club status. This might be an answer.
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We might want to include information about the "Storm The Hill" event in any email or newsletter. I've sent this info to the Chattanooga Tea Party folks as Shirley said, some might want to join us on Friday for our event. See the attached graphic.
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FairTaxStormTheHill.jpg, 99 KB
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Hi Cory: great job outlining some points for us all to consider over the next couple of weeks. I particularly like:
(1) occasional joint meetings with other conservative-type groups. Harry Gerbasi mentioned the ASA group, maybe he would be interested in organizing such events 2-3-4 times a year. With 2010 just around the corner, this might also include the occasional candidate.
(2) issue-related fliers - because a visitor last week obliquely touched on the marketing aspect of this theme - is to my mind certainly a concept worth pursing.
(3) once upon a time we published minutes of our meetings but that practice has fallen by the wayside. I believe a short newsletter or recap would definitely be helpful.
And, finally, thank you for pushing group leadership and structure. Premo has proven that he can make things happen and has volunteered to take on group leader role. Also, I spoke to Marilyn Rickert tonight about the structure of FairTaxNation (FTN) and she offered a couple of tips and suggestions. First, as a result of incurring legal fees in South Carolina defending a tax-exemption related inquiry, FTN has adopted the non-partisan course of action to guard against being drawn into another such situation. Ms. Rickert did say that the Illinois group has organized under Illinois law as a club and as such, can raise money thru dues, fund-raising events and donations up to (I think) a $25,000/yr ceiling. If Tennessee recognizes a similar distinct entity, this is something we might consider because it obviates the need to apply for tax-exempt status, gives us a small revenue base and requires some minimum of structure and accountability. Since I work for attorneys - and unless someone in SERFTC is an attorney and wants to take this on - if we are interested, I can probably get some help researching Tennessee requirements for club (or equivalent) status and report on this on Sept. 17th. (I will be brief, I will be brief)
Again, glad to have you back, a great job of piquing interest!! -
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Hello all: one of the attys I work for is in fact a tax atty. I asked this morning about "club" entity in Tenn. law. He is unfamiliar with such a designation but said probable comparable in Tenn. is nonprofit corporation.
I have started research on this and will report further on the 17th. A few quick hilites, tho, are that dues are not considered income so unless something extraordinary, any reporting requirements would probably zero out. Would incur some filing fees (±$50 for initially filing charter w/SOS) and would need a Tenn. resident to act as registered agent and principal address. We would have to elect officers (not sure of minimum office/r(s) required) and adhere to minimum meeting requirements. And we would have EIN which would allow us to have a bank account - want of which has certainly been a stumbling block for building up a cash reserve for promotional materials and costs associated with fairs/festivals, etc.
Just want you guys to be thinking about pro's and con's of this approach. I can scan and upload basics of statute chapter if anyone wants to review. -
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Permalink Reply by FairTaxChatt on
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That is great research. I know there has been mention about using another organization to be able to raise funds as well. I think either way would be fine as long as there is some way to raise funds and buy things. This is where I’m surprised FairTax.org doesn’t help out, but apparently they don’t help the grass roots at all.
I agree that the Storm the Hill flier that Premo posted would be good to send out to the e-mail list. I doubt we could get an actual newsletter out by then, but that would show that the group is really involved. I can help with the newsletter as well if we decide to do one. I think it would be great to put a recap and just some FYI type information about the FairTax; some quick read information that some new people may not know – compliance costs, amount of $ overseas, etc.
I’ll see if I can find anything out on the club status in TN. I’d say if nothing else, we would have to file as a 501(c)(4) organization – a non-profit, but not a charitable organization.
I vote for Chief Flunky Premo…we could call you the Chosen One, but I think that’s taken by the Pres… -
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Agreed, we should at least email out to everyone on our list the flier for the "Storm the Hill" event. Even if it's too late for them to get a seat on the bus or room at the hotel, we can at least make sure that they're aware of it and they can make their own arrangements to attend if they choose.
We need to be sure to include the following:
1: A brief review on the last meeting.
2: Encouragement to bring new folks to the next meeting.
3: An announcement that Tommy Crangle will be our guest speaker. -
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Let's just stick with "Coordinator".....it's generic enough and doesn't sound like someone who's power hungry. I had some cards made up to give out at meetings, etc. That's the title that I used......put my serftc email on it and my home phone, etc. I also created a simple logo and uploaded it, hopefully they turn out ok.
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Well, we want to keep it as simple as possible, with the least amount of annual paperwork being required for the State of Tennessee or the Feds. Keep looking into this and let's discuss this during our "Administrative" session, following next month's meeting.
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