New Jersey NJ FairTax

Comment

Comment by Jim Bennett on April 17, 2011 at 3:45pm

Tax Day in New Jersey

 

We had activity at the Summit Post Office on April 16, 2011. Tax Day this year was pushed back to April 18, 2011 because of a holiday in Washington DC, so people who file their taxes the old-fashioned way were still going to the Post Office.

The Summit post office is on a city street perpendicular to the railroad. The railroad passes through a cut in the center of town. A street-level bridge from the Post Office runs over the cut leading into the center of town, from which most of the postal patrons came. Across from the post office is a municipal park, where I planted a FairTax lawn sign. Vehicle traffic at that point was brisk.

I wore a FairTax sweatshirt, cap and button, carried a FairTax bag, and stood at the bottom of the Post Office steps. Learning from past lessons, I handed information pieces to people as they came out, not as they entered. That way the pieces would at least make it to patrons cars.

I passed out two pieces. The first was the old tri-fold which my contact information stamped in a blank space. I tore out the tear-out, making the piece into a bi-fold, because I was unsure whether the post-office address for Houston was still good. (Aaron told me later it was). The other piece was the color pocket card with my contact information at the bottom.

Over the tree-hour period where the Post Office was open (I took a 20-minute break), I handed out fifty of each piece, or 100 pieces in total. The receptiveness was slow in the beginning, where only one in 10-15 took an information piece. Towards the end the ratio narrowed to about one in 5-6. By estimate, over a thousand entered and left the post-office during that time.

I was not successful in collecting names for database capture. None wanted to pause long enough to fill out a form. About five or six said they knew about the FairTax already, without volunteering their stance. There were two or three who stayed long enough to listen to a superficial description and who expressed interest.

My last "customer" was a man I know through the First Aid Squad and through the local Republican Committee. He said he knew about the FairTax and liked it in theory, but then he proceeded to state he studied economics and rattled off several reasons why he thought it would not fly. I seemed to make headway with him by responding to some of his points and telling him I had heard all those points before. There were good answers to all of them, and we should sit down for coffee and talk. I plan to follow through.

~Jim

~Jim Bennett
38 Fairview Ave
Summit NJ 07901-1728
USA
(609) 984-2901 Daytime
(908) 273-4578 Evenings
(908) 598-2888 Home Fax
(908) 578-4975 Mobile Phone

Comment by Jim Bennett on September 2, 2010 at 1:32pm

Dave,
There actually is an initiative here in New Jersey that goes in fits and starts. John O'Rourke has been in touch with Sheila Oliver and Lou Greenwald, and I have been in touch with Jon Bramnick. According to economist David Tuerck, New Jersey could replace its Personal Gross Income Tax, Corporate Business Tax, Transfer Inheritance Tax, Estate Tax and current Sales Tax with a state-level FairTax, whose rate would be 5.52%.

An effort in Missouri to have a state-level FairTax died this year, but former Lieutenant Governor Bill Phelps advises me it will be re-introduced in the legislature next year.

There are other state efforts across the country in various stages of progress, but Missouri's was the furthest along. I agree with John
Burchill that it makes the most sense to put the FairTax in at the Federal Level, because most states base their tax regimes off the federal system.

Best regards,
~Jim

Comment by David LaFontaine on September 2, 2010 at 8:24am

Jim, thanks for the invitation but that sort of defeats the utility of an internet forum, no?

I see in John's reply that there's no effort to implement the concept at the State level in NJ. Seems to me, a grassroots movement should start at the bottom, establish its roots (credibility, track record, bonafides, impirical data) and then spread to higher echelons. As repeal of the 16th Amendment is an AFT objective, one might think that those States with successful implementation of their own FairTax systems would build support for repeal of the amendment. After all, it will take 38 of the several States to ratify an amendment. A NJ FairTax would be a case of putting one's money where one's mouth is. Or put a different way, it would demonstrate courageous leadership by boldly charting a new course and then--once successful--inviting others to follow.

I guess I'm just an advocate for a crawl-walk-run methodology.

Comment by John Burchill on September 1, 2010 at 10:41am

Hi Dave;

thank you for your questions. Questions are the best way to generate debate.
The FairTax is a Federal Movement at the moment. It is contained in two bills in congress. HR-25 in The House and S-296 in the Senate with approximately 65 co-sponsors.
The bill calls for the elimination of all Personal and Corporate Income taxes as well as The IRS. It also eliminates the present payroll deducted taxes of Soc Sec and Medicare as well a generation skipping taxes and the cost of compliance with todays 70,000 pages of IRS regulations.

The FairTax would be applied to the retail sale of NEW products and services with no exceptions except education.

The FairTax is expected to be set at a rate of 23%, but keep in mind that The FairTax REPLACES all the taxes listed above it is not added on top of our present tax system.

There is also a "Prebate" which is available to every holder of a legal Social Security Number and will enable all purchase, up to the Poverty level of the household, to be tax free.

With regards to the New Jersey State tax regime, there is no movement to install a FairTax at the state level. All efforts are being applied to changing the source of the Federal Income because once that is accomplished one would expect states to follow suite. (There is a study showing that if the state adopted a State FairTax to replace the present State Sales Tax, State Income tax and State Corporate income tax, the State FairTax would be set at about 5.8% which is lower than the present sales tax!!
With regard to Real Estate Taxes, I presume that the State FairTax could be designed to cover them also.

For full details of the Federal FairTax please go to FairTax.org.

Please fell free to add additional comments here, or you can call me or any of the other officers and District Directors listed above.

Regards

John Burchill

Comment by Jim Bennett on September 1, 2010 at 10:21am

Thanks, David, for your comment.
Please call me at 908-578-4975. I would be glad to answer your questions.
~JIm

Comment by David LaFontaine on September 1, 2010 at 9:40am

Greetings NJ FairTax. I have only recently learned of the FairTax concept/movement, but I am intrigued. I've heard and read how it can benefit the nation. I can make the connection on how a similar process could benefit the State of NJ, but we all know the Devil is in the details. Where can I find more details on how FairTax would be implemented at the state & local level in NJ? What legislation is being crafted that I should ask my local politicians to consider/endorse/sponsor.

Better yet, let me ask my biggest question right here: Does FairTax have any impact on the collection of property taxes? I'm not talking about how I can better afford my property taxes because they'll be paid from "pre-tax" dollars. I mean will NJ and the local municipalities be able to lower or eliminate that source of revenue if FairTax is implemented at the State?

Thanks everyone for keeping this issue non-partisan, because that will turn me off quicker than blink of an eye.

--Dave

Comment by Jim Bennett on May 15, 2010 at 5:38pm

Bruce Baker, Republican Primary Candidate for NJ-07, Signs On To FairTax
Today I briefed, successfully, Republican Primary Candidate Bruce Baker, NJ-07, at his home in Westfield. Bruce had tried to reach out to us several weeks ago, but we had simply not been able to connect until now.

Happily, Bruce said we could put him down as a candidate in favor of the FairTax, and, if elected, he would co-sponsor the bill. Bruce will change his website on the next occasion from Flat Tax to FairTax.

Bruce thinks that whoever wins the Republican primary will win the general election. He said further that, if he did not win the Primary, he would help us with the FairTax. Bruce is an extremely personable, dynamic and common-sense candidate who is involved in politics because of career politicians. His first issue is term limits, but now he is willing to put the FairTax in next place.

Now we have five primary candidates who support the FairTax:
District 4: Alan Bateman
District 6: Anna Little
District 7: Lon Hosford, Bruce Baker
District 12: Dave Corsi (whom Bruce knows).

~Jim

~Jim Bennett
38 Fairview Ave
Summit NJ 07901-1728
USA
(609) 984-2901 Daytime
(908) 273-4578 Evenings
(908) 598-2888 Home Fax
(908) 578-4975 Mobile Phone

Comment by Jim Bennett on April 25, 2010 at 8:37pm

Recap of Summit NJ Street Fair April 25, 2010

The Summit Street Fair took place on April 25, 2010 (See discussion), and a picture of our set-up is attached. The success of the event was marred by rain, which accounted for a poor turnout and the collection of only three names from passers-by.

However I would like to thank two notable volunteers for their help under these adverse circumstances. The first is Tom Sulcer, who has been a reliable and steadfast source of help in Summit for several years. Tom sees the FairTax as a manifestation of citizen involvement in public issues and has always cheerfully lent a hand.

The other volunteer, Mary Bitting, represented a happy exception to a day that otherwise did not seem productive. I have known Mary for several years through tennis and politics but never engaged her specifically on the FairTax. Like Tom, Mary came out on this cold and wet day. I briefed her on the fly about the FairTax as we were interacting with passers-by, and her ready grasp of the subject matter was remarkable.

The lackluster attendance was not unique to the FairTax. Neighbors of ours who are engaged in dog rescue were also at the fair, and they reported adopting out fewer than their usual number of rescued dogs. Many vendor spaces along Springfield Avenue and the side streets were vacant.

Councilwoman and Freeholder Candidate Ellen Dickson came by the stand and agreed to speak to her Republican Municipal Chair husband, Chip Dickson, about having another FairTax program at a City Committee meeting. It has been about 3 years since the last one.

The next Summit Street Fair will take place in October, but we may have an opportunity to have a tent on the Fourth of July.

~Jim

~Jim Bennett
38 Fairview Ave
Summit NJ 07901-1728
USA
(609) 984-2901 Daytime
(908) 273-4578 Evenings
(908) 598-2888 Home Fax
(908) 578-4975 Mobile Phone

Comment by Jim Tomasik on December 21, 2009 at 7:34am

Keep in mind we have a few liberals on this site supporting FairTax. We need them here helping us! ;o)

Comment by Jim Bennett on December 21, 2009 at 5:13am

John,
I think New Jersey can serve as an example to FairTax-ers of how to sell the FairTax to a broader audience. Remember, we just elected a Republican Governor. If the FairTax is going anywhere, it needs support from both sides of the aisle. Right now it has an impressive numbers of co-sponsors, but the weakness is that they are all from the South and Midwest (some from California), and all but one are Republicans.

We have been able to build a small but dedicated group up here. The key is to keep the message single-issue and non-partisan. We welcome endorsements from any other responsible group, but we cannot endorse them or become entangled in, or identified with, their issues, no matter how much we may want to. The message has to be focused and disciplined.

If we can get a co-sponsor from here, then the dam will break.

Best,
~Jim

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