Supporting the Fairtax from the right AND the left!

When someone thinks of a Fairtax supporter, what comes to mind? Probably some backwoods, redneck, "tea bagger" who is afraid of the "guvment" taken away his guns, right?

Well... that's not me exactly. However, I am a devoted supporter of the Fairtax. I remember the first time that I was introduced to the Fairtax. I was watching one of the 2008 Republican primary debates, when they "explained" what the Fairtax was. I remember quite vividly Chris Wallace informing the entire viewing audience that the Fairtax would "replace the income tax, social security tax, and medicare tax with a 23% sales tax." As anyone who has studied the Fairtax in the past is aware, that is an absolutely horrible way to describe the Fairtax. As soon as i heard that, I immediately thought to myself, "Wow, that has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life, and would definitely be beneficial to the super-rich, and devastating to the very poor." From just hearing that, you would have thought that Mr. Burn, J.J. Gotrocks, Mr. Potter, and any other fictional robber baron that you can think of suddenly came up with a plan to try and avoid paying there taxes, and pushing the burden on the lower and middle classes. However, upon studying the Fairtax, you begin to see that Chris Wallace's crappy explanation didn't even begin to do justice to what the Fairtax truly is. The Fairtax does do everything he says, that is all true. However, he is leaving out the most important part: the prebate! EVERY LEGAL HOUSEHOLD in the United States (that means people who are documented residents), will receive a check every month to that is based not on what you make, but rather how large your household is. This does 2 things:

1. refunds Americans for the average taxes that a family of that size would spend on the necessities of life (shelter, food, gas, etc.)
2. Turns this 23% sales tax into a progressive tax.

Here's an example: let's say there is a married couple with no kids. According to studies, with a 23% inclusive sales tax, the average married couple w/no kids would spend about$415 a month in sales tax on the necessities of life. Therefore, they would receive a check for $415 a month to offset that. If you're a married couple w/ 1 kid, your prebate would be $487. married w/2 kids? $559, and so on. (you can check fairtax.org for the full list of prebate payouts for various households). After seeing this, I quickly realized that this in NOT just a 23% sales tax. This is something great! Something amazing! Something that American needs.

Fast-forward to May 2011, Fox News once again put on a new Republican debate. Surprise, surprise, Chris Wallace is moderating again. Once again, he asks the EXACT same question, the EXACT same misleading way. Herman Kain (Fairtax Supporter) tried to explain as best he could on how it is NOT just a 23% sales tax, but he really didn't do a great job of it. If fact, all the points he made really didn't sell the idea to the average American. As a result, 4 days after that debate, I sit here realizing that something needs to be done. Therefore, I am starting this blog (and everything that comes of it) in order to get the message out that the Fairtax is not just some fringe, right-wing idea. In fact, the Fairtax should have mass appeal to the left-wing as well! Unfortunately, nobody ever tries to bring that to their attention. Hopefully with this blog, we can create support for the Fairtax from the right, and the left!

-Doug Fowler

The opinions and views in this message are those of the sender and may not represent the views of FairTaxNation.com... FairTaxNation.com makes it possible for grassroots activists to contact  FairTax supporters via our website to discuss issues relating to the passage of the FairTax Act HR 25.