Replace All Federal Taxes on Income with the Fair Tax Act , HR 25
The FairTax and the AARP.
I am on a Yahoo Group for Calfornia FairTax leadership. One message that came across today was a reply by the AARP to a FairTax supporter indicating why the AARP could not endorse the FairTax. June's web address is webactivist@aarp.org if anyone else would like to follow up with her.
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Dear June.
Your letter to Jerry Lehrer made it across my desk as well. Let me assure you that Seniors are much better off under the FairTax than with our current system. Consider what is happening right now… As I write this, congress is on the verge of passing the largest spending bill in history. Our debt is going through the roof which will affect future generations. Hyper-inflation will take root in our country (probably by the end of this year) which will dilute any special treatment of Seniors in the form of government programs such that quality of life will diminish for everyone in the decades to come.
Consider also that prospects for prosperity for working Americans will also diminish. Our nation has already lost its manufacturing/industrial base to Asia because of our high Corporate and Payroll taxation which causes U.S. made products and services to require too high of a price to be competitive with foreign competition. The government creates bubble after bubble to try to keep Americans working but when everyone already has a house (and can no longer afford another – or even the one they are in now), our prospects for working America diminish. We need to bring our industrial/manufacturing base back to the United States. The prosperity of our children is the greatest security that seniors can have. Freedom and liberty enable us to pursue happiness and prosperity. More government programs make us less competitive and less able to pursue happiness and prosperity.
The FairTax addresses the major challenges that our nation faces head on. The FairTax untaxes productivity which enables U.S.-made products to sit on the same shelves untaxed (like their foreign competition) and then the tax is applied at the point of retail sale to both U.S. made and foreign made products alike. Fix this with the FairTax and we would have $13+trillion of U.S. wealth repatriate back to our lands without fear of capital gains tax. Our nation will become the tax haven of the world rather than the tax hell. More manufacturing means more jobs which means rising prosperity.
To address your consideration that the FairTax is not progressive… The more affluent certainly do consume more than the less affluent which, by itself, makes the FairTax progressive. To make it even more progressive, the framers of the FairTax bill included a tax prebate. Our current system collects income taxes and provides a tax refund once per year (if the taxpayer qualifies). The FairTax prebate is a monthly refund paid in advance for all taxes paid on consumption up to the poverty level. In today’s rates, the prebate would be approximately $200 per month per adult and about $67 per dependent child. Also, the FairTax does not apply to used goods which means that those who really want to live frugally can do so with the prebate actually serving as a small income source.
It is also important to understand that Social Security and Medicare do not go away with passage of the FairTax. In fact, their prospects for viability increase dramatically as our nation heals itself and becomes more prosperous again.
To address your consideration of double-burden to Seniors who have already paid income tax & will now be faced with paying a consumption tax… the FairTax will not increase prices of goods and services in any substantial way. In some cases, the prices can and will reduce. Consider the doctor who provides a $10,000 medical procedure. Assume he is successful in writing off 1/3 of the procedure has overhead… He will still be responsible for paying the IRS $2,500+… and incur all compliance issue as well. Under the FairTax, the doctor will send $2,300 to the federal government via the state government with no hassles whatsoever. In fact, he can be less concerned with write-offs (conferences in Europe, etc.) which will enable him to run leaner and meaner which will probably drive prices down and quality up…
Finally, I would like to appeal to the Seniors sense of duty to our country. Many of today’s Seniors were born after the world wars. The WWII generation sacrificed (in some cases the ultimate sacrifice) to enable future generations to have the freedom to pursue their dreams. We have experienced great prosperity during current seniors’ lifetimes… Our post-WWII power, status, and innovation carried us through with this current broken tax system for decades. When we lost manufacturing jobs to Asia we had technology, housing, and financial services to fall back on… until it all caved in on itself in these past several years. Are today’s seniors unwilling to fight for the future of America? For the future of their legacy?
If the FairTax improves the prospects for prosperity for all constituents (other than current tax avoiders/evaders and the powerful who game the tax code), why would the AARP not support it?
I encourage the AARP to take a fresh look at the FairTax via the following links:
1. www.fairtax.org
2. www.youtube.com – search FairTax
3. www.fairtaxnation.com – view the videos and read up.
4. www.fairtaxhub.com
5. www.wikipedia.com – search FairTax
Please help be a part of the solution for the greater good of America.
Please support the FairTax.
Sincerely,
Arthur P. Villa
Long Beach, CA
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Dear June.
Your letter to Jerry Lehrer made it across my desk as well. Let me assure you that Seniors are much better off under the FairTax than with our current system. Consider what is happening right now… As I write this, congress is on the verge of passing the largest spending bill in history. Our debt is going through the roof which will affect future generations. Hyper-inflation will take root in our country (probably by the end of this year) which will dilute any special treatment of Seniors in the form of government programs such that quality of life will diminish for everyone in the decades to come.
Consider also that prospects for prosperity for working Americans will also diminish. Our nation has already lost its manufacturing/industrial base to Asia because of our high Corporate and Payroll taxation which causes U.S. made products and services to require too high of a price to be competitive with foreign competition. The government creates bubble after bubble to try to keep Americans working but when everyone already has a house (and can no longer afford another – or even the one they are in now), our prospects for working America diminish. We need to bring our industrial/manufacturing base back to the United States. The prosperity of our children is the greatest security that seniors can have. Freedom and liberty enable us to pursue happiness and prosperity. More government programs make us less competitive and less able to pursue happiness and prosperity.
The FairTax addresses the major challenges that our nation faces head on. The FairTax untaxes productivity which enables U.S.-made products to sit on the same shelves untaxed (like their foreign competition) and then the tax is applied at the point of retail sale to both U.S. made and foreign made products alike. Fix this with the FairTax and we would have $13+trillion of U.S. wealth repatriate back to our lands without fear of capital gains tax. Our nation will become the tax haven of the world rather than the tax hell. More manufacturing means more jobs which means rising prosperity.
To address your consideration that the FairTax is not progressive… The more affluent certainly do consume more than the less affluent which, by itself, makes the FairTax progressive. To make it even more progressive, the framers of the FairTax bill included a tax prebate. Our current system collects income taxes and provides a tax refund once per year (if the taxpayer qualifies). The FairTax prebate is a monthly refund paid in advance for all taxes paid on consumption up to the poverty level. In today’s rates, the prebate would be approximately $200 per month per adult and about $67 per dependent child. Also, the FairTax does not apply to used goods which means that those who really want to live frugally can do so with the prebate actually serving as a small income source.
It is also important to understand that Social Security and Medicare do not go away with passage of the FairTax. In fact, their prospects for viability increase dramatically as our nation heals itself and becomes more prosperous again.
To address your consideration of double-burden to Seniors who have already paid income tax & will now be faced with paying a consumption tax… the FairTax will not increase prices of goods and services in any substantial way. In some cases, the prices can and will reduce. Consider the doctor who provides a $10,000 medical procedure. Assume he is successful in writing off 1/3 of the procedure has overhead… He will still be responsible for paying the IRS $2,500+… and incur all compliance issue as well. Under the FairTax, the doctor will send $2,300 to the federal government via the state government with no hassles whatsoever. In fact, he can be less concerned with write-offs (conferences in Europe, etc.) which will enable him to run leaner and meaner which will probably drive prices down and quality up…
Finally, I would like to appeal to the Seniors sense of duty to our country. Many of today’s Seniors were born after the world wars. The WWII generation sacrificed (in some cases the ultimate sacrifice) to enable future generations to have the freedom to pursue their dreams. We have experienced great prosperity during current seniors’ lifetimes… Our post-WWII power, status, and innovation carried us through with this current broken tax system for decades. When we lost manufacturing jobs to Asia we had technology, housing, and financial services to fall back on… until it all caved in on itself in these past several years. Are today’s seniors unwilling to fight for the future of America? For the future of their legacy?
If the FairTax improves the prospects for prosperity for all constituents (other than current tax avoiders/evaders and the powerful who game the tax code), why would the AARP not support it?
I encourage the AARP to take a fresh look at the FairTax via the following links:
1. www.fairtax.org
2. www.youtube.com – search FairTax
3. www.fairtaxnation.com – view the videos and read up.
4. www.fairtaxhub.com
5. www.wikipedia.com – search FairTax
Please help be a part of the solution for the greater good of America.
Please support the FairTax.
Sincerely,
Arthur P. Villa
Long Beach, CA
Comment
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Comment by Carol Adams McLean on February 16, 2009 at 4:59pm
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Art, thanks for this heads up!
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Just goes to show the AARP doesn't understand the FairTax and that it is the only progressive tax system out there that would lower the cost of goods to their constituents. Their goal is to protect their constituency, even if it means throwing the whole economy under the bus.
I urge everyone to dump AARP and find their senior voice through the ASA
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Comment by Art Villa - Global Perspective on February 16, 2009 at 3:44pm
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Dear Mr. Villa:
Thank you for contacting AARP regarding Senate bill S.1025, The Fair Tax Act of 2007 and the companion bill introduced in the House by Rep. John Linder (R-GA), H.R. 25. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this important legislation.
Representatives of AARP have met with Rep. Linder and his staff to discuss H.R. 25 and the need for federal tax reform. We share a common goal of making the federal tax system fairer and simpler. At present, the Federal tax code is overly complex, inefficient and imposes tremendous costs on the economy. The AARP Board of Directors has carefully considered the need for tax reform as part of our policy review process. The Board recommends that "tax reform should focus on making the income tax more equitable, neutral and efficient rather than moving to another type of system." This policy reflects our concern about the potential impact of tax reform on a group as diverse as older Americans.
An historic and abiding principle of the U.S. government revenue system has been to achieve an equitable distribution of the personal income tax burden according to ability to pay. The main means of accomplishing this is "progressive" taxation. A progressive system ensures that people who receive more income pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those with lower income. In practice, this worthy principle has been more or less successfully translated into law depending on which party is in power, and how well policy concepts are crafted into legislation and regulation.
Yet even with a progressive or graduated income tax, older individuals-especially those with the declining financial resources and increasing health care costs more typical of older years-may have difficulty meeting tax obligations. So, several provisions of the tax code try to ensure that the tax burden on older individuals is a little lighter. For example, older people benefit from a higher standard deduction, as well as the exemption of a portion-or all- of their Social Security income from taxation. Current law also provides a special tax credit for those low-income elderly who receive little or no income from Social Security. Various "flat tax"
proposals would eliminate these considerations.
In addition, a shift to a Fair Tax-like any consumption tax-would constitute a sort of "double burden" of taxation on retirees. Having been taxed on income during their working years, they would then confront a tax on consumption in their consuming years.
Due to these concerns, AARP is not endorsing the Fair Tax Act. Yet, I do want to emphasize our continuing interest in reforming the federal tax system. The Association supports carefully examining the tax code for further changes and refinements consistent with the goal of a progressive, equitable, and universal tax code for all Americans. We are determined to work with all interested parties to develop the broad consensus necessary to make our federal tax system fair and simple.
Thank you again for getting in touch with us. Your opinions are important. Issues raised by members are monitored and many are included in reports to our Board and National Policy Council as these bodies determine future policy of the Association. If there is anything we can discuss with you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Sivamani
Member Communications
Member@aarp.org
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The American Senior Association already exists and supports FairTax. I encourage everyone who is a member or AARP to withdraw and support the ASA
http://www.americanseniors.org/Pages/home.aspx?Images=/images/index_new.gif
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