About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

FairTax - The Litmus Test

Most of you know that Congressman John Linder, lead sponsor of the FairTax legislation, has decided to retire @ the end of this session. Don't worry Congressman Linder will virtually handpick his successor in the bill sponsorship role from many excellent Members.

Congressman Linder recently participated in a telephone conference call & reported that you shouldn't expect a leadership position in the Republican Party if you become a co-sponsor of HR 25. Congressman Linder stated that Republicans got really close to the FairTax when Denny Hastert (FairTax co-sponsor & Former Speaker Of The House) asked Linder to do a program on it at a Republican retreat. John Boehner (current Minority Leader) stopped it showing that there are enemies of the FairTax in both major parties for purely selfish reasons.

Now much of the time that Boehner appears in public he looks like a reasonable man who has America's best interest @ heart - if you only go by what you see in public. What reason could Boehner have to nix the Linder presentation other than he knows the FairTax would be the biggest transfer of power from politicians to the people since the founding of this country - & in particular it is his power, lifestyle, perks, etc that will be affected? And of course Boehner is not alone in his deceptive position - the majority of our elected representatives play the poor against the rich, the weak against the strong, & retirees against workers while all the while favoring one special interest group after another - & all of this @ our expense while they stay in office for decades in powerful plush jobs.

Now I mentioned that the majority of politicians do things like this. However, there is a group of elected reps who have America's interest @ heart. These people, currently numbering sixty seven, have of their own volition signed on as co-sponsors of HR 25 (or its companion bill S296), The FairTax Act Of 2009 - the most important piece of legislation in our lifetime for America.

Not coincidently these sixty seven people are graded "A" or "B" (with only a few recent exceptions) by the National Taxpayers Union. Currently there are no co-sponsors of the FairTax Act among NJ elected reps. Our two NJ senators are both graded "F" by NTU with a 2% favorable rating. NJ also has seven congressmen graded "F" - four of them in single digits - Andrews, Holt, Pallone, & Sires. The other "F"s are Pascrell, Payne, & Rothman with ratings in the teens.

As pitiful as this is there is no doubt that all of these congressmen would become supporters & cosponsors of the FairTax if they thought there was a groundswell of support among their constituents – this is where all of us come in. Politicians are primarily in the reelection business & it is up to us to let them know what it takes for them to be successful to get reelected. I believe that the lowest NTU rated Member of Congress would support & co-sponsor the FairTax if they thought that 51% of their constituents were aggressively for the FairTax & they would not get reelected if they opposed it. I believe that the FairTax would pass in five minutes if everyone who heard of it would pitch in & help spread the word so that our elected reps knew they would be out of office if they did not follow the lead of their constituents.

Politicians & as we have recently profiled, talk show hosts, fall under the same standard. The litmus test is whether or not any of these people support the FairTax, & if not do they provide a reasonable explanation of why not. Then would they debate their question with someone like me or Jim Bennett to see what makes the most sense for America.

We have certainly singled out Glenn Beck on this matter the past several postings on this blog. A great & very thoughtful member of this e-mail club has offered the following suggestion re how to proceed - "I say to send letters and ask to tell the other side, how to get on their shows is beyond me except send a letter once a week or once a month asking, please sir would you give me the opportunity to state the facts, and maybe a 5 minute spot to explain the FairTax story." How courageous! This is exactly one of the points I intend to bring up & the FairTax NJ semi-annual meeting on Saturday - I want to assign leaders to find out why people of power are not behind the FairTax & if they find out they are not, for no good reason, to help get them out of power.

The country is crying for the FairTax as so many people remain unemployed or underemployed. I meet them every day & my heart breaks when I consider the opportunity for life they are missing & the selfish lecherous tendencies of our elites who care nothing for "We The People."

Take your pick from John Boehner to Rush Limbaugh to Newt Gingrich & everyone in between & you have to wonder why they are not for the FairTax. Or do you?

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