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.

Friday, September 23, 2011

The FairTax & The 16th Amendment


The recent messages re Herman Cain resulted in many questions concerning the connection between the FairTax & the repeal of the 16th amendment.  Below is a simplified explanation of this connection – in summary the 16th amendment does not have to be repealed before the FairTax legislation is passed under HR 25.

The FairTax can be enacted by a simple majority of Congress & signature of the President or a veto proof majority of Congress.  This action repeals the income tax system & abolishes the IRS after a transition period that will be used to clean up old tax business.  The FairTax becomes the law of the land effective January 1, 2013 as written in the current bill.

With the income tax system & the IRS both dismantled we are not in danger of either coming back quickly - the longer they are gone the harder it would be for them to return.  It is the FairTax itself that leads to the 16th amendment being repealed.  The FairTax lapses (sunsets) seven years after enactment if the 16th amendment is not repealed by then @ which time we have no tax system in place – the income tax does not automatically come back.

The point is that the benefits of the FairTax will sell themselves to the citizenry making the repeal of the 16th amendment not as hard as it could be without the above approach. You only need a simple majority of Congress & a president who will sign the legislation to get this started. You will never get this with the current Congress or President – this is why I keep writing about a needed change in mindset.

Now I don't minimize the work involved to achieve the above process – it is obviously quite extensive but does not require a constitutional amendment to get the FairTax started.

If you think it won't happen & don't do anything to help it won't happen.  On the other hand if all of us who know about the benefits of the FairTax for America get behind it & spread the word with no quit or fatigue whatsoever it will pass in five minutes.

2 comments:

  1. Bravo ! I'm so glad you sent this so quickly. I should have realized you would. So many who claim to be familiar with the working of the Fair Tax haven't actually studied it and are not aware that the repeal of the 16th Amendment and the passage of the Fair Tax are not simultaneous. Your message made that clear to one and all. Thank you

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  2. Yes Doug - we all must work extra hard; however we have very strong arguments. Push the Fair Tax relentlessly while arguing the IRS is obsolete with today's retail and sales technology. Challenge the socialist leaning politicians to answer how a cost of $430 billion a year adds a single dollar to GDP. Clearly it subtracts substantially from GDP growth. This is $430 billion cost in complying with our lobbyists corrupt tax code.

    Also ask the socialist leaning politicians to justify:

    -keeping archaic PO which may not be able to make a 5.5 billion payment next month and continues to add several billions per year to our deficit

    - keeping education dept after SAT scores continue to decline. Is not education best served locally?

    -- keeping the energy dept while our energy trade deficit accelerates.

    -- restricting drilling by energy companies in ANWAR and the Gulf while sending US tax dollars to Brazil so Brazil can drill in areas we are not allowed to. Also drilling at edge of international waters where we are prohibited are China, Cuba, Vietnam. Canada drills successfully in areas similar to ANWAR. Investors Business Daily reported September 22 that Spain is leading a group of drilling companies to start drilling in the Gulf with Cuba a main beneficiary.

    One more point about energy policy.

    An economy grows most substantially when a new technology surfaces that the population and businesses will strongly demand because it improves their business or lives. The onset of the internet was such. Recently Apple's IPADs meet this criteria. Demand increases, businesses and people buy which leads to new companies and jobs servicing the new 'real' demand.

    The above can happen again with an environment encouraging domestic energy (oil, gas, coal) production. Real demand is there. Many industries demand energy to grow especially cheaper energy which would occur if our domestic supply would increase. Industries supporting drilling operations would grow and generate jobs and profits which would lead to more jobs. In process our trade deficit would decrease and Treasury revenues would increase.

    The above should be part of a 'real' jobs program.

    In a town hall or other encounter I would love to confront Senators Menendez or Lautenberg with the following:

    Why do you support allowing tax payer money to Brazil to drill where we can not?

    How can you justify the IRS and the $430 billion subtraction from GDP?

    I will write to them again today demanding a specific response and not a canned energy and tax policy response.

    Hope to see all at Oct 1 Tea Party event at Morristown Green.

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