Super Tuesday and the FAIRtax
The Super Tuesday results are in this morning. On the Republican side, Donald Trump did well but didn’t “seal” the deal because he did not carry Texas and effectively eliminate Ted Cruz. In fact, Cruz seems more revitalized because not only did he win the Texas primary but also Alaska and Oklahoma. Marco Rubio only won one state, Minnesota, but his finish in Virginia was strong. Dr. Carson has announced that he is suspending his campaign.
To win the Republican nomination, a candidate needs 1,237 delegates. The post-Super Tuesday delegate count shows the following:
- Trump 316
- Cruz 226
- Rubio 106
- Kasich 25
Kasich is going to stay in the race at least until the Ohio primary on March 15th. If he wins, he has announced that he will stay in the race. However, most of the pundits agree that his chances of winning the nomination are very low.
Trump, Cruz and Rubio and the FAIRtax
It is highly likely that the next Republican candidate for President will be either Trump, Cruz or Rubio. Despite the fact that all three of these men have released flat income tax-based plans, this doesn’t mean that they are not going to be open to real reform—the FAIRtax—if they are elected.
During interviews, Trump has indicated that he likes the FAIRtax. He has become a friend of Mike Huckabee who is a huge FAIRtax supporter. The FAIRtax addresses one of Trump’s biggest concerns, the fact that our major trading partners have an unfair advantage. Each of these trading partners has a consumption tax system that rewards their exporters and punishes U.S. imports. The FAIRtax will level the playing field and ensure that our products are much more competitive by making imports pay the FAIRtax and allowing our exports to not be taxed.
Cruz has been a cosponsor of the FAIRtax. He has told me that he really likes the FAIRtax solution. His economic advisors are very familiar with the FAIRtax. He keeps saying we need to eliminate the IRS but his proposed tax plan doesn’t eliminate the IRS at all. The way to eliminate the IRS is to adopt the FAIRtax.
Rubio has proposed reforms to the present broken income tax system. While in theory these reforms are good, in reality they still allow constant tinkering with the income tax code and instantly enrich all the lobbyists who will swarm over the Capitol wanting changes for their clients. What is not known by many is that Rubio is familiar with the FAIRtax and in fact promoted the idea that he would support the FAIRtax if elected. He promptly forgot this statement when he was elected.
Rubio is more attuned to the political class, but he is also very bright and can be shown that the present system is broken.
Clinton, Sanders and the FAIRtax
It seems that the only thing that will prevent Clinton from becoming the Democrat nominee is an indictment. The thing that the new President, Republican or Democrat, will have to confront is that the present income/payroll tax system is falling apart.
The evasion numbers are clear. The rapid expansion of people in the work force who get paid as 1099 contractors and don’t get paid via salary and get a W2 is predicted to be in excess of 40% in the next ten years. The IRS admits that while W2 evasion is very low, the evasion rate is much higher with 1099 returns.
There is already a proposal from Senator Cardin, a liberal Democrat from Maryland, that has a 10% retail sales tax, income tax on incomes in excess of $100,000 and a corporate tax.
Both Clinton and Sanders know that a retail sales tax can be made much more progressive by simply increasing the prebate to exclude purchases up to, say, $50,000 per year. Then all who make higher purchases would need to pay a much steeper rate and this would include the majority of the traditional Democrat constituency.
Can Evasion Be Slowed?
Because of the decreasing audit rates and the increasing acceptance of people who evade taxes, the only way to even slow the growing rate of evasion is not to simply make the income tax code more simple.
As I said to Paul Ryan when he was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the person evading the income tax is also evading the Social Security tax and the state income tax. For example, if a person is hiding $10,000 of income today and assuming an income tax rate of 20%, 15.3% FICA and 5% state income tax, they are actually evading $4,000 of total tax. Is this person who has already made the decision that it is okay to break the law going to decide to pay not zero but 40%?
The only way to really address this growing problem is with a growing force of IRS agents who will conduct very painful audits and an increase in criminal prosecutions for tax evasion from approximately 1,400 to tens of thousands.
No President and few Members of Congress are going to be interested in this solution due to the outrage among the taxpayers because their audits will be targeting many honest taxpayers as well as the dishonest evaders.
Conclusion
Abraham Lincoln said, “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." To a large extent the continuing evasion, the continuing revelations of the IRS incompetency and abuses and the growing awareness that the present system is a 20th century tax code that doesn’t work for our economy in the 21st century will force the new President to look for real tax reform.
This is why we have to ensure that the FAIRtax is front and center. It is the Big Solution that America needs. If we allow the elites in D.C. to pass something that they call tax reform, it will not work but it will make it much harder to get any attention on real reform for a number of years.
America’s Big Solution
The FAIRtax is America’s Big Solution and we need to redouble our efforts to get it passed. Bigsolution.org has simple information that will help people sign up both financially and to receive more information about the FAIRtax. In addition, soon there will be a fantastic new tool that will allow all of us to get more of our friends and neighbors familiar with the FAIRtax. We know that if most people learn about the FAIRtax, they will become supporters.
1040 Club
To those of you not familiar with the 1040 Club, AFFT is asking people to contribute $10.40 per month to AFFT. This provides a steady funding platform and allows us to spend our time not trying to raise money but actually working with groups to help make passage of the FAIRtax a reality. Thanks to each of you who have joined the 1040 Club. You are ensuring that Americans For Fair Taxation can continue to promote the FAIRtax.
If you are not a member of the 1040 Club, or if you are a member but want to join for someone else, please go to this link and sign up.
FAIRtax Power Radio
Recently The FAIRtax Guys interviewed Randy Fischer who is a local Marion County, Florida volunteer, a Board member of FFTEA, a Board member of AFFT and the Chair of the AFFT Communications Committee. The main subject of the interview was the new AFFT campaign “America’s Big Solution” and the new website, bigsolution.com. We split the interview into three segments which are now included in Programs 26, 27 & 28 of FAIRtax Power Radio. The links to these programs are included below.
I recommend all FAIRtax Leaders spend the time to listen to Randy explain how the new campaign was conceived, how it was developed and what we hope to achieve with it. If you want to be an effective FAIRtax leader, you need understand this new campaign and FTPR is one of the most efficient ways to gain that knowledge.
To listen to FTPR on SoundCloud (free and audio only) go to these links:
FTPR 26 http://bit.ly/20Revmn
FTPR 27 http://bit.ly/1oYMmOp
FTPR 28 http://bit.ly/1L6YAyg
To “watch” the radio show on YouTube (also free) use the following links:
FTPR 26 http://bit.ly/1TvTi0B
FTPR 27 http://bit.ly/1XIZB1y
FTPR 28 http://bit.ly/1mTEbkL
AFFT National LOGO Store
SPECIAL PROMO SALE March 1st -7th
The Patriot 600D Polyester Cooler Bag has a front zipper pocket for additional storage wherein our FAIRtax logo is presented in bright red and blue colors. The Cooler Bag pattern is stars and stripes, fully insulated, heat sealed, PEVA lining, zippered main compartment and front pocket plus a carrying handle. The Cooler Bag size 8 ½” W x 6”H x 6” D and is ideal as a small lunch container with sandwich and drink.
For every FAIRtax℠ Patriot Cooler Bag order will Receive FREE:
Visit your National FAIRtax Store frequently and secure supplies for educational meetings, debates, town hall meetings, and other political events. Don’t forget to order extra supplies of FAIRtax Palm Cards — never run out of Palm Cards when the opportunity exists to educate the public.
Thank You For Opening The FAIRtax Chronicles, Our Sponsored Mailings
We plan to do several of these mailings each month. If you take a minute to open the sponsored emails and click through to the website, you are making an in kind contribution to AFFT. It is not required to actually make a purchase, but your minute of time will ensure that AFFT is paid ever larger amounts from people paying for us to send their offers to our supporters.
Again, we are making every effort to ensure that we work with only reputable companies. If you feel that any FAIRtax-sponsored email is objectionable, please email us at info@fairtax.org and tell us why. You can also opt to not receive these sponsored email messages but still receive FAIRtax emails.
Thank you for staying FAIRtax strong!
