Shadowscope

Election day draws nigh, and I am starting to see more and more bullshit from both of the major parties. Kelley, over here, brought up a good point. This is going to be the biggest goat-fuck we have seen for awhile, and I don’t think that it is going to be just limited to the Democrats either. Michael Badnarik is starting to look better than ever.

Here is the entire bill known as HR 25(the Fairtax Act). It will take a few minutes to read, but I felt that it would be good to actually post the entire thing here.

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Damn I wish he had won the republican nomination for senate. Here‘s the text of testimony he gave before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on the Extraterritorial Income Regime back in May 2002.

Neal Boortz said something about this column yesterday on his Radio show, this is the first time I have had a chance to look at it. Explains very nicely the Fairtax Act in very simple terms.

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Came across this little story at boortz.com:
BUSH … NO CHAMPION OF FREE SPEECH
But then again neither is John Kerry.
President Bush has enlisted the services of Arizona’s Saintly Senator John McCain to “go after” the so-called 527 groups, that is the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, Moveon.org, etc. The President wants to shut them down. That’s right, he wants to take away their (and by extension, your) right to free speech. Welcome to The United States of America in 2004.
Question: Would the White House please issue a statement telling us just which constitution he promised to preserve and protect when he took the oath of office? Evidently it wasn’t ours. Ours, after all, says something about free speech.
George Bush wants to make it illegal for you to pool your resources with some other folks who share your views and express those views through the media. Think about this. You join a group promoting tax reform. One of the presidential candidates supports your cause, the other does not. You want to run ads promoting your tax reform idea and encouraging voters to support your cause by supporting your candidate. This is the very essence of political free speech … and both George Bush and John Kerry want to make your actions illegal.
There is no scandal in the 2004 presidential election greater than this … the candidates from both of the major political parties teaming together to deny your freedom to effectively speak out politically. How serious is it? Kerry and Bush approve of placing you in jail if you dare to express your political feelings in a way not approved by them.
If these two enemies of our Constitution succeed then we will be at a point where only candidates and those in control of the media will be allowed to express political viewpoints through the mass media in the months leading up to a presidential election.
The founding fathers are on a spit.
What a crock of shit. If you look at the Attorney General of the United States, and the Department of Homeland Security, this is just the next logical step.

Came across this today.
REP. KING GETS HEARING ON FAIRTAX
223 words
12 August 2004
US Fed News
English
? Copyright 2004. Hindustan Times. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa (5th CD), issued the following press release:
Iowa Rep. Steve King applauded Chairman Thomas today for agreeing to hold a hearing on major tax reforms, including the FairTax.
As news sources reported yesterday, Representative Bill Thomas, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced that his committee would consider replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax.
“I have been working to move to a national sales tax, or FairTax, even before I was elected to Congress”, said King. We should abolish all federal income taxes, including the regressive payroll tax, and replace them with the FairTax (HR 25), a federal retail sales tax on all new goods and services purchased for personal consumption.”
“I am glad to hear that my efforts to get a hearing on the FairTax have been successful and that Chairman Thomas is open to the idea of a FairTax. I am looking forward to working with him in the coming months.”
Speaker Hastert has recently called for monumental tax reform in his new book, including consideration of a national sales tax.
“It is time to abolish the IRS and unleash the productive sector of our economy”, said King

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Came across this message on the Yahoo Fairtax list that I subscribe to and thought I should include it here. My apologies to the author if you did not want it reproduced (tough shit in other words):
There is one thing that I would like to clarify, if I might. With the
FairTax bill, as it is currently written, there is absolutely no need
for exemptions of any kind. To replace this concept, the people
who designed the bill ingeniously created the idea of a Family
Consumption Allowance (FCA) to COMPLETELY eliminate the
tax burden on those living under the poverty line.
This is how it works. At the beginning of each month, prior to
spending, ALL families, rich or poor, receive a credit, calculated
according to household size and indexed to the poverty schedule
in accordance with the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS). Depending on the size of your family, you will
receive a credit, usually in the form of electronic transfer, that is
equal to the total amount of taxes you WOULD spend up to the
poverty line, IF you were to spend that much of your income.
This basically means three things:
1. If you spend BELOW the poverty line for a given month, you will
realize a net GAIN, since you will be reimbursed an amount that
exceeds what your family actually spent in taxes. This means
that you have a negative tax rate for that month.
2. If you spend EXACTLY AT the poverty line for a given month,
you will pay ZERO taxes, since you will be reimbursed an
amount that equals what your family actually spent in taxes. This
means that you have a 0% tax rate for that month.
3. If you spend ABOVE the poverty line for a given month, you will
start to pay taxes out of your own pocket, since you will be
reimbursed an amount that is less than what your family actually
spent in taxes. This means that you have a tax rate for that month
which is PROGRESSIVE; the more you spend, the higher your
actual tax rate becomes.
The FCA is really the key to making the FairTax “fair.” Leo
Linbeck, the “Godfather” of the FairTax, once put together a great
table showing the progressivity of the FairTax. Anyone who ever
tells you that the FairTax is “regressive” either does not
understand the concept of the FCA or is intentionally spinning
the issue. I hope this simple explanation helps you to
understand the reason for this argument, as well as the
superiority of the FairTax plan as a whole.
Very best regards,
David Klepinger
Volunteer Regional Director (GA, NC, SC)
For more information on the Fairtax Act go here

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Guess I didn’t take the time to think about what a busy man Johnny Isakson probably is. He DID respond to my email, this morning, and though it COULD be a canned answer, or one from a staffer, I don’t think so. Nothing particularly private in it, so I will post the contents of the email below. If needed, I am sure someone from his office will contact me if I need to remove it, so here it is:
Dear Richard:
Thank you for contacting my office regarding the Fair Tax. I appreciate your thoughts and the opportunity to respond.
I agree with you that the tax code is a source of anxiety and frustration for American taxpayers. This is why I voted in 2000 to repeal the tax code entirely and create a select commission to study the simplest and fairest way to raise government revenue. The commission would have studied the implications of a fair tax, flat tax, and other proposals. This legislation was introduced by Representative Steve Largent as H.R. 4199, the Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 229-187; the Senate did not act on H.R. 4199. This year, I am the co-sponsor of the reintroduced version of the Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act, H.R. 278, which does the same thing as the previous version of 2000.
First and foremost, I believe that we need to fundamentally reform our tax system and eliminate wasteful spending. A consumption tax, such as the Fair Tax and which has been referred to as the “Cadillac of taxes,” is, in my mind, the most efficient form of taxation. Because I believe that true tax reform will not occur until Congress is faced with a deadline, I am supporting the Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act as a way to begin the discussion. The time has come for a robust national debate on this issue, and this bill frames the debate exactly as it should – not on any one proposal but on all options available. In order to bring the debate forward, I have gladly signed on as a co-sponsor to H.R. 25, the Fair Tax, sponsored by Congressman John Linder (R-GA). Bringing one proposal forward will undoubtedly open up debate and discussion of all major alternatives to our tax system.
While I believe a fair tax may be the best solution, we must also be willing to consider other reform proposals such as former Majority Leader Dick Armey’s flat tax. Regardless, there are certain issues that must be addressed before final passage of any comprehensive reform. As a businessman, I understand that we need to ensure that the transition from the current system to an alternative system is as seamless as possible, recognizing that economic decisions have been based on depreciation, tax credits, interest, and other tax-free or tax-deferred investments that exist under the current system.
The importance of the transition plan cannot be underestimated if we are to avoid damaging the economy and harming the American family. We must not make the same mistake that we did in the 1980s. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was well intentioned in its purpose of simplifying the tax code, but its unintended consequences were dramatic in contributing to the recession of the early 1990s and the collapse of the Savings & Loan industry. This must not be allowed to happen again. Ultimately, good tax policy is good economic policy.
Our $10 trillion economy is fueled by the hard work and creativity of the American people. There is no doubt that the current tax code serves as a barrier to the long-term growth and health of our economy. Congress must do something to bring tax relief to America’s families and businesses.
Please feel free to visit my website at www.house.gov/isakson for more information on issues that may be of importance to you, as well as to sign up for my monthly email update. Thank you again for contacting me, and I hope you will not hesitate to call on me in the future if I can be of assistance to you. Sincerely, Johnny Isakson Member of Congress
And thanks to you as well. I appreciate the fact that he took the time out to respond to me. Still not sure who I will vote for. I voted for Sandy Thomas las time, but that may change this time around.

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