| Sucess at the Northwood Tax Symposium A distinguished panel of tax policy experts found common ground and expressed deep interest in the FairTax during a recent Tax Symposium at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. The Symposium was hosted by Dr. Keith Pretty, Northwood University President and Moderated by Dr. Timothy Nash, Northwood Vice President and Endowed Professor of Free Market Economics. Dr. Maurice McTigue, Vice President of the George Mason University Mercatus Center, argued that a majority of the population believes the current tax system is unfair. Interestingly, he also spoke about how framing the argument for a reform plan can determine whether the public will accept it or not. This is an important element for all FairTaxers. He illustrated his point with this example: Someone makes $10K and pays $1K in taxes while someone making $100K pays $10K in taxes or 10 times as much. People might say, that's great; the person making more should pay more in taxes. Yet, when one says I think a 10% flat tax for everyone is the right way to go, those same people will immediately say, "that's not fair." Same amount of tax framed differently garners a totally different response. Is how your framing the FairTax helping or hurting the FairTax? The FairTax was exceptionally represented by Leo Linbeck, Jr., AFFT Co-Founder and Chairman of the board, who provided a brief history on the origins of the FairTax, then articulated why taxing consumption is superior to taxing production adding, "I don't think it was an accident when the great sage Karl Marx said in his Communist Manifesto, to maintain a communist system the second most important feature is a highly graduated income tax system." David Olander, Majority Counsel for the House Ways and Means (W&M) Committee, also reiterated W&M Chairman Dave Camp's commitment to comprehensive tax reform, stating he felt there is general agreement that the tax code is littered with special rules that don't lend themselves to the economic growth we need. Olander spurred a discussion on scoring when he said the W&M and Senate Finance Committees rely on estimates for tax proposals from an "independent body of economists within Congress called the Joint Committee on Taxation…..they are sort of viewed as the Supreme Court as to what the budgetary effects will be." Linbeck seized on the opportunity adding, "I just wish that the scorers would score HR 25, the FairTax bill. To date, not a single scoring has been published on HR 25. We've had scoring on a national sales tax but not on HR 25." The Joint Committee on Taxation uses the static scoring methodology. McTigue voiced his concern about this particular scoring methodology saying, "if your scoring mechanism doesn't work, it is stupid to stick with it. You can't static score and get it right. If you are going to rely on that, your politicians are going to make bad decisions because they're using bad information." Many in the audience agreed with McTigue. Linbeck was joined by AFFT Co-Founder Bob McNair, AFFT national campaign manager Cynthia Canevaro, and AFFT business and legal affairs director Louis Gurwitch; and a host of FairTax leaders from around the country including Ron Babin, Michigan FairTax Association (MFTA) President, Doug Friedrichsen, Kansas 3rd District Director, Steve Hayes, Board of Directors, Florida FairTax Educational Association, and many more from Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Special thanks to the MFTA for their outstanding support during and after the event! You may go here and watch the symposium in its' entirety. If you struggle with how to present the FairTax, or would just like to simplify your delivery, please pay special attention to Mr. Linbeck's initial remarks and his answers during the Q&A. Please note it takes a little while for the broadcast to fully load and the audio quality improves after the first few minutes. 
The FairTax In Chile? Congratulations to Jim Bennett, a very valuable and creative FairTax leader from New Jersey! Jim serves as a board member of the FairTax America Support Team (FAST) and is the North Atlantic Regional Director, and is taking the good news about the FairTax around the world! Jim decided that during his family's trip to South America, he would see if he could meet with someone from the Chilean government so he could learn about their tax structure and share with them the FairTax Plan. On November 12, Jim will be meeting with Miguel Zamora, legislative counsel at the Ministry of Economics in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Zamora is responsible for tax legislation proposed by the Chilean Government. Jim's idea to seek a meeting came from his thinking about the Chilean government's 30-year tradition of free-market economics and his son's nursing internship in neighboring Argentina. Who knows, maybe someday Chile will adopt the FairTax plan. Go Jim go! The FairTax Act in the News Column: Adopting Fair Tax Act will improve American living – The Shorthorn Income tax and the Internal Revenue Service have been "the law of the land" throughout the life of every American-born citizen working today. We, as Americans, haven't lived under any other system. But, there is a better way—it's called the FairTax Act… Congress should bring the act before the American people, give it the national discussion it deserves and then adopt it. Had the FairTax Act been adopted four years ago, Americans would not have suffered through the worst economic period since the Great Depression… - Glen Terrell Fair Tax would be good for Huntsville and America – AL.com …With U.S. unemployment holding persistently at 8+% for over 43 months, and an August Bureau of Labor Statistics report that showed a disappointing 96,000 new jobs created last month with four job seekers dropping out of the market for every one who found a job, it is clear that America's economy needs a boost. The national debate continues over how to stimulate economic growth - whether to spend or save our way out of debt. However, many are failing to address a major root cause of the problem - the 73,608-page Federal Income Tax Code, full of loopholes, contradictions and inequities that stymie business growth and polarize Americans into haves and have-nots. For a growing number of Americans, it is becoming clear that the only solution is replacement of the current Federal Income Tax system with the FairTax®, a federal consumption-based tax on what individuals spend, not what they earn. The FairTax is a new, simple, transparent and totally equitable system of taxation that levels the economic playing field… - John D. Blue, Huntsville, AL The November FairTax Webinar With Special Topic: Why a Reformed Income Tax is Not the Answer: How an Income Tax Stifles Growth and Expansion When: Thursday, November 29, 2012 Time: 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, 5 pm Pacific Where: At your personal computer, anywhere! Why: To provide an interactive forum for people who cannot get to local meetings to learn about the FairTax and to present special topics that are frequently misunderstood or not generally discussed. Who: Join Marc Manieri, webinar producer and host from Orlando, Florida. In their fourth year, Marc's webinars draw national participation from seasoned FairTax supporters as well as those just getting introduced to the FairTax. Join: To participate, register here and watch for the confirmation email. For more information contact Larry Walters at repeal_16@earthlink.net. | 
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