Thursday, July 27, 2006

My blog's first negative comment!

I am excited! I have my first negative response to my blog!
A kind gentleman/gentlewoman named "Dutch" made a comment on my blog about my post about the momentum of the FairTax movement.


Dutch said...
Momentum shouldn't be confused with a group of advocates "drinking their own bathwater"! All money bills originate in the House W&M committee, Revenue subcommittee. Of the 13 members of the subcommittee, only one favors the Fairtax-Rep. Linder. Of the 41 members of the full committee, only three support the Fairtax. And we all know that only 55 of the 435 House members now support HR25. No Democrats have come out in support of HR25. The probability of HR25 being taken up in committee in the next two years is nil. And if the D's take over the House in November, the Fairtax will become a distant memory. Please tell me again where you detect all this momentum?

Thu July 27, 11:32:16 AM EDT



I would like to comment on this comment, and this will be my blog post for today.

Your numbers are accurate, but they do not tell the whole story. You can know nothing about the velocity, let alone acceleration, of something if all you have is its position at one given point.

For example, if I were to tell you the Space Shuttle Columbia was at 13°19.717′N 23°27.500′E and 35,759 feet altitude at 14:04:45 on 07/26/05, could you tell me how fast it was moving or whether it was accelerating or decelerating? That data is very precise and you would be able to find the space shuttle fairly easily, however, if that is all you knew, there is no way to ever know what is actually going on with the shuttle.

My point is that you cannot tell if the FairTax movement has momentum (velocity times mass) without looking at its change over time. The FairTax is picking up momentum. The number of supporters among the American people is growing every day, and the word will spread even faster once the Orlando Rally makes the news.

You also say that the FairTax only has 55 supporters out of 435 Representatives. You fail to mention, however, that those that you call "supporters" are those who have completely signed on with the bill. These men and women are co-sponsors, justjuts supporters. The Bill has many more who support the idea but have not yet co-sponsored the bill. The bill has 73 supporters, 55 of whom are co-sponsors, and 295 who are non-committal one way or the other. Even Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga) has requested that her position be changed from Opposes to Will Not Commit.

I foresee the upcoming elections as a catalyst for the FT movement. There are candidates everywhere who are coming up in the major parties as supporters of this movement. They will get quite a few votes, I can guarantee that. If some seats are lost or put in jeopardy by the candidate(s) who support the FairTax, then politicians will wake up.

Another point to make is the data that came out of Georgia last week with their primary votes. In three counties, the FairTax as an idea was included on the ballot in the Republican primary. These are the results of those primaries.

When asked if they supported the FairTax, voters responded as follows:
Gwinnett County:
Total Votes: 35,755
Yes - 31,068 86.9%
No - 4,687 13.1%

Cobb County:
Total votes: 39,458
Yes - 33,598 85.15%
No - 5,860 14.85%

Fayette County:
Total votes: 11,517
Yes - 9,828 85.33%
No - 1,689 14.67%

Those numbers are staggering! I doubt numbers like that would show up if you asked the same group if they supported the War on Terror!


I know that Georgia is a very Republican state in the middle of the Sunbelt, but it is such a strong movement in Georgia because that is where the publicity started with Rep. John Linder, and Neal Boortz, radio personality, who broadcasts from Atlanta. All the FT needs is time. All grassroots movements need time, especially ones that take power from the politicians and their lobbies.

I detect the momentum in the American people Dutch. I detect the momentum among those who hear about the FairTax and are excited about it. They are excited about taxes!

I know there is momentum when I speak to Conservatives and Liberals who are in support of this idea.


I myself got went to a Gay Pride Rally in St. Pete Florida not too long ago, and in a few hours we had collected 300 signatures to the FairTax petition to send to congress. The idea of letting people keep their money and spend it where they want may be a somewhat conservative idea, however, the FairTax ends up being even more progressive, by design, than the current system, and so liberals love it too.

You have made another comment that I will make a post about later tonight.


I will say one thing however, before I go. This is my blog. I am allowed to be a fanatic, an indefatigable optimist, loud, obnoxious, and blunt. You however, need to be polite and courteous, or I will not allow your comments through. You know what I mean. Stick to your issues and your facts and we will get along fine. If I feel uncomfortable with putting something on my blog, I very well may not but it up there. You have not yet said anything that makes me want to keep it off my site, however I don't want it to get to that point.


FairTax Now!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is not a single person on the planet that could have said that better. Thank you for putting Dutch in his place.

Anonymous said...

Justly put.
The Fair tax is just that. Fair. Is it perfect? Nope. It is still a direct tax on the people, a big No-No in the eyes of our founding fathers, but certaily a way to begin reversing us out of the socialist income redistribution system that our tax system has become...
See my fair tax commentary here.

Anonymous said...

I am a fair tax guy and I like what you had to say. The numbers from Georgia are very encouraging.

Let me point out some of the criticisms that I have heard. First, from the Ultra-right, there have been complaints about the prebate being socialism. While I can see where they are coming from, I also understand why the prebate is essential to the plan.

Second, I have heard complaints that the FairTax will hurt the medical industry. I'm not sure what the person was trying to say or get across, so I won't go into details. Let me just say that I don't buy it.

Frankly, I am astounded that anyone would oppose this idea. There are flaws, but as long as the government insists on spending as much as they do, no tax code will be perfect.

Like it or not, there are essential government functions that cost money. These require that the government have some sort of revenue, which means that it will always need taxes. I say that if we are going to have taxes, let them be as fair as possible--tax everyone equally. What you base that on is up to you. I like HR25, and I think it will be a good thing for this country.

Anonymous said...

The FairTax system is lopesided. The business owners get a free pass at almost all taxes. On the other hand, the average working class that spends almost 100% of their income on retail goods would bare almost all the tax in the system.

To be truely a fair tax the system would have to tax business owners and working consumers the same.

First, the tax must be on income or expendicures. Only one of them. Then it must apply to the business owner and the working class the same. If you want a sales tax then whenever a good or service is bought the one buying the goods or service must pay the tax. Second, certain items will be exempt from this tax. Employing workers, insurance, 1 residental house, food from grocery stores, tuition, books, and heating, electricity, and money will not be taxed.

If you don't apply the tax to business property, certain items won't be taxed for businesses but will be taxed for consumers. For example, computers are would be taxed for consumers, but not taxed for businesses, that would make it not fair.