TownHall.com is conducting a poll on what type of tax reform its readers support. Go cast your vote.

(Thanks to Todd for the tip.)

From reader Earl Foreman:

I would like to see or hear some comment on the immigration issues that are currently in the news. It seems to me the issue of illegal immigration might be eased by FairTax. First off, I would like to say that it is not right people should live here illegally, but the fact of the matter is that we are hard put to keep them out and right or wrong the illegal immigrant is a factor in our economy. I do not think that making it a felony for being here is the right answer either. Most of the people that are trying to reach this land are looking for a better enviroment or circumstance for themselves and or thier families. They for the most part are doing what they can to provide for families. This is no different then our forefathers albeit the illegal immigrants are doing so by avoiding our immigration laws.

It seems to me the main concern that the American people object to is that illigal immigrants are using services that should be reserved for Americans. Using the Schools, Hospitals and welfare, ect without paying into the system. Perhaps the answer is Fairtax. I would rather have everyone pay a consumption tax. This in turn would help to pay for the extra school needs, hospitals and welfare.

Some would object by saying we preying on the illegal immigrant by making them pay a consumption tax. I would say that everyone would pay in equally. Uncle Sam would not need to know who was paying into the system preserving privacy both for us and the illegal immigrant. This would be a boon to the illegal immigrant.

If they choose to go out and return as a legal immigrant via the normal and preferred channels they should be allowed participate in the prebate. Otherwise, that is the penalty for trying to stay outside of the boundaries of the law.

Others would object because the illegal immigrant sends much of thier wages back to thier families that they left behind. Pulling money from our economy, but in truth, wouldn’t the service of sending money to another country be taxable by the consumption tax? And while living here, they will consume.

I wonder if other people think this would be fair? I still think we need to fix our borders and perhaps create a Guest Worker program and solution.

Mr. Foreman also sends us this link to a related article by Matt Towery at the Free Republic.

From an article in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution about last night’s FairTax rally:

About 4,500 raucous tax protesters packed the Gwinnett Convention Center on Wednesday night to hear politicians, musicians and talk show celebrities call for the end of the federal income tax and the creation of a 23 percent national sales tax to replace it. [...]

The size of the “Fair Tax Rally” crowd was so large that event organizers, prodded by a fire marshal, turned away roughly 2,000 rallygoers. Many gathered in the parking lot to listen to the event on radio.

“We’re sorry, next time we’re going to get a bigger room,” said Linder, who spoke from a stage at the front of the 50,000-square-foot room.

“But you are the persistent minority. We have 300 million people in America, and 250 million of them have never heard of the Fair Tax. It’s your job to tell them.”

See the full story for more.

Additional coverage of the event is available at Nealz Nuze.

And some additional first-hand reports in our blog comments.

Today I noticed that the Fair Tax Blog now appears on page one of Google, for both of the keywords “fairtax” (position 9) and “fair tax” (position 10).

Note that the results you personally see on Google may vary, however, depending on what Google data center is closest to you. Google’s results are continually updated, and we could fall off page one before long. But this is the first time I’ve seen us on page one of Google.

Google channels something like 50% of all search engine traffic on the internet, so our improved rankings pretty well guarantee that traffic to this blog (currently averaging about 90 visitors per day, not counting spiders) will continue to increase over the coming months.

This might be a good time to thank the 5,620 people who have linked to our blog so far and contributed to our discussions of the FairTax Plan. …Thank you!

Neal Boortz reports that the FairTax was on the primary ballots for all three metro Atlanta counties yesterday. The verdict? Eighty-five percent support.

Wow.

From Neal Boortz:

The FairTax movement is going strong my friends, stronger than you might imagine. I can assure you that the FairTax is attracting an ever-increasing degree of attention in Washington. I wish I could share the details, but the wonderful world of politics is such that it is much better to let the people involved spill the beans than to jump the gun by disclosing their interest or involvement ahead of time.

There have been three events in recent months that have really peaked interest among the political class. First was the debut of The FairTax Book on the New York Times Bestseller’s list for paperbacks. We’re still there ranking very high in the business category. Second was the FairTax rally in Atlanta a few months ago. When we packed a room full of 4,500 people, and then turned another 4,000 away, the shockwaves were felt inside the Beltway the very next day. On the morning after the rally Congressman Linder, who had returned to Washington overnight, was buttonholed by a number of colleagues to explain “just what it was you did there in Atlanta last night.”

Keep reading…

Want candidates for leadership positions within the Republican party to go on the record about their positions on the FairTax?

The Truth Laid Bear web site has organized a formal interview process to help gather information about Republican leadership candidates.

If you go there and vote for the FairTax question, you can increase the chances that these candidates will go on the record with their position on the FairTax.

From a reader willing to put his money where his mouth is:

I’m 40 years old, single, and I live off of a royalty income from an invention I made several years ago, that gives me $80K a year and I spend about $80K per year. I own my home free and clear, and I have about 500K in stocks for a nest egg if I need it.

I used your calculator and have referred many people to it. Because royalties are taxed at a lower rate and there is no FICA, I am one of the few special cases that will pay more under the Fair Tax.

But I am a strong advocate of the Fair Tax because it will be a boon to the economy, the country, and a rising tide floats all boats. It will put this country, which I love, on solid financial footing for decades, and eliminate the source and opportunity for a large part of the corruption in Congress.

However, I would support a gradual phase-out of the prebate for high earners…. not because it saves money, but for public relations reasons.

I would also support keeping the income tax (wait… let me explain) if it was limited to periods in which Congress has passed a declaration of war against a foreign nation, and the revenue from such a tax went directly to the commander in chief to use in prosecution of the war.

That way, Congress can’t get any of the money from an income tax for their own pet uses. Such a tax would also expire 1 year after passage, so Congress would have to re-impose it every year that they wanted it.

Repeal of the 16th Amendment could include these provisions easily.

Interesting.

If only we could trust congress to do anything at all, perhaps we could trust them with this too.

The Washington Post reports that in an effort to raise additional revenue, policymakers are discussing a VAT.

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.

A recent Rassmussen report did a poll on the idea and stated that:

To raise additional money for the government, just 18% of Americans nationwide favor a national sales tax. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% oppose such a tax. There is more support for the concept if sales tax revenue is used to provide health insurance for all Americans. In that scenario, 40% favor a national sales tax and 49% are opposed.

The report went on to ask additional questions that reflect the FairTax system.

A plurality of Americans would support a national sales tax if it meant getting rid of the federal income tax: 43% favor that trade-off, but 38% are opposed. Pluralities of Republicans and unaffiliateds like the idea, while a plurality of Democrats are against it.

Forty-eight percent (48%) say a national sales tax is fairer than an income tax while 26% hold the opposite view. The sales tax is viewed as fairer by 52% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 49% of unaffiliateds.

Jessica Wexler, who worked the Obama campaign, posted her speech from the Mid America FairTax Rally on FairTax Nation. I have copied and posted the speech below.

Hello, I am Jessica Wexler. I am a strong supporter of the FairTax. I have volunteered with FairTax KC for the past year and written an organizing manual to be used by Fair tax supporters across the country. So there is no confusion, I am a Democrat. I have worked 20 hour days, 7 days a week, for months at a time. I have slept on office floors with blankets pulled from the trunk of volunteers’ cars. During Senator McCaskill’s campaign, I learned the benefit of a union hall with showers, even if they were behind a door marked Men’s. On Novemeber 4th while polls were closing and parties were starting. I was still at President Obama’s Raytown office, working to insure every vote was counted. I have organized teachers in New Orleans and registered voters through Rock the Vote. I have been in favor of the FairTax for several years. Ever since my uncle, for those of you who don’t know him, he is the FairTax KC Geezer, gave me a small paperback book to read. My uncle and I disagree on all the major hot button issues from abortion to gun rights, social security to the death penalty. To sum it up we disagree on how the government should spend our tax dollars. We are in complete agreement on how the government should collect those tax dollars. The FairTax!

I am here to speak about why I, a democrat, support the FairTax. Why other Democrats must support the FairTax. And why it is crucial that the FairTax is a nonpartisan issue both on a local and national scale.

My top 3 reasons for supporting the FairTax are it will increase jobs, widen our tax base, and gives me control over the money I earn.The FairTax increases jobs by eliminating some of the major reasons, such as the capital gains and corporate income taxes, that caused and continue to cause U.S. companies to leave the U.S.

The FairTax widens our current tax base. Under the FairTax; People making money from criminal activity such as drugs pay taxes. Illegal Immigrants pay taxes. People being paid under the table pay taxes. People who once used accountants, attorneys, and financial advisors to find loopholes in our current system pay taxes. Everyone in the U.S. who buys anything new will pay taxes.

With the FairTax; I will finally have control over my money. Managing a nonprofit in Kansas City earning $30,000 a year I was bringing home $418 a week. With the FairTax in place I would be brining home my entire pay check of $576 a week. That’s an increase of $632 per month, totaling $8,216 for the year. A college graduate with $21,000 in student loans would be able to pay off the loans within 3 years using only the increase in salary. I will no longer have to wait a year to receive a refund on the money I earned that the government borrowed interest free; my money will be there every payday.

Fellow Democrats must support the FairTax because it simplifies our tax system, boosts our economy, and is far more Progressive than our current tax system.

We all agree that our current tax system is complex and hard to understand with over 70,000 pages of tax code. According to Money magazine, 99% of us will pay a tax professional to file an incorrect tax return! Democrats want a simplified tax system. The Fair Tax is the simplified tax system! Pay a tax once on new items purchased and that’s it. Buy anything used clothing, books, house, car there is NO Federal tax.

The FairTax will boost our economy in a number of ways. The most important way due to our current unemployment is it will creat jobs. There is over 13 trillion dollars in offshore accounts. The FairTax will bring back an estimated 2-3 trillion dollars in the first year alone to be invested here at home.

The third reason Democrats must support the FairTax is that it is far more Progressive than our current system. Under the FairTax Low-income households experience five times the benefit increase as compared to high-income households. This gives us a greater opportunity to move up the economic ladder and achieve the American Dream.

It is crucial that the FairTax has nonpartisan support. On the National level the FairTax cannot pass without bipartisan support. Our current Senate is made up of 57 democrats, 2 independents, and 40 republicans the House of Representatives is made up of 256 democrats and 178 republicans. We must persuade those on both sides of the aisle to gain passage of the FairTax.

I can not stress enough the importance of nonpartisan support at the local level. Imagine if my uncle never gave me the book, or if I was close minded and unwilling to learn about the FairTax because of all the issues we disagree on. There are entire families of strong Democrats that don’t have an Uncle to persuade them to take the time and learn about the FairTax. If we supporters of the FairTax dismiss the Democrats, we lose 50% of our potential supporters. Everyone must decide if the FairTax is their number 1 issue above all other issues, that is the only way the FairTax can succeed. Most Democrats don’t realize they have a vested interest in the FairTax. Simply because they are unaware of the facts and have been convinced that the FairTax is a Republican issue. We must show them that the FairTax is an American Issue. We have to be welcoming and inclusive of all people willing to listen.

I discovered at my first FairTax meeting that if my uncle was not there I as a liberal democrat would have ran away and never come back. To look at the crowd before me today, it is safe to assume that the majority of you are not Democrats. Democrats are not here for the same reasons I was ready to runaway. At the meeting volunteers were discussing inviting Sarah Palin to speak at an event, and pro-McCarthyism to name a couple of the topics that made me uncomfortable. I was thinking to myself. “What on earth am I doing attending an event with right wing republicans? I need to re-evaluate the FairTax, if this is an example of other supporters.” I am happy to say, I now have great relationships with everyone at FairTax KC. I talk to Earl and John at least once a week. Never would have guessed how well we get along and how many things we are in agreement on. Thankfully, I was able to explain how isolating their unconscious actions were to an outsider.

Now we remind each other that all social issues are left at the door. If you want to discuss the War in Iraq go right ahead, just NOT at a FairTax meeting or FairTax event. All of FairTax KC pamphlets, emails, and speeches are examined to insure that they are inclusive of all people. We have formed a strong grass root organization that thrives on diversity and stays focused on what matters: the FairTax. A year ago, we had 200 email addresses after reevaluating and marketing our ideas to be inclusive of all political parties and organizations we now have over 4,000 email addresses. We have to take the time and make the effort to be inclusive, Not exclusive. I am standing here today as evidence that a staunch liberal democrat does support the fairtax without compromising my liberal views on social issues. Thank you!