Fairtax Power Radio

The recent government shutdown was longer and costlier than anyone would have liked.  Federal employees went without paychecks.  Vital services were either shut down entirely or significantly curtailed.  People suffered while the politicians pointed fingers at each other and traded blame on who was responsible for the mess.The FAIRtax obviously can’t cure the partisan divide in Congress and can’t make the two sides stop arguing.  However, the FAIRtax Guys take an interesting look at how the FAIRtax could make it easier for people to get by the next time this happens.

FAIRtax Power Radio began nearly ten years ago as a weekly radio program on Leading Edge Radio Network.  Over the years, it has evolved into the weekly video podcast you see today.Today, we celebrate a significant milestone for the program—the 500th episode.  To share in the celebration, AFFT president Steve Hayes and practicing CPA Jade Walle join FAIRtax Guy Bob Paxton for a quick look back and then a look forward into the future of the FAIRtax.

Mark Gupton was a giant in the FAIRtax movement.  He is a major reason why the Florida FAIRtax Educational Association is as large, as successful and as powerful as it is.This week, the FAIRtax Guys look back at the life and legacy of Mark Gupton as told by two men who worked closely with him and knew him well—Randy Fischer and Steve Hayes.

In 2021, the FAIRtax Guys had the opportunity to present the FAIRtax to a group of political candidates at a candidate workshop in Las Vegas.This week, the Guys revisit that event and go over the main points in the PowerPoint that they prepared for the occasion.

William Occam was a 14th century philosopher and theologian.  He developed a principle which came to be known as Occam’s Razor.  It held that when there are multiple solutions to a problem, the simplest one is usually the best one.This week, the FAIRtax Guys examine the income tax and the FAIRtax side by side to see which one gets a better grade on the simplicity test.

The people we elect to represent us in Congress are supposed to do just that—act in our best interests.  Unfortunately, the cost of running for re-election is so high now that Big Money often speaks louder than the people back home.This week, the FAIRtax Guys look at the latest figures from opensecrets.org concerning just how big, how powerful and how rich the lobbying industry is.

On October 19, the FAIRtax Guys did their annual live program from the studios of WTOB Radio in Winston-Salem, NC.See how it all went down on this week’s edition of FAIRtax Power Radio.

In spite of all the positives associated with replacing the income tax with the FAIRtax, skepticism about the FAIRtax, often fueled by misinformation, remains.This week, the FAIRtax Guys address concerns about the FAIRtax from both citizens and members of Congress.

Once again, the FAIRtax Guys turn to artificial intelligence, but this time with a twist.  Instead of just having AI find and organize information, we asked it to evaluate some options and make a choice.Specifically, we asked it to evaluate the income tax and the FAIRtax and then pick which system it would choose to live under if it were an American taxpayer.  Three different AI applications all arrived at the same conclusion.  American taxpayers are better off under the FAIRtax than the income tax.

The FAIRtax truly has something for everyone to like.  Last week, the FAIRtax Guys demonstrated how the FAIRtax appeals to people with differing political ideologies.This week, the focus shifts to different demographic groups.  Whether you’re old, young, retired or running a business, the FAIRtax will make your life less complicated and more profitable.

You’d never know it listening to the partisan rhetoric, but the FAIRtax has always been an apolitical proposal.  It never has been and never will be an attempt to advance or hinder anyone’s political agenda.  It’s one and only objective is to raise the money the government needs to operate in the fairest, most transparent, most efficient and least economically harmful manner possible.This week, the FAIRtax Guys strip away all the partisan slant and find elements in the FAIRtax that people all across the political spectrum should like and support.

Every week, the FAIRtax Guys look at congress.gov to see what kind of crazy things the Congress Critters are trying to put into the tax code.This week, the Guys look at a different kind of tax code craziness.  With the help of an artificial intelligence application, they have dug up the top ten craziest tax deductions that people have tried to take and the IRS disallowed.  Then, they follow up with ten more crazy deductions that were actually allowed.

There is a myth circulating about the FAIRtax that just refuses to die.  You see it all over social media and even some artificial intelligence applications will quote this as a drawback of the FAIRtax.  It’s the argument that claims that the FAIRtax is unfair to low income families because poor families spend a much higher percentage of their income than rich families do.This week, the FAIRtax Guys assume the role of mythbusters.  They explode this myth in exquisite detail by comparing how two families, one rich and one poor, fare under the FAIRtax.

There seems to be a trend brewing, largely in the Southeast.  State after state has announced its intention to eliminate their state income tax.   South Carolina recently joined this group when Nancy Mace, a candidate for governor, announced her plan to reduce South Carolina’s income tax rate to zero.This week, the FAIRtax Guys take a look at just how many states have figured out that having no state income tax gives them an advantage over neighboring states, and why some states have a better plan than others.

President Trump continues to double down on tariffs as a way to raise revenue for the federal government.  While the President has enjoyed some success on this front, the fact remains that there’s a better way to do it.This week, the FAIRtax Guys engage in a head to head match between tariffs and the FAIRtax to see which system would truly be the best way to fund the federal government.

Last week, the FAIRtax Guys explained why putting exemptions into the FAIRtax for necessities like food and medicine is a bad idea.This week, the Guys expand on the functions of the FAIRtax prebate.  It’s a concept not found in any other consumption tax, so it’s natural that some people could have questions about what it is (and isn’t), and how it works.

Some people who are concerned about the regressivity of a consumption tax like the FAIRtax have suggested that the FAIRtax should contain exemptions for necessities like food and medicine.This week, the FAIRtax Guys look at the SNAP program as an example of what happens when the government tries to define what “food” is, and they explain why the FAIRtax prebate is a much easier, and fairer way to ensure that no one pays the FAIRtax on their basic necessities.

The Tax Foundation is an international research think tank based in Washington, D.C. that collects data and publishes research studies on U.S. tax policies at both the federal and state levels.This week, the FAIRtax Guys look at a Tax Foundation article from October of 2023 comparing the income tax to consumption taxes like the FAIRtax.

A recent poll showed that most people across the entire political spectrum support the idea of replacing the income tax with a different system of taxation.  That’s good news for the FAIRtax, but how do build public demand for that change?This week, the FAIRtax Guys welcome Florida FAIRtax Educational Association president Paul Livingston to discuss our press release program and expound on how our release on this particular subject is performing.

What happens when you ask an artificial intelligence application to evaluate the FAIRtax?  Of course, it depends on which application you use and how you word the question.  It also depends on what sources the application uses to formulate its answer.Recently, the FAIRtax Guys asked Microsoft’s Copilot AI application to list the pros and cons of the FAIRtax.  It did a pretty good job with the pros, but missed the mark a bit with the cons.  This week, the FAIRtax Guys offer Copilot some gentle correction on some points about the FAIRtax that it didn’t get just right.