Fairtax Power Radio

AFFT president Steve Hayes’ testimony before the House Ways and Means subcommittee on taxation was largely political theater. Both sides used the occasion to advance their own talking points—Republicans touting the success of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and Democrats attacking the FAIRtax at every turn. Still, two Democratic Congressmen, John Larson of Connecticut and Danny Davis seemed willing to put the partisanship aside and take a look at the merits of the FAIRtax plan. That’s encouraging.If more Democrats would be willing to take an honest look at the FAIRtax, they’ll find that there’s a lot there for them to like. The FAIRtax is actually non-partisan. It favors neither side’s spending agenda. This week, the FAIRtax Guys look at ten reasons why Democrats should be supporting the FAIRtax.

2023 had promised to be a watershed year for the FAIRtax. In order to secure the Speakership of the House, Kevin McCarthy had to promise to bring the FAIRtax up for a vote—something that hasn’t happened since the FAIRtax was first introduced into Congress in 1999. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker. It remains to be seen whether or not Speaker Mike Johnson will honor the promise that McCarthy made and allow the FAIRtax to be voted on in this session of Congress.So, as 2024 begins, the FAIRtax Guys take a look at the state of the FAIRtax. Some of it’s encouraging and some of it, not so much.

The Federal tax code is constantly changing. Every session, thousands of bills are introduced into Congress to amend the tax code is one way or another. Most of these proposals go unnoticed by the general public, but every week the FAIRtax Guys are looking for the best of the best, or in some cases, the worst of the worst examples of just how insanely complicated the tax code really is.In this year ending edition of FAIRtax Power Radio, the Guys introduce the 2023 Tax Proposal Hall of Shame. These are the most striking examples of why the existing income tax code needs to be repealed in its entirety and replaced by the FAIRtax.

December 6, 2023 was a significant day for the FAIRtax. That’s the day that AFFT president Steve Hayes testified before the House Ways and Means subcommittee on taxation. While Congress is still a long way from enacting real tax reform, it’s encouraging to see that the FAIRtax is still in the conversation when it comes to deciding exactly what that reform should look like.This week Steve joins the FAIRtax Guys to discuss what went on both in and out of the hearing room.

Economists will tell you that there a number of different laws, like the Law of Supply and Demand, that define how our economic system works. Here’s one they probably won’t tell you about, but it’s certainly true nonetheless. “Never underestimate a politician’s lust for your money”.As our nation’s debt soars, the politicians in Washington are constantly looking for new and different ways to get into your pockets. Join the FAIRtax Guys as they discuss a new and rather insidious way that the IRS is invading your privacy in order to transfer more money from your pocket to the Federal treasury.

Compared to the income tax, the FAIRtax is an exceedingly simple and easy to understand method of raising the money the Federal government needs to operate and provide services that people need and demand. Even so, since it’s such a radical departure from the taxation we’ve known all our lives, people have questions about what the FAIRtax is, how it works, and how it will impact their lives.This week, the FAIRtax Guys continue their foray into the fairtax.org FAQ to answer some more basic questions people have about the FAIRtax.

The FAIRtax FAQ at fairtax.org is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to know more about what the FAIRtax is, how it works and why it’s fair.In this edition of FAIRtax Power Radio, the FAIRtax Guys look at why the FAIRtax is truly a fair tax. They examine the effect of the prebate on families of different income levels and also tackle the question of whether or not it’s fair to give rich families and poor families the same prebate

Steve Hayes is the president of Americans for Fair Taxation. He has been involved in the effort to replace the income tax with a consumption tax since well before the FAIRtax was developed and introduced into Congress.This week, Steve sits down with the FAIRtax Guys and offers his thoughts on everything from the recent turmoil in the House of Representatives regarding the Speakership to how school vouchers and other tuition assistance provided by some states may be treated by the IRS.

Back in February, economist Nathan Goldman at North Carolina State University in Raleigh published an article purporting to answer common questions people may have about the FAIRtax. You would think that an economist would understand what a boon the FAIRtax would be for the American economy.Unfortunately, this article seems to be a thinly veiled attack on the FAIRtax repeating many of the inaccuracies, omissions and distortions others have used in trying to turn people against the FAIRtax. So once again, the FAIRtax Guys are here to set the record straight.

The IRS has announced what it calls “a sweeping effort to restore fairness to the tax system”. In a nutshell, the IRS says it’s going to make tax compliance fairer by concentrating its enforcement and auditing efforts on higher income taxpayers, partnerships, large corporations and promoters who are abusing the tax rules.This week, the FAIRtax guys look at the actual IRS announcement published at irs.gov and ask the question that no one else is asking. “Why do we continue to tolerate a tax system that in inherently unfair and requires billions of dollars to administer and enforce?”

The FAIRtax Guys are grateful for the radio stations that carry FAIRtax Power Radio at no charge as a public service. The flagship station for this effort is WTOB in Winston-Salem, NC where Bob Scarborough is employed. Usually, the radio stations rebroadcast programs that have already streamed live on our video platforms. However, once a year the Guys switch things up and do a live program on WTOB that is video streamed later. This week’s FAIRtax Power Radio is the video stream of the live program that aired on WTOB on Sunday October 22.

Congressman John Linder from Georgia was a pioneer in the FAIRtax movement. He was the original sponsor of the FAIRtax bill when it was first introduced into Congress. He also co-wrote the two best selling FAIRtax books with Neal Boortz.John recently sat down with the FAIRtax Guys for a wide ranging conversation covering everything from how the current scramble for House Speaker may affect the FAIRtax to how to re-ignite the public passion that was on display when the FAIRtax was first introduced to the American people.

There is a lot of good information at fairtax.org regarding what the FAIRtax is, how it works, and what kind of impact it will have on the economy and on our lives. One area of concern that many have is how the FAIRtax will affect their healthcare.In 2017, Dr. Karen Walby wrote an article detailing how the FAIRtax will be applied in the healthcare industry and shared a case study involving a family member. In this edition of FAIRtax Power Radio, the FAIRtax Guys go over that article which is found in the “Healthcare” section under the “Research” tab at fairtax.org.

This past March after the FAIRtax had been promised a vote in the House of Representatives, Brookings Institute, a long time member of the Washington establishment, published an article supposedly analyzing the FAIRtax. Like many others before it, Brookings had to twist the FAIRtax into something it isn’t in order to muster and argument against it. Like many others before it, the article was full of opinion presented as fact.In this edition of FAIRtax Power Radio, the FAIRtax Guys examine the Brookings article and once again, set the FAIRtax record straight.

Last week, the FAIRtax Guys began discussing a case before the Supreme Court that could have a monumental impact on the kind of taxes you may be subject to in the future. The critical question the court is being asked to answer is whether or not the government can tax money that you have not actually received.Tax attorneys Steve Hayes and John Richardson continue their analysis of this case and discuss what it could all mean for the FAIRtax movement.

It’s not making waves in the media, but there is a case before the Supreme Court that could have huge implications for what taxation in America will look like moving forward. The basic question the court will have to decide is whether or not the government can tax money you have not actually received.To help you understand all the ramifications of this case, the FAIRtax Guys have invited two tax attorneys, AFFT president Steve Hayes and John Richardson, to share their insight and expertise on this critically important matter.

John Richardson is an attorney living in Canada who specializes in helping American citizens living outside the US deal with the unique problems our US tax code imposes on those citizens. Recently, he issued a rather surprising recommendation—renounce your US citizenship now. Whether it’s by coincidence or by design, the Internal Revenue Code is driving people away from the United States.This week, the FAIRtax Guys take a look at the underlying reason behind Mr. Richardson’s shocking recommendation.

In the years since it was first introduced, Congress has paid precious little attention to the FAIRtax. Judging from that, it would be easy to believe that your Congressional representatives never hear about the FAIRtax and that many don’t know anything about it. Unfortunately, the truth is that Congress DOES know about the FAIRtax. They just choose to ignore it.This week on FAIRtax Power Radio, the FAIRtax Guys look at testimony that was given before the Joint Economic Committee in the House of Representatives in November of 2011. Dan Mastromarco laid out a scathing indictment of the current tax system, called them out on why the current system continues to exist, and then makes a compelling case for switching to the FAIRtax.

A lot of people make a lot of money off the current income/payroll tax system. The FAIRtax would derail their gravy train. So, it’s no wonder that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s promise to bring the FAIRtax to a vote in this Congress has brought opposition to the FAIRtax out of the woodwork.In their latest round of setting the record straight, The FAIRtax Guys dissect a January 2023 article from the Institute on Taxation and Economic policy that’s full of inaccurate assumptions and some downright untruths about the FAIRtax.

A few weeks ago, the FAIRtax Guys rebutted the points made in a letter that was sent to all the FAIRtax cosponsors in Congress. That letter was authored by economic advisor Grover Norquist on behalf of his organization Americans for Tax Reform. In the letter, Norquist made numerous wild and inaccurate representations about the FAIRtax in urging cosponsors to withdraw their support for the bill.This week, the Guys call on AFFT President Steve Hayes to provide some personal insight on what’s behind ATR’s attack on the FAIRtax. Hayes and Norquist know each other personally and have worked together on several previous occasions