Your constitution is an outstanding document and has preserved our freedom since its inception. However, the constitution was brief and resolved issues as they existed at the time of the founding of our nation. Some of the wording has been defined by those who would like to see the words interpreted to achieve their own goals.
Your conception of the meaning of the constitution might differ from mine but I believe in the basic thoughts of our founders and that they represent the thinking of most citizens.
I along with others believe the best way to save the document is to have a constitutional convention to confirm our support for the document. It is not necessary to make major changes but it is necessary to clarify certain sections.
CLARIFY THE MEANING OF SOME ARTICLES
The Bill of Rights set up by the first 10 amendments was intended to define the meaning of several issues. However, in an attempt to keep the changes relevant to the time of adoption (1791) they are pointed and brief. For example, amendment one says" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or the free exercise thereof; ...
We often hear about the concept of the "separation of church and state" as if it were part of the constitution. This concept is in the minds of the reader who is left to make a judgement and the clarification of this issue and how to resolve it and other similar issues is the goal of many citizens.
We can add a few words to define the meaning of this clause and restore some basic rights that we have lost by actions of special interest groups and interpretation of the courts.
We will want to define the issue of the meaning of the abridging the freedom of speech; or of the press; or of the right of people to keep and bear arms.
States will want to review the preservation of states rights.
We will want to explore the process to amend the constitution, not to make major changes but to affirm and preserve it with clarification of meaning.
If any change is made I feel it should be related to taxation. I like the plan proposed for a fairer tax and have focused on the Fair Tax which is a consumption tax. I will give you resources to study this tax. Many citizens have recently demonstrated against excessive spending in our Federal Government. The Fair Tax is a good method for controlling spending, assisting seniors, low income groups and boosting the economy. I urge you to learn more at www.fairtax.org and www.fairtaxnation.org
THE POWER WE HAVE.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and The UNITED STATES of America.
As citizen voters we have great power available to us through our state legislatures. You notice above I used the sentence UNITED STATES of America for a purpose. We live on the continent of North America and there is a Central America and a South America. Therefore, America is a large continent. Through the Articles of Confederation we set up a confederation of Republics or States that were having difficulty with competition among states and problems with paying debts incurred through the gaining of independence. In 1787 the Articles of Confederation for the United States of America were adopted and it was established as a Republic of states that has endured.
Through a Convention the Constitution was proposed and was ratified in 1787. It says "We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union....establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
PROCESS TO SAVE THE CONSTITUTION
Therefore, as we enter into discussion we must remember that the order of priority is the will of the states as they united under a union of cooperation. It was a constitutional convention of the states that established the constitution.
I now refer you to an article outlining the procedures for amending the constitution.
http://www.usconstitution.net/costam.html
You will see there are four methods listed which are under 2 main categories, either changed by congress or changed by states.
THE BALANCE OF POWER OF THE STATES
You can look up the voting record of states and compare the colored states on the map. You will see that the most populous states tend to reflect liberal viewpoints and are generally considered international in thought. They tend to lean toward a "living" constitution that is interpreted with international viewpoints.
However, the majority of states that are not as well populated are more in number and tend to be the so called "heartland" of the United States and are more conservative in thinking and more inclined to preserve the history and basic foundations of the country. Therefore, this control of power can be converted to a successful effort by the citizens who can influence these states to save or preserve the constitution and carefully, very carefully, define certain key issues in the constitution. You can see an example of the states voting at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/front.htm
Recent elections show a power shift but this is expected to shift back with the discussion of the preservation of the constitution.
ORGANIZE COALITION
We must also build our power base and have a cooperative effort by several groups who are tolerant of each others viewpoints to ask the state legislatures to petition for a convention. Some groups do have major value and should be approached. These might involve religious groups who wish to preserve the recognition of the teaching of common sense guidelines of their groups,
also a tax reform group and its "Fair Tax", and the right of citizens to bear arms, plus the obligations of the press to present news without bias but not infringing on the right of opinions in editorial content, the work of Veterans Groups to preserve respect for our flag and the states with their desire to preserve states rights. "You, the People, must decide on the groups you will accept and what clarifications you want so that the states pass legislation calling for a convention affirming the constitution and including the language and only the language that you want in the definitions. This coalition of groups is vital for power to insure a strong support for only the items desired to be approved by the states and emphasis must be the preservation of the constitution and its definition.
STATES TO CALL FOR CONVENTION
The process requires approval of 2/3 of the states and with that Congress must approve and support the project. Then it must be ratified by 3/4 of the states.
We think in terms of 3 branches of government, the Congress (makes the laws) The President who signs or rejects the laws and the Supreme Court who must determine the acceptability of the law under our constitution. I hope I have illustrated to you there is a 4th powerful group, the states and you "the people" have great power to influence this 4th group.
I want to thank the efforts of Neil Boortz who made us aware of the process of the amending of the constitution. He has recently talked about the process of approaching the states to start the process for the Fair Tax. I am encouraging that activity by spreading the word but I am also encouraging a coalition of groups to make support strong and prevent other groups from changing the desired improvements to goals that are not consistent with your goals. By maintaining such strength you can control what issues are included and keep the process on track.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
TAX REFORM
TAX REFORM OR MORE SNOW JOBS?
Congress likes to treat us like they raise mushrooms:
You keep them in the dark, cover them with BS and at the first sign of life cut them off at the roots.
I think tax reform would be to totally simplify and reform our complicated tax system. Congress likes to make modifications with special exemptions for special groups which mean the rest of us pay more. It gives the congress power. I put through your exemption, now you help me. Now, it is even OK to send their aides some special gifts, so if the aide is getting a trip from a special group and you want to talk to the senator about a problem with that group, forget it, your mail will probably never reach that senator.
I want to see total tax reform. I would like to see a specialized group of experts study the situation and then come up with a better plan.
Believe it or not, my prayers have been answered. A group of successful business men have put together twenty million dollars and hired economists and accountants to make a study and they have discovered some very interesting things that will help us. In fact, if they can implement their findings your income will increase, much of the IRS staff will be absorbed into other duties, social security and even Medicaid will be fully funded. As a bonus our economy will expand as money from all over the world comes to or comes back to the USA for its tax advantages.
What this hired brain trust found was that in each product we buy, the price is increased by the cost of taxes paid by each participant of producing the product. Corporate income taxes, workers share of taxes paid by the companies, income taxes paid by truckers and other contract workers. The amount of tax paid varies by product but if you buy a VCR for $100.00 on average $22.00 is going to pay taxes. So the brain trust says stop taxes so the price will drop to $78.00 and then add back in $23.00 as a built in consumption or sales tax and now the price will still be about $100.00 but now there is a big difference.
Look at your last pay check and note the amount that is deducted for taxes and social security. If that amount were paid to you instead of being deducted see how much your take home pay will increase!
And that is not all the increase you will receive but you will have to wait for the next issue so I can feed this information to you in small bits so you can absorb it. The tax is known as the “Fair Tax” and you can research it on your own. But please come back as I lead you through the benefits and drawbacks of this program and why it will not pass unless you want it.
TAX REFORM OR MORE SNOW JOBS?
In the first section of this subject of tax reform I introduced the Fair Tax to you and explained that your income would increase by the amount now deducted for withholding taxes and Medicare. Some employers might even pass along the amount they are now charged for their share of your withholding taxes.
I want to reveal to you another source of income that will also help to increase your monthly income.
Let me say that all the information I am giving you now is covered in the Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz and John Linder. You should buy the book and study it. I am highlighting a few details to stimulate you and maybe clarify a couple of issues. I have found a couple of items I question and I will get to those also in future postings.
Now for another source of income. All heads of households will receive a payment each month to advance to them the cost of the consumption tax for the basic necessities of that household for that month.
Explain please: Let’s say you are a married couple and you have two children. At this time, the government has decided it will cost you $25,660 for your basic household requirements. If someone earned or spent below that amount it is defined as below the poverty level.
Don’t worry about the name, it is just the way to establish a figure to say that all income at or below that amount is required to give your family the basics. It has then been decided that a family should not pay sales tax on that amount. It would be unfair and cause a burden in taxation for lower income people. So the bill before congress requires the government to refund you in advance the tax on that amount which is $491.82
a month. Did you look at the withholding from your payroll stub? Let’s say you are having about $350 taken out for taxes: Add to that the $492 prebate and your income will increase almost $850 a month.
When was the last time your income went up about $10,000 per year? The fair tax has been recognized as the fairest treatment for lower income people.
Now let us examine this big increase. Most of that, the $492 will go for the consumption or sales tax. But remember the first lesson, when we get the corporate taxes that are passed on to you out of the sales price the final price you pay at the cash register will be almost identical to the price you paid before so that refund of $850 will really be a net increase in the money in your pocket. Do you know what happens when more consumers have more to spend? More of you can qualify for and afford to buy your own house so real estate will boom. With more money many of you will increase consumption so the economy will increase. Some of you will save some of that money so with increased savings mortgage rates will decline and more of you can afford mortgages which will also help the real estate market.
Without income taxes and taxes on savings more people will take their savings out of foreign deposits designed to skirt our taxes and deposit that money here in US banks. In fact our tax treatment for investment and savings will suddenly become the best or one of the best in the world so lots of money will flow into our banks. This will reduce mortgage rates, encourage investment and growth for our country and you will be much better off. There will be better jobs, a higher demand for your work and you will be very happy.
You can also always buy used items and save paying a consumption tax, it is OK. There will be a lot more spending and lots of taxes will be paid in just from the consumption of a more affluent America.
Tourists will come and they will help pay our taxes through their consumption. People who obtained money by various means whether it was a gift or it was stolen or it was for some unreported sales will now pay for their share of your taxes when they spend the money.
You do not have to worry about Social Security or Medicare any more; it will be funded and is provided for.
OK, that is enough for today. Absorb this and I will come back with some additional information. In the meantime you can read the book and you can go to the web site at www.fairtax.org. There might be a group of volunteers in your town who will explain more of the tax to you.
You should approach the Fair Tax as an investment. If you are going to learn about this powerful and exciting proposed change in the taxing system you will be investing time and you might spend a few dollars attending rallies or even donating.
A little time is well invested in reading the enjoyable Boortz-Linder “The Fair Tax Book”. This is vital because there are a few special interest groups who want to stop the program for their own financial benefit. They are inclined to feed you erroneous information. When you do your own research you will learn the truth.
This reading time is an investment. You could do other things with your time that would bring you a return and your mail is probably full of offers.
When you invest you might consider a safe bank CD at 3% and if you find a return at 5-6% you will think it is a good return. 10% would be excellent, if you thought you could get 25% you would be very, very happy and I want to show you an investment that will exceed anything you have ever done. Normally, if someone promised a high return I would say run to the nearest exit, but when the Fair Tax is passed you have great potential. Do not let this opportunity pass by.
I am going to show you that time worth about $100 and invested in the Fair Tax will return over $100,000 to you in a little over 10 years. This return will be expanded when applied to your family.
I have already told you about the pay raise you will receive; it could be $7,500 to $10,000 a year or more. Remember that each head of household receives the prebate so your children will also receive the benefit when they set up their own households so the return on investment expands as your family grows.
In addition we are going to redirect billions of wasted dollars toward productive gains for you and the results are expected to be amazing. American families and businesses could be wasting as much as $600 billion in trying to comply with or legally avoid the current tax code. The real secret is that businesses do not pay any of the costs of the taxes. Business does not exist without a reasonable profit, all other expenses; including taxes are passed on to you as part of the selling price of the product. You are paying this cost.
When the fair Tax is passed the businesses will not have any more taxes to pass to you. In fact, the magic of the program is that you will pay about the same price for products but the portion that went for business expenses related to taxes will now be used to pay our federal taxes. The economists who figured that out are heroes!
There is also about $1 trillion dollars in illegal transactions that take place each year. These include all illegal sales of stolen valuables, drugs, and other items. With the Fair Tax these profits will be taxed when the people involved spend their profits on consumer items. Purchases such as big cars, yachts, new homes, jewelry and so on. Part of their conspicuous consumption will be given to support the government, reduce your taxes and help pay for your Social Security and Medicare.
The same is true of visitors and tourists from other countries. They will help pay for your government and its programs.
Our present tax code has many discouraging elements. If you earn a significant amount of money or you own a corporation you are pressured by high tax rates on savings to find off-shore locations where you can save thousands of dollars a year. This takes money out of our domestic banks where it helps reduce interest rates and benefits the economy of the country where it is placed. With taxes eliminated it will be cheaper, safer and a lot more convenient for large savings funds to be kept in a reliable domestic banking system. With extra money to invest, competition will drive down interest rates you pay on your house and on credit cards. Just make a quick estimate of what you think your average credit card balance is for any year. If cheaper money caused lower interest rates you could save 10% or more. So take your average credit card balance and add 10% of that amount to your return on your investment in the Fair Tax. While you are at it add 2-3% of your mortgage balance to that return also.
We will eliminate the federal death tax and federal taxes on savings and there is a list provided below that will describe other taxes that discourage working , investing and the economy.
Because of no federal taxes our domestic products will be more competitive in the world trade without the taxes increasing their cost. Increased US sales will help increase our economy which will increase worker demand making your salary increase. At the same time, foreign goods will be sold with the embedded tax that will help reduce their advantage while helping to pay the costs of our government.
There are many professionals now working on tax code compliance and avoidance. This wonderful brain power will be concentrated on how to improve the efficiency of business, how best to invest the money and how best to improve products and customer service in order to help their companies earn their share of the expanding economy.
Your Government can concentrate on issues that are important to citizens rather than negotiating over who gets certain tax benefits.
I have given you some high lights of how you benefit from supporting the fair tax. If you would like more detail, here is a place to go. There are many more benefits that I have not explained.
http://50reasons.blogspot.com
Deborah maintains this site with 50 reasons why she supports the Fair Tax. These were provided by Ken Van Dellen. Deborah will also give you links to the various Fair Tax sites. Great job, Deborah. Thank you.
We should also thank the fine Houston business executives who invested the time and money to hire experts to develop the Fair Tax solution. (Fair Tax Site) Thanks to Congressman John Linder for his untiring efforts to prepare the act, promote it and get many co-sponsors and finally to Neil Boortz who has taken the time to learn the system and educate us.
Can we succeed? About 110 years ago my Great Grandfather joined a grass roots group just like this one. They were upset just like we are so they formed a new political party with the single purpose of ending slavery. That was the beginning of the Republican Party and they elected Abraham Lincoln and we fought for the freedom of all people. They did it. With your help we can do it. Believe it with a passion!
Now, it is up to you and me to spread the word. We need to increase the numbers in our support group. If this article helps, please copy it and distribute it.
Thank you for your interest.
Stewart “Stew” Rusby
TAX REFORM OR MORE SNOW JOBS?
Congress likes to treat us like they raise mushrooms:
You keep them in the dark, cover them with BS and at the first sign of life cut them off at the roots.
I think tax reform would be to totally simplify and reform our complicated tax system. Congress likes to make modifications with special exemptions for special groups which mean the rest of us pay more. It gives the congress power. I put through your exemption, now you help me. Now, it is even OK to send their aides some special gifts, so if the aide is getting a trip from a special group and you want to talk to the senator about a problem with that group, forget it, your mail will probably never reach that senator.
I want to see total tax reform. I would like to see a specialized group of experts study the situation and then come up with a better plan.
Believe it or not, my prayers have been answered. A group of successful business men have put together twenty million dollars and hired economists and accountants to make a study and they have discovered some very interesting things that will help us. In fact, if they can implement their findings your income will increase, much of the IRS staff will be absorbed into other duties, social security and even Medicaid will be fully funded. As a bonus our economy will expand as money from all over the world comes to or comes back to the USA for its tax advantages.
What this hired brain trust found was that in each product we buy, the price is increased by the cost of taxes paid by each participant of producing the product. Corporate income taxes, workers share of taxes paid by the companies, income taxes paid by truckers and other contract workers. The amount of tax paid varies by product but if you buy a VCR for $100.00 on average $22.00 is going to pay taxes. So the brain trust says stop taxes so the price will drop to $78.00 and then add back in $23.00 as a built in consumption or sales tax and now the price will still be about $100.00 but now there is a big difference.
Look at your last pay check and note the amount that is deducted for taxes and social security. If that amount were paid to you instead of being deducted see how much your take home pay will increase!
And that is not all the increase you will receive but you will have to wait for the next issue so I can feed this information to you in small bits so you can absorb it. The tax is known as the “Fair Tax” and you can research it on your own. But please come back as I lead you through the benefits and drawbacks of this program and why it will not pass unless you want it.
TAX REFORM OR MORE SNOW JOBS?
In the first section of this subject of tax reform I introduced the Fair Tax to you and explained that your income would increase by the amount now deducted for withholding taxes and Medicare. Some employers might even pass along the amount they are now charged for their share of your withholding taxes.
I want to reveal to you another source of income that will also help to increase your monthly income.
Let me say that all the information I am giving you now is covered in the Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz and John Linder. You should buy the book and study it. I am highlighting a few details to stimulate you and maybe clarify a couple of issues. I have found a couple of items I question and I will get to those also in future postings.
Now for another source of income. All heads of households will receive a payment each month to advance to them the cost of the consumption tax for the basic necessities of that household for that month.
Explain please: Let’s say you are a married couple and you have two children. At this time, the government has decided it will cost you $25,660 for your basic household requirements. If someone earned or spent below that amount it is defined as below the poverty level.
Don’t worry about the name, it is just the way to establish a figure to say that all income at or below that amount is required to give your family the basics. It has then been decided that a family should not pay sales tax on that amount. It would be unfair and cause a burden in taxation for lower income people. So the bill before congress requires the government to refund you in advance the tax on that amount which is $491.82
a month. Did you look at the withholding from your payroll stub? Let’s say you are having about $350 taken out for taxes: Add to that the $492 prebate and your income will increase almost $850 a month.
When was the last time your income went up about $10,000 per year? The fair tax has been recognized as the fairest treatment for lower income people.
Now let us examine this big increase. Most of that, the $492 will go for the consumption or sales tax. But remember the first lesson, when we get the corporate taxes that are passed on to you out of the sales price the final price you pay at the cash register will be almost identical to the price you paid before so that refund of $850 will really be a net increase in the money in your pocket. Do you know what happens when more consumers have more to spend? More of you can qualify for and afford to buy your own house so real estate will boom. With more money many of you will increase consumption so the economy will increase. Some of you will save some of that money so with increased savings mortgage rates will decline and more of you can afford mortgages which will also help the real estate market.
Without income taxes and taxes on savings more people will take their savings out of foreign deposits designed to skirt our taxes and deposit that money here in US banks. In fact our tax treatment for investment and savings will suddenly become the best or one of the best in the world so lots of money will flow into our banks. This will reduce mortgage rates, encourage investment and growth for our country and you will be much better off. There will be better jobs, a higher demand for your work and you will be very happy.
You can also always buy used items and save paying a consumption tax, it is OK. There will be a lot more spending and lots of taxes will be paid in just from the consumption of a more affluent America.
Tourists will come and they will help pay our taxes through their consumption. People who obtained money by various means whether it was a gift or it was stolen or it was for some unreported sales will now pay for their share of your taxes when they spend the money.
You do not have to worry about Social Security or Medicare any more; it will be funded and is provided for.
OK, that is enough for today. Absorb this and I will come back with some additional information. In the meantime you can read the book and you can go to the web site at www.fairtax.org. There might be a group of volunteers in your town who will explain more of the tax to you.
You should approach the Fair Tax as an investment. If you are going to learn about this powerful and exciting proposed change in the taxing system you will be investing time and you might spend a few dollars attending rallies or even donating.
A little time is well invested in reading the enjoyable Boortz-Linder “The Fair Tax Book”. This is vital because there are a few special interest groups who want to stop the program for their own financial benefit. They are inclined to feed you erroneous information. When you do your own research you will learn the truth.
This reading time is an investment. You could do other things with your time that would bring you a return and your mail is probably full of offers.
When you invest you might consider a safe bank CD at 3% and if you find a return at 5-6% you will think it is a good return. 10% would be excellent, if you thought you could get 25% you would be very, very happy and I want to show you an investment that will exceed anything you have ever done. Normally, if someone promised a high return I would say run to the nearest exit, but when the Fair Tax is passed you have great potential. Do not let this opportunity pass by.
I am going to show you that time worth about $100 and invested in the Fair Tax will return over $100,000 to you in a little over 10 years. This return will be expanded when applied to your family.
I have already told you about the pay raise you will receive; it could be $7,500 to $10,000 a year or more. Remember that each head of household receives the prebate so your children will also receive the benefit when they set up their own households so the return on investment expands as your family grows.
In addition we are going to redirect billions of wasted dollars toward productive gains for you and the results are expected to be amazing. American families and businesses could be wasting as much as $600 billion in trying to comply with or legally avoid the current tax code. The real secret is that businesses do not pay any of the costs of the taxes. Business does not exist without a reasonable profit, all other expenses; including taxes are passed on to you as part of the selling price of the product. You are paying this cost.
When the fair Tax is passed the businesses will not have any more taxes to pass to you. In fact, the magic of the program is that you will pay about the same price for products but the portion that went for business expenses related to taxes will now be used to pay our federal taxes. The economists who figured that out are heroes!
There is also about $1 trillion dollars in illegal transactions that take place each year. These include all illegal sales of stolen valuables, drugs, and other items. With the Fair Tax these profits will be taxed when the people involved spend their profits on consumer items. Purchases such as big cars, yachts, new homes, jewelry and so on. Part of their conspicuous consumption will be given to support the government, reduce your taxes and help pay for your Social Security and Medicare.
The same is true of visitors and tourists from other countries. They will help pay for your government and its programs.
Our present tax code has many discouraging elements. If you earn a significant amount of money or you own a corporation you are pressured by high tax rates on savings to find off-shore locations where you can save thousands of dollars a year. This takes money out of our domestic banks where it helps reduce interest rates and benefits the economy of the country where it is placed. With taxes eliminated it will be cheaper, safer and a lot more convenient for large savings funds to be kept in a reliable domestic banking system. With extra money to invest, competition will drive down interest rates you pay on your house and on credit cards. Just make a quick estimate of what you think your average credit card balance is for any year. If cheaper money caused lower interest rates you could save 10% or more. So take your average credit card balance and add 10% of that amount to your return on your investment in the Fair Tax. While you are at it add 2-3% of your mortgage balance to that return also.
We will eliminate the federal death tax and federal taxes on savings and there is a list provided below that will describe other taxes that discourage working , investing and the economy.
Because of no federal taxes our domestic products will be more competitive in the world trade without the taxes increasing their cost. Increased US sales will help increase our economy which will increase worker demand making your salary increase. At the same time, foreign goods will be sold with the embedded tax that will help reduce their advantage while helping to pay the costs of our government.
There are many professionals now working on tax code compliance and avoidance. This wonderful brain power will be concentrated on how to improve the efficiency of business, how best to invest the money and how best to improve products and customer service in order to help their companies earn their share of the expanding economy.
Your Government can concentrate on issues that are important to citizens rather than negotiating over who gets certain tax benefits.
I have given you some high lights of how you benefit from supporting the fair tax. If you would like more detail, here is a place to go. There are many more benefits that I have not explained.
http://50reasons.blogspot.com
Deborah maintains this site with 50 reasons why she supports the Fair Tax. These were provided by Ken Van Dellen. Deborah will also give you links to the various Fair Tax sites. Great job, Deborah. Thank you.
We should also thank the fine Houston business executives who invested the time and money to hire experts to develop the Fair Tax solution. (Fair Tax Site) Thanks to Congressman John Linder for his untiring efforts to prepare the act, promote it and get many co-sponsors and finally to Neil Boortz who has taken the time to learn the system and educate us.
Can we succeed? About 110 years ago my Great Grandfather joined a grass roots group just like this one. They were upset just like we are so they formed a new political party with the single purpose of ending slavery. That was the beginning of the Republican Party and they elected Abraham Lincoln and we fought for the freedom of all people. They did it. With your help we can do it. Believe it with a passion!
Now, it is up to you and me to spread the word. We need to increase the numbers in our support group. If this article helps, please copy it and distribute it.
Thank you for your interest.
Stewart “Stew” Rusby
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