Posting to the Official Blog of the National Taxpayers Union

Robert L Nathan said on Apr 01 2005 at 3:10pm

Dear Mr Liberal Virgenian.

Dude, I don’t understand your logic. How do you figure that Dude A spends 75% of his income on consumer goods @ $20K of income and Dude B spends 60% @ $100K of income? I personally have an income close to Dude B, and I can tell you that what I spend on consumer goods is less than what Dude A spends, primarily because I invest every dime that I can get my hands on in hopes that I can escape the trap of being a corporate slave some day.

I also figure that my investments create other jobs, which is good for everybody. If the workers that are employed through my investments follow the same suit that I do, more and more jobs can be created.

If you want to really get regressive, tax the wealthy to the point where they leave the country. I’ve got to tell you, Costa Rica starts to look awfully good when you start paying 30 cents of every dollar to support the Federal Bureaucracy. As wealth leaves the country, so do jobs. And with fewer jobs, than who is left to pay the taxes? I can assure you that your representatives in Washington are not going to cut their highbrow noses off to spite their faces on this issue, liberal or conservative.

Have you ever considered the possibility that the reason that our labor markets at home can’t compete globally is because the tax burden that employers pay on labor is so high? In spite of the high productivity of the American workers, we cannot overcome weight of wagon that Uncle Sam has loaded for us.

The solution is a hybrid of the consumption tax, known as the Fairtax. Under this proposal the so-called regressively of the consumption tax is nullified by rebating the tax up to the poverty level (factoring in the number of dependents). FICA tax, which is the most regressive of all taxes as far as the poor and lower income people are concerned, goes away.

I recommend that you go to the www.fairtax.org site for more information. I'm sure that if you take a serious look at it, you will come around. It's truly a non-partisan proposal, being embraced by liberals and conservatives alike.

Best Regards

Robert Nathan
La Jolla, California

Response to article in the Seattle PI

Dear Mr. Hassett,

I read your article at seattlept.com entitled “Tax reform takes a back seat to partisan rankling”, and thought you might like to know how a good number of the American people plan to enforce some solidarity on the tax reform issue.

The Fairtax organization consists of 600,000 plus dedicated members, and our ranks are growing daily. We are a grassroots group committed to a total overhaul of the Federal tax system and replacing it with a fair and transparent tax, which cannot be easily manipulated by those that derive their power from money rather than the will of the people.

You can bet that we will make this a major issue during the months prior to the next election. The politicians may be in denial about it today, but rest assured, they will be getting a sobering wakeup call.

I suggest that you visit our website at www.fairtax.org and become acquainted with HR25 and S25, these bills being introduced and supported by representatives on both sides of party lines.

Very Truly Yours

Robert L. Nathan
December, 2005
San Diego, CA.

Letter to Senator Shelby about the Flat Tax

Dear Senator Shelby,

I grew up in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama area and I have many fond memories from those days. My father and brothers still reside in Alabama. I am now and have been for many years a Texan and while my heart is here, my soul will always reside in Muscle Shoals.

I have been following the tax reform efforts that are now underway with a keen interest. Having been born into the current income tax system, I have often wondered how it came about, as it does not reflect the American ideals that I learned about as a child while in school on the banks of the Tennessee River. During the past few years, I have done quite a bit of study on this subject, and I have come to see it as a mechanism for enslaving the middle and lower classes of this country.

While I applaud you for recognizing the need for significant tax reform, I do not think the flat tax is the answer. The flat tax does not take the tax burden off of the poor, nor does it take the cost of compliance out of the cost of goods and services. It is not a transparent tax (no one will know the total cost of the tax). More over, it will be subject to the same K street manipulation that has occurred over the past century, at the expense of those that shoulder the bulk of the tax burden. There are many more arguments against the flat tax, but let me just refer you to the web site that has all the information that you need.

Please visit www.fairtax.org, which is the tax system that I support and will be promoting along with at least 600,000 other Americans this coming election.

Very Truly Yours

Robert Lindsay Nathan, Jr.

President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform

To: The Honorable John Snow,
Secretary of the Treasury



Dear Sir,

As a volunteer for the Fairtax initiative, I am writing to you about tax reform and the recent findings of the Presidents Commission on the same subject.

I write this letter to you as a humble citizen of these United States of America. I do not have access to the services employed by those who make things happen in Washington, through their influence via lobbyists and lawyers. Nor do I employ the corporate support of accountants, lawyers, secretaries, comptrollers, or tax consultants when addressing tax matters with the Federal Government. So please give this letters its due regard, as it is written with time that is more precious than that of those that have the wealth and power to facilitate direct influence on people at your level of government.

I cannot express how utterly disappointed I was in October to learn of the Commission’s findings. The current tax code is a monstrosity that has evolved from 100 years of tweaking, primarily via the influence of the wealthy, so that they may avoid excessive tax burden. Their compliance costs are passed to the middle class in the costs of goods and services that we buy from the companies that maintain their wealth. All the wile, the less fortunate are left to their own meager resources in this regard.

The income tax code is stifling small business, with the possible exception of those cash only businesses, who are likely able to avoid taxes and the compliance costs all together. How can an upstart business be expected to compete with the larger business that has full time employees who are dedicated to the minimization of company tax exposure?

This convoluted conundrum of the income tax is not the vision that our Founding Fathers had for this country. This intimacy of the Federal Government in the lives of its citizens is a travesty that goes beyond words.

There are many, many more reasons that I support the Fairtax, and you will receive many more letters from volunteers just like me that will no doubt enumerate the benefits. However, it is a legitimate alternative, and to dismiss it as such would be to dismiss the human condition entirely. I am most passionate about the abolition of the 16th amendment and the replacing it with the Fairtax, because to continue on with the income tax in any form, is to continue on with an enslavement of the citizenry of the United States by the Federal Government.

Very Truly Yours,

Robert Lindsay Nathan, Jr.