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.