I wanted to start this anniversary article off with a proper acknowledgement of the friends and family that have supported and celebrated this effort over the last year. Thank you to all of you that have sent kind words and constructive criticism over the last year that has added to my immense enjoyment toiling away in an effort to pass the largest tax reform legislation in our history. An additional thank you to everyone else involved in this growing movement. Your effort is critical to our success and will not succeed without it. However, I would like to point out that the goal of this website is not its longevity; it is not my wish to stand here five years from now making the same arguments about the dire need for the FairTax. But there are many reasons why I believe that this will not be the case.
We have been gaining momentum ever since the FairTax was made a bill. Where at one time, we were an idea supported by a handful of cosponsors we are now a nationwide crusade that most politicians have an answer to. Even if Romney was incorrect about his information, and he was, it is encouraging that a Presidential candidate would know at least the basic premise of the plan. That means that we have a shoe in the door in most areas, we can correct the mischaracterizations, we can tweak our message, we can push harder on certain political leaders, but the point is people are already aware. What that means is that our efforts are having an effect. It gets difficult sometimes to judge how successful our actions are, but we can take solace in the fact that great steps have been made. There has been a hearing in front of a full panel of the House Ways and Means Committee. We have a grand total of 80 cosponsors in all of Congress. And we are on the cusp of an election that hopefully will bring more. That means our lives are about to get a little busier.
This next year will be one that will hear a crescendo of calls for tax reform. The Saturday morning financial shows are constantly jabbering about the need and probability of reform coming in the next year or two. It is frustrating to watch them have the same arguments again and again and again. Raise or lower? It is an endless cycle that will never end until we have substantial reform enough to change the system completely. That is where the FairTax steps in. This idea changes the conversation forever, and not just that conversation but so many others. The FairTax injects the American people into the decision making process in a way we never have experienced before. And for those that are cynical or jaded about the focus of politicians, and they have every reason to be, that is nothing but a very large net benefit.
But how is it that we are to accomplish our goal? Currently the FairTax movement is comprised of several local groups focused in states or localities. There is not much of an overarching structure, nor does there need to be in a grassroots-based organization. Those local groups know best how to answer the needs of their own area, but what we have noticed is a severe lack of communication and very little in the way of sharing. We do not share resources, ideas, people, tactics, or even keep each other apprised as to our actions. This can have a counter-productive effect. You may remember reading about a meeting we had in Chicago at the end of this last summer. The outcome of our conversations were very telling indeed. We recognized the need for communication and the need to unify our efforts into a cohesive, single-minded thrust to pass this bill. Luckily, I was chosen to be a member of a nine member body which was to come up with a strategic plan to do so. We are growing nearer the completion of this document and hope by the end of the year to have unveiled the final product along with a district targeting plan that will focus on priority areas to have a greater impact among other things. If we have been able to make such progress working, mostly, independent of one another, imagine what we will be able to do when unified. The opportunities we have before us are limitless and only by taking action will we be able to meet our goals. And make no mistake, action must be taken immediately. Following the election will be a lame duck period for Congress. It should not be so of us. We need to pounce on our existing support in our elected officials, we need to set up meetings with possible cosponsors for the next year, we need to contact freshly elected representatives and try and get their support out of the gate, we need to work with state leaders to pass resolutions supporting repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. Our work is cut out for us. At the beginning of next year, H.R. 25 will be re-filed. We need to gain all of the cosponsors that we have now and add to that list. The coming months will test us, our commitment and our abilities. Hopefully this strategic plan will focus and unite our efforts so that we can act effectively without wasteful duplicative actions.
The political class is correct in the supposition and characterization of this Presidential contest. It is a decision between two competing and very different paths for this country’s future. The FairTax has the distinction of leading the way down the path of individual liberty, government accountability, and wide spread prosperity. We must choose between that or collective responsibility, government intransigence, and shared poverty. The choices we have are stark in their contrast, but our will must be strong, our gaze must be fixed, our purpose must be clear, our voice must be sustained, because our cause must be heard. If we can rise to the occasion that history presents us then we have nothing to fear, for the FairTax cometh.
