So I heard on the Neal Boortz show yesterday that there was a question on the Republican primary ballot in three Georgia counties, including where I live, about support for the FairTax. I've been a major supporter of the FairTax for quite a while. I had not been planning on voting in the primary, but as soon as I heard about it I made plans to drop by my polling place (which just happens to be my previous church) and add my vote to support the FairTax.

The results are very encouraging. In Fayette County, the FairTax was approved by 85.33% of the Republican primary voters. In Cobb County, the FairTax was approved by 85.15% of the Republican primary voters. And in Gwinnett County, the FairTax was approved by 86.89% of the Republican primary voters. (I was one of the 31,068 voters who signaled their support for the FairTax in Gwinnett County.) Between these three counties in the Metro Atlanta area, 74,494 Republican voters showed up at the primary polls and voiced their support for the FairTax.

Keep in mind, these were only the responses of the Republican primary voters in three Metro Atlanta counties. I had expected strong support in Gwinnett County, which is John Linder's home district. (John Linder is the author of The FairTax Act and the co-author, with Neal Boortz, of The FairTax Book). But I did not expect it to be nearly 87% in Gwinnett, and I certainly did not expect it to be as high in other counties.

To me, this signals a couple of things:

People are ready to ditch the IRS. Certainly, some of these voters don't know anything, or know very little, about the FairTax. But they read "abolishing the Federal Income Tax and replacing with _____" and they support it. To some people, it doesn't matter what replaces the Income Tax and the IRS: anything would be an improvement.

The Repbulican base is ready to support the FairTax. Notwithstanding my comment above, most of the Republican primary voters will know enough about the FairTax to voice their support without just responding negatively to the IRS. The Republican base wants the FairTax. These are the people who choose who will run as a Republican in the general election. Republican candidates will have to start appealing to FairTax supporters in order to win nominations.

Given those two things, I'm certainly hoping that the FairTax will be a much bigger campaign issue this year than it was even two years ago. Between FairTax.Org and The FairTax Book (including the paperback edition), there are plenty of sources where people can learn about this "FairTax" thing they're hearing about. I get a lot of comments whenever I wear my FairTax shirt. This movement is growing, folks. If you're not on board yet, read the book. Read the websites. You can even read the bill itself, it's a relatively easy bill to read. But the more you learn about it, the more you'll like it. And the more you'll spread the word. This tax revolution will be the largest restructuring of our government since it's inception. It will take a huge amount of power away from politicians and place it back into the hands of the voters.

Labels: politics

-- posted by Derek at 7/19/2006 12:41:00 PM  

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