The Fair Tax
by Missouri Rep. Ed Emery (R-126 including the counties of
Barton, Dade, Jasper and Polk)
"When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income." --Plato (427 BC - 347 BC), The Republic
I was privileged to make a few remarks at a Tea Party in Camdenton, MO on September 17, 2009. It was a large event with hundreds in attendance and over two hours of content. I provided the last four minutes with just enough remaining light almost to make out my notes. I am reproducing them here:
Today more than at any other time in my life I believe we are glimpsing the emotional turmoil and mental anguish of our founding fathers as they envisioned liberty and contemplated confrontation with King George and the most powerful nation in history.
Some say our constitution is "under attack." But I disagree; there is no need for our enemies to attack America's Constitution because we have stood by and allowed it to become trivialized and irrelevant through our violation and neglect. Both public and private institutions whether willfully or for convenience have convinced us that promises of political power or economic development or social progress are more important than constitutional integrity. Nothing is more important than our Constitution. Only the people can change it, and it is up to us to defend it.
Now we are awakened and asking "how do we return to America's founding principles?" Various challenges and ideas are offered today, but I will take the next three minutes to describe a simple but profound step back toward personal liberty and individual responsibility. It is called the Missouri Fair Tax.
The Missouri Fair Tax reforms the way Missouri collects taxes. It changes it from a tax on your success and productivity to a tax on your consumption - the goods and services you buy. It eliminates the income tax and replaces it with a tax that is (a) cheaper to collect, (b) harder to cheat, and (c) more popular. It would replace Missouri's 4.225% tax on goods with a tax on goods and services of 5.11%. It would ensure that Missouri citizens would not be required to pay state taxes on any expenditures up to the poverty level.
The Fair Tax empowers individuals and consumers instead of government bureaucrats and large corporations. It neither raises nor cuts taxes but is designed to be revenue-neutral. By eliminating the Missouri income tax The Missouri Fair Tax increases take-home pay, eliminates the need for state government to have access to your personal and financial information, and provides a real incentive for relocation of people and businesses to Missouri. The Missouri Fair Tax allows businesses to focus their attention on customers rather than tax policy and government officials. It neither penalizes success nor rewards failure as the current income tax system so often does. With your help we can pass the Missouri Fair Tax in 2010 and enact it at the ballot box in November of that year. It would take effect in January of 2012.....
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