Who Will Pay the Price for Bill HR 25?

It's needless to say that I am somewhat let down after the primary election.

I was particularly pulling for Jeff Parnell and Michael Goodart. I only hope that they will run again in the future and we'll get 'em next time guys!

There has to come a time when voting is not all about name recognition and money. These last few years there have been many divisive issues which have faced us but none so polarizing as the Iraq war and none so impassioned as the immigration issue.

It is my heart's desire to see people become as impassioned and active in support of Bill HR 25/S 25 as they have been about the immigration issue, particularly. There are very few issues which Americans are interested in which the "FairTax" Bill will not impact upon becoming law.

For years now good Americans have supported the Bill by signing petitions and working as grassroots volunteers for Americans For Fair Taxation (AFFT) but there are rumblings of discontent among AFFT volunteers as we are feeling more and more stifled by rules and regulations which hamper the cause of educating and watching this Bill be pushed into law.

Most recently, with the advent of FairTax Yahoo Groups, volunteers in each State have come together but under the umbrella and watchful eye of AFFT. Because AFFT is a 501c non-profit group which lobbies Congress they cannot endorse any politician. They, and I too, don't get me wrong, want the Bill to be a non-partisan issue but, frankly, it just isn't working. Democrats are suspicious of anything which has more support from Republican pundits than Democrat pundits and it is the natural inclination of Democrats to pit themselves against anything which has garnered a great deal of Republican support. Volunteers who would like to campaign and support candidates, primarily Republican and Libertarian, because they support the Bill are kept from doing so by AFFT. AFFT has no choice, being the 501c lobbyist group that they are.

Another complaint communicated by many "FairTax" volunteers regarding the Yahoo Groups is that they were set up to be a way for volunteers to encourage one another and communicate ideas but in many cases and in many different groups mail volume has been discouraged. How can volunteers encourage one another when moderators of these groups complain and discourage them from sharing their ideas with one another and posting to one another? These moderators exercise such censorship control over the volunteers that they have, over the years, discouraged many members who have, as a result, left the group and ceased from promoting the Bill.

Many volunteers are now in private discussions about ways that we can continue to support the Bill without such close association with AFFT because we feel that as American citizens who are not paid staff or employees of AFFT that our free speech and expression rights are being trampled by the very organization who has brought the "FairTax" to the state of recognition which it now enjoys. Many of us feel it is time to bring the promotion to a new level wherein grassroots VOLUNTEER supporters of the Bill are no longer encumbered and held back by the IRS tax rules which stifle AFFT's actions. In other words, it is time for grassroots supporters to break out, leave the stifling guidance of AFFT's watchful eye and make our own waves, without censorship from a group governed by IRS laws and regulations. We are American citizens, individuals, who have every right to discuss who we will support or not support in the political arena based on their support or non-support of HR 25/S25.

I recently attended the FairTax Seminar in Springfield, Missouri and I greatly enjoyed it. It's time to go forth and use what we know to further the cause of the "FairTax." If that means voting a Roy Blunt out of office to do so then that's what we should do. If that means showing a Jim Talent that IF, as the rumor mill has it, he supports the Bill but will not/cannot announce his support until after the election...well, what does that tell us? That he doesn't really support the bill enough to stand up for it during an election cycle?

Many "FairTaxers" are one issue voters, if a candidate will not endorse and support the Bill then they do not want to endorse or support the candidate. I am NOT a one issue voter, myself, but Bill HR 25/S 25 is ONE of the many issues I look at when deciding who I will vote for and I look at that first, then among "FairTax" supporting candidates I choose the one which most aligns with my political viewpoint. I am becoming more of an independent voter all the time. What does this mean this November? It means that Republicans who do not support the "FairTax" had better start taking note.

Nationwide there are approximately 700,000 Bill HR 25/S 25 supporters, and that is only those supporters who have signed a petition with AFFT or joined a Yahoo Group, that tells me there are many more supporters who are uncounted. If I must vote for a Libertarian who will support the "FairTax" and is not ashamed to announce it as opposed to a Republican who will not come out in support of it until AFTER the election I will definitely consider doing so. I have become consistently less and less impressed with the political status quo and I do not think I am alone. Politicians take note, you WILL either start listening to and representing your base or you WILL pay a price.