THE LOBBYISTS ARE STIRRING

Last night as I pulled into a parking lot outside of Turner Field (the home of the Division Champion Atlanta Braves!) the parking lot attendant told me "It looks like Katrina and Rita knocked the FairTax right out of the news!"   Well, he's partially right.  The initial four-week book tour ended with Belinda, Royal, Net Dog and I escaping New Orleans just 18 hours before Katrina rolled in.  At that time The FairTax Book was No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller's list.  We're still up there, but with the minds of the people justifiably on the damage done by these two hurricanes, we've slipped out of the top spot. 

I say the parking lot attendant was partially right because the FairTax is still very much on the minds of people in Washington.  Specifically, it's on the mind of the lobbyists on K Street.  As we told you in The FairTax Book, these K Street lobbyists make their livings by manipulating the federal tax code for the benefit of their clients.  And a handsome living it is.  These lobbyists make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars -- sometimes over a million dollars -- a year!  Make no mistake, the FairTax is a threat to them and their high paid livelihood!   These are people who's very lifestyle and business success depends on their ability to keep their fingers on the pulse of the Congress, and when congressmen and senators start getting calls, letters, faxes and emails from thousands of constituents, the lobbyists know it, and it's not something they're going to ignore.  Trust us on this ... these lobbyists are not on your side in the cause of tax reform.  They're on their side ... and their side only.  Their jobs and their incomes must be protected, and if it means that you must continue to live under an oppressive tax system that stifles innovation, hard work and economic growth, so be it. 

Yesterday we received an email from a listener with close connections to a congressional sponsor of the FairTax.  According to our listener this congressman is relating stories about K Street denizens getting the word to various congressional and senatorial offices that if they dare support the FairTax bill they can kiss some big campaign contributions goodbye.  So ... it would seem that the pressure is on.

Those of you who have read The FairTax Book and have come to support this incredible idea for tax reform have sworn enemies in the law offices along K Street in Washington.  The lobbyists are fighting for their very lifestyles, and they won't go away.  So, if you go away, if you stop spreading the word about the FairTax, if you stop contacting your elected representatives and holding their feet to the fire ... the K Streeters will have won.

Last night my co-author, Congressman John Linder and I, discussed the growing unrest on K Street.  We realize that one of the best ways to keep this FairTax idea in front of the media and in front of elected officials is to keep the book alive and as high up the bestseller's lists as possible.  That's why both Congressman Linder and myself are hitting the book-signing highway again.  In coming weeks we'll be in places like Denver, Grand Junction, Indianapolis, Lexington, Knoxville, Orlando, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and more.  In addition to getting out there and pushing the book, Congressman Linder has agreed to another idea.  Congressman Linder and I are going to take every penny we make in royalties from the sale of the book over the next two weeks and dedicate those royalties to hurricane relief.  Every cent.  We're doing this because we want to start The FairTax Book moving up in the charts again ... and we want to be able to do that without making it sound self-serving.  Neither one of us wrote this book to make money.  The royalties I receive are all --- 100% --- going to charity.  We wrote the book because we believe that the FairTax would be nothing less than a second American revolution; the largest transfer of power from government to the people since the Revolutionary War. 

If you're behind this idea, go buy another copy of the book.  If you like you can make it easy on yourself and order it from Amazon.com.  On Monday we were No. 113 on Amazon.com.  Yesterday we were No. 115.  We would like to see how far we can move this book up today ... with all of the royalties going to Katrina and Rita relief.  You can also go to FairTax.org and become a FairTax volunteer. 

This idea is too  good to be blown away by a hurricane.  Do what you can.

LET'S HELP OUT AIR AMERICA

Air America is in trouble.  Tonight on the O'Reilly Factor we'll hear that Air America may well be on it's last legs financially.  Seriously, I think that this is a bad thing.

Here is a liberal talk radio network that used money pilfered from a Boys and Girls Club in New York City to begin operations.  Now they have to beg for money over the Internet to stay afloat?  I thought they were doing so well!  I thought the ratings were so sensational!  Isn't that what we've been hearing from the mainstream media?

Why is the impending collapse of Air America a bad thing?  Because I absolutely drop-dead guarantee you that if Air America fails it will only be a matter of days, perhaps weeks, before Democrats in congress start talking about resurrecting the Fairness Doctrine.  Bear in mind, there is nothing "fair" about the Fairness Doctrine.  It is nothing more than a ploy to shut down opinions on talk radio.  As long as there is a liberal talk radio network out there it's hard for the left to scream that they aren't being heard, that the right controls talk radio.  Let Air America fail and it will suddenly be the fault of right-wing "hate" radio.  Air America provides needed cover for the rest of talk radio, and it must be preserved.

Here is a link that Air America has posted for donations. I, for one, am going to pledge some money to keep Air America afloat.  I'm doing this to preserve the free and open talk radio format.  I'm also doing this so that no more Boys and Girls Clubs will be looted.  So ... hold your nose and dive on in!

LOOKS LIKE I'VE MADE ANOTHER LISTENER MAD

Yesterday I made the suggestion that we should put America's college students to the test.  They are so quick to let us know that they have all of the solutions to all of the problems facing America, so let's give them a try!  I suggested that we take the student body presidents from the nation's 100 top colleges and universities and give them the country of Haiti to run for four years.  That way they could show all of us that they really know their stuff.  That diatribe brought this email from a listener:

Illustrious Sir:

On today's program you advocated that Haiti be governed by the presidents of American collegiate student governments.  Advocating such a thing evokes the following question; what do you have against Haiti?  Why do you wish to increase the misery of that blighted place by dumping America's egotistical incompetents on it? May you be punished by being locked in a cage for three years with Daniel Schorr, Maxine Waters or William Sloane Coffin.

I hope you feel shame commensurate with your offense.

V.T.Y.
K. Donnelly    

Well said, Mr. Donnelly.  I sincerely apologize to the good people of Haiti for making such a dire and insensitive threat.

MIKE BROWN HITS BACK

So we heard from the much-maligned former head of FEMA yesterday.  Testifying before Congress, Mike Brown circled the wagons regarding the criticism of his response to Hurricane Katrina. Essentially, he said that while he made some mistakes, the majority of the blame for how things went in New Orleans should lay squarely at the feet of the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana.

Now keeping in mind that perhaps Brown might not have done the best job, it's important to listen to what he has to say because, after all, he was there.  He says what we've heard before: Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco couldn't work out their differences and bickered, slowing the response to Katrina.  He also points something out that the media has ignored: Nagin and Blanco tried to evacuate New Orleans in essentially a single day (maybe two.)  Now compare that with the preparations for Hurricane Rita, in which Texas Governor Rick Perry started the Houston evacuation days in advance.

So will the media investigate Nagin and Blanco's share of the blame in this?  Nope.  They won't for two simple reasons: 1.) Nagin  and Blanco are Democrats.  To criticize liberals is not part of the media's capability these days. Second, to criticize Nagin and Blanco would be to shift blame from Bush.  That would make the president look good, and favorable coverage of George Bush is not allowed in the press.

The leftist press in this country is simply not going to report anything that would make Bush look good.  So Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco get a huge pass.  Must be nice.

THE MEDIA MADE IT ALL UP

Remember during the week of August 29th, when people who did not evacuate New Orleans were herded into the Louisiana Superdome and the convention center in New Orleans?  Once the people had been there for a couple days, the media reported the following:

--Dead bodies were piling up, including those of babies.

--Rapes were being committed, including the claim by the recently-retired Police Chief Eddie Compass that there "little babies getting raped."

--Mayor Ray Nagin went on 'Oprah' to report that there were people "in that frickin' Superdome for five days watching dead bodies, watching hooligans killing people, raping people."

Now we're realizing the real fact: the media and the politicians made it all up.  Nearly everything that was reported to have taken place at the Superdome and the convention center never took place.  It was all a fantasy.  The actual death toll from the Superdome and the convention center: six. That's right, 6 bodies were recovered from those evacuation points.  At least one of those committed suicide, and most of the rest died from natural causes.

Then again, Mayor Nagin was predicting 10,000 dead bodies in New Orleans, but the death toll now is only 841.  No problem! The media doesn't care...it made a great headline at the time.  Oh, and even though none of what was reported ever took place, it's still George Bush's fault.

ABU GHRAIB IS BACK

If this doesn't prove to those of you on the fence that media bias exists, nothing will.  In a day when courageous Coalition soldiers gunned down the #2 Al Qaeda official in Iraq, the media was fixated on only one thing: the Lynndie England sentencing.  If you remember, she was the soldier in the photos from Abu Ghraib holding a naked detainee on a leash.

She got 3 years in the slammer, and for good reason.  Those photos were directly to blame for the deaths of American soldiers fighting the insurgency in Iraq.  The jury agreed, so Lynndie is off to Leavenworth to bust up some rocks.  But really, the media doesn't care about that.  All that matters is that their favorite catchphrase is back in the headlines....it's Abu Ghraib time!

Remember last year when Ronald Reagan died?  The media worked Abu Ghraib into the coverage.  Remember when the Pope died?  They worked Abu Ghraib into that too.  If and when Osama Bin Laden is caught, they'll be sure to mention Abu Ghraib then.

The reason is simple:  Abu Ghraib represents an embarrassing event for the United States.  As a result, the blame-America-first crowd in the liberal media likes to bring it up whenever they can.  I'm sure we'll all be reminded when Lynndie England gets out.

By the way, the press' favorite phrase is "the notorious Abu Ghraib prison." That'll get you 35,200 hits on Google.  Happy reading.

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REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Hey, it does the job, doesn't it? More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

Photo gallery from the Boortz Power Lunch in Atlanta September 23rd.

Morning Sickness: Two nursing assistants may see jail time for giving patients laxatives to give the next shift a heavier work...load.

Statue to have surgery to make it look less anatomically correct.

This statue lets you send a text to it with a message to write out in "pee".

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?

These are links to each individual story on the Nuze, p-links for the geeks out there. Plus, they work today and they'll work tomorrow. Now you can easily discuss/debate/rip apart the Nuze without worrying about the links going bad. Enjoy!

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