A FAIR TAX RALLY IN ATLANTA ???

We're working on it.  The idea started with a simple book signing for the Atlanta area after the release of the soft-cover edition of The Fair Tax Book.  Then we started talking about a venue.  Where we we go?  A book store?  Shopping mall?  All the while I have people emailing me begging for some large FairTax rally somewhere.

Frankly, I've been reluctant to endorse the idea of trying to have a large rally.  When you have 1000 people crowd a book store to get their FairTax Book signed, the crowd looks huge.  When you have 1000 people scattered around a facility that can hold 15,000, the crowd looks anemic.  Promoting a large rally for the FairTax and not packing the place full would give the impression that the FairTax doesn't have widespread support.

OK ... what the hell.  Let's go for it.  Today we're meeting in Atlanta to try to locate the venue and set the date.  Target date is May 24th.  Why not a weekend?  Because at this point all of the venues that we would want to use are booked for weekend events, but we're not adverse to a Saturday evening if the proper place can be found.  One thing I'm trying to avoid is a downtown Atlanta location with the attendant parking problems.  

More on this later.  But if we set this up it then be up to you to show that the FairTax has support.  If this works, we could try it in other parts of the country.  One thing for sure --- packing eight to ten thousand people into an arena to listen to people rant and rave about taxes would surely send a message.

WHERE DOES THE SOFT-COVER EDITION STAND TODAY?

I've been pushing you to buy copies of the soft-cover edition of The FairTax Book online.  Since all of my royalties go to charity I can't be accused of trying to push anything here but the FairTax.  As I write these notes The FairTax Book stands at No. 22.  Yesterday the book was up to No. 17.  I'm gratified to learn that some business owners are taking my suggestion and ordering a copy of The FairTax Book for every employee.  At less than $10 a copy on Amazon.com this could well turn out to be a good investment in business growth.  Perhaps these businessmen are imagining a world in which they can make decisions on how to grow and expand their businesses without worrying about the tax consequences.  At any rate --- perhaps we can push The FairTax Book well into the Top 10 on Amazon.com today.  Here's your link.  Order early, and order often!

BY THE WAY!

A listener pointed this out to me yesterday.  If you eliminate the spaces in "The IRS" you come up with "theirs."  Ironic, don't you think?

CAN YEARS OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS, CAN SOMEONE  BE TAUGHT BASIC ECONOMICS?

Now we have crude oil up at over $70 a barrel.  Gas prices have gone up about 10 cents in the last week.  If you're driving a car that gets 15 miles per gallon that means that you're spending less than three-fourths of one penny more for every mile you drive.  If you have a 15 mile commute to work, this 10 cent rise in gas prices is costing you 20 cents a day.  Wow!  I can see why you're so upset!

With these gas prices going up politicians are seeing another golden opportunity to demagogue the oil companies.  Hitler blamed the Jews.  Demagogue politicians blame the oil companies.  They know they're blowing smoke, but they also know that the average American was educated in government schools and is simply too ignorant to understand the truth about gas prices and oil company profits.  

Most government school graduates can't even so much as explain the difference between a profit and a profit margin.  Let's say that you're selling a widget for $10 and you're making a 10% profit.  Your profit is $1.00.  Your profit margin is 10%.  Now let's say that your costs go up by $9 a widget.  So, you double the price at the widget store.  Now widgets are selling for $20.  Your costs are $18 per widget, so you're making $2.00 on every sale.  Your profit has doubled to $2.00 per widget, but your profit margin is still 10%.  You're still making the same profit on every dollar that you invest in your business, but your profits have doubled!  So ... as surely as wet streets follow rain ... along comes the politician to demagogue you for doubling your profits.  He starts to talk about a windfall profits tax to take that extra dollar away from you.  Oh, to be sure, he knows what the real story is here --- but he also knows that his poorly educated constituents don't know.  The playing field is set for some grandstanding and pandering ... and our politico is off to the races!

Sometimes it makes you wonder what the real purpose of our hideous government school system is.  Are those schools there to educate Americans to the greatest extent possible?  Or are those schools there to educate people just to the point that they can become good little servants of our increasingly-powerful Imperial Federal Government?

A PREDICTION:  LOOK FOR MORE HIGH-SPEED POLICE CHASES

The Governor of Georgia has now signed one of the toughest immigration laws in the United States.  Here are some of the requirements of the new law:

• You must show that you are in this country legally in order to obtain taxpayer-funded government services.  Exceptions are made for some medical care and government schools.  (Believe it or not, the federal courts have ruled that you have a "right" to get your children in a taxpayer-funded government school even if you're in this country illegally.)
   
• An employer will be barred from claiming a state tax deduction on the wages of illegal aliens.
   
• Employers will (eventually) be responsible for making sure the people they hire are in this country legally.  They will be given years to implement a plan to observe this law.  The more employees you have, the longer you have to comply.

As you would expect, the illegal alien lobby (who knew there was an illegal alien lobby?) is upset.  They're planning demonstrations and something I think they're calling "Nothing Gringo Days."  I wonder if this "Nothing Gringo" nonsense means that they'll keep their children home from our schools and refuse to accept any government services on that day that might have been funded with evil Gringo taxes.  Probably not.  

Oh .. there's one more provision in this law.  As I understand it, law enforcement officers would be required to check the immigration status of people they stop for traffic violations.  My guess is that this will mean that many people who are here illegally will try to outrun the police when the see those blue lights.  People will be killed in the ensuing accidents.  File this under the law of unintended consequences.

HILLARY'S NEW IDEAS

Currently in campaign mode, for both re-election to her Senate seat this fall and the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Hillary Clinton has found her signature issue.  And just what issue is that?  The expansion of the 12 year-old Family and Medical Leave Act.  You know the one pushed by her husband that gives people time off to care for a kid or a sick relative.  Yeah, that one.

Only now, The Hildabeast wants to expand it.  Get this...she wants to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to include time off from work for participation in parental activities.  Need some time off to attend a school play or a PTA meeting?  No problem!   The federal government is going to require your employer to hold open your job so you can go.  She also wants to include more personal time to care for aging parents.  How nice.

Hillary says "there should be time available for teachers conferences and doctors appointments, to be involved in your children's lives and to increasingly care for your aging parents."  Isn't that special.  She didn't say how much all of this would cost employers...but that doesn't matter.  All of this sounds good, though doesn't it?  Who could be against the federal government requiring all of this free time off?

But that's the problem.  All of this sounds good...but somebody has to pay.  That somebody is the companies who would have to implement it, in the form of higher prices and lost productivity.  What do you suppose people did for decades when they needed to raise their kids and care for a sick relative?  They just did it...amazing how people found the time to get it done.

And here's another problem.  Look at this from the employer's point of view.  You have two different applicants for a position.  One has children, the other does not.  Whatchagonnado?  Everything else being equal, you're going to hire the applicant without children.  You want someone who will show up for work, not someone who will constantly be calling in to say that they have a PTA meeting, a conference, or that they need to change a diaper at the nursing home.

Sooner or later the federal government will have to institute even more regulations and anti-discrimination laws (with the accompanying bureaucracy) to make sure you don't discriminate against someone just because they have kids.

I've heard something alarming from several incredibly successful entrepreneurs lately.  I'm talking about people like Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus.  They tell me that they could not duplicate their incredible achievements today.  Why not?  The answer is one word.  Government.  Corporate governance laws like Sarbanes-Oxley, increased regulations, and rabid politicians pandering to the ignorance of voters have teamed together to create a business environment in this country that is not only unfriendly, but sometimes downright hostile to business formation and expansion.  Hillary Clinton seems to want to lead the parade.

But leftists like Hillary Clinton don't see things that way.  Government knows best.

MISSISSIPPI TAXPAYER RIPOFF

You always hear about some outrageous spending item a politician sneaks into a large spending bill.  It's usually a couple million bucks to study the mating habits of the lady bug.  Or a few hundred grand to name a tunnel in West Virginia after Robert Byrd.  But today's example taxes the cake...and it comes to us courtesy of a couple of Republicans.

Mississippi Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran want to spend $700 million to move a CSX railroad freight line.  Why move the railroad?  Why to save it from a possible hurricane and protect residents from railroad accidents, whatever that means.  Almost a billion bucks....to move a private company's railroad.  A little outrageous, don't you think?  Well, it gets better.

It turns out this very railroad was just rebuilt...after Hurricane Katrina.  Cost: $250 million dollars.  It's been fixed...it works fine right now.  But Republicans Trent Lott and Thad Cochran don't think so.  They want more of your money to move it again!  This makes the bridge to nowhere in Alaska seem like a drop in the bucket.

And what do these Senators have to say for themselves?  Lott's office issued a statement: "Senator Lott makes no apologies for trying to develop one of the poorest states in the country."  If this is what we get with a Republican-controlled Congress, imagine what the Democratic version would look like.

Looks like this one needs more investigation.

JANE FONDA OUT OF THE GAME

What a sad day this is.  Jane Fonda has announced that she will not be protesting the war in Iraq.  Her reason?  She has "too much baggage."  She also says Cindy Sheehan has been getting the job done just fine in her absence.  Fonda says Sheehan is doing a better job than she could.  Yeah, sure.  If you believe that, I've got a rusty anti-aircraft battery in North Vietnam complete with Hanoi Jane's fingerprints to sell you.

Perhaps the truth is that people just don't care.  How many people do Cindy Sheehan's protests actually attract?  Actually  more media than protesters.  And because Iraq is nothing like Vietnam, people aren't close to being as outraged about this war as they were about that one.

Another reason is Jane Fonda just doesn't want to do it anymore.  Fair enough, but why not say so?  Still, it's a bit of a bummer.  Imagine how much fun it would be if she were to go on a national tour protesting the war. 

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

If you have to smoke meat, clearly it should be done in this. No question.More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Tom Cruise says he'll eat his baby's placenta. Here are some recipes for him.

I heard a rumor I'm supposed to add a link to bobgriggs.com. I'm not sure of the story behind it. But here it is.

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