WELCOME TO ALL OF OUR NEW TALK RADIO LISTENERS

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of the new listeners we have to talk radio out there. Hopefully a good number of you have found your way to this program.

Why all the new listeners? Well, I guess we have a few people to thank for this. First, of course, there's Don Imus, who provided the left with just the ammunition they needed to launch a broadside against their most feared and hated media enemy. I've been doing this for 37 years now, and never have I seen the attack on talk radio so intense. The left hates talk radio. They hate it because it's the one media venue that has brought them failure after failure. With very few exceptions, they just can't make it work for them -- and if they can't make it work for them, then it must be destroyed.

But then came Don Imus.

Imus makes his mean-spirited remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team, and all hell breaks loose. Al "The Liar" Sharpton, tired of seeing Barack Obama run away with all of the publicity, jumps in to demand that Imus be fired. CNN launches an "All Imus - All Day" effort, Imus makes the horrible mistake of legitimizing Sharpton by appearing on his show ... and it's off to the graveyard for the Imus show.

Now, with the Imus scalp on their belt, the left sees that perhaps they might be able to launch a successful attack on talk radio even before Hillary is crowned! Just pick out one comment from a talk show host that can be cast as (gasp!) "insensitive" and start hammering. Make sure to ignore any other thing this talk show host might have to say about anything in the news .. just focus on that one statement. Build it up to be one of the most hideous things ever said on the radio. Hammer away .. and who knows? Maybe you can get him fired?

I am pleased that some of these attacks have been focused on me. It's a good way of letting me know I'm effective --- that what I've been saying on the air is hurting the cause of the big-government, anti-individual left.

Bring it on folks! With your attacks come no small amount of new listeners.

Gotta love it!

THE FAIRTAX .. WHY CAN'T THE CRITICS AT LEAST BE HONEST?

Is any tax reform plan perfect? Of course not. Can't happen. I doubt that there is a way to devise a perfect plan for the government to seize money from its subjects, either through force, such as the income tax, or through choice, such as with a sales tax, in a perfect way. Certainly nobody, not even the most fervent big-government socialist liberal, would say that our current income tax system is anywhere near perfect.

Lacking perfection, it is inevitable, then, that any tax reform proposal would escape criticism, and there are criticisms of the FairTax that need addressing. To that end Congressman John Linder and I are now working on a sequel to The FairTax Book. The new book will be called "The FairTax, Answering the Critics." In researching for this book we have gathered letters from politicians as well as private citizens, tax policy experts, government officials, elected representatives, academicians, think tanks and, of course, those crafters of public opinion --- the pundits.

Work on the new book has shown that critics of The FairTax can be divided into two groups; those who deal with the subject honestly, and those who do not. Perhaps we shouldn't have been, but we were amazed to discover that most --- not some, but most --- of the critics of The FairTax have to first lie about the proposal before they launch into their critique. Amazingly enough, the president's tax reform commission took just such a tact. In laymen's terms, the tax reform commission said that while the FairTax idea looks good, there is no way the congress would pass it as written. So the commission then proceeds to re-write the FairTax legislation into a form that it thought the congress might actually pass, and then proceeded to criticize it.

The FairTax is the most thoroughly researched piece of tax reform legislation ever presented to the U.S. Congress. Well over $20 million has been spent on economic and sociological research in putting this plan together, and the research continues to this day. Still, though, we have a tax reform proposal that actually transfers power to the people, and this is just not to be tolerated -- especially by the left. So the procedure is to develop a list of lies and half-truths about the FairTax and then use those lies to go on the attack.

Such is the path that was taken in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Jay Bookman, the deputy editorial page editor. Bookman is a fervent liberal, a huge believer in the cause of big government. Perhaps he's most troubled by the fact that the FairTax would constitute the biggest transfer of power from the government to the people since the formation of this country. He also may be upset that if the FairTax were to become the law of the land politicians would no longer be able to pursue their class warfare goals through tax policy. With the FairTax Jay Bookman would no longer be able to write opinion pieces relating to tax matters with constant references to "the richest 1%" and phrases like "pay their fair share."

So ... why pick on Jay Bookman today? Because he has a column in today's AJC entitled "Fervent faith in FairTax defies reason." First, a small critique. It's "FairTax." One word .. with the F and the T capitalized. No big deal? Well, you could actually read the bill or the book and discover this fact, or a few Google clicks. Besides .. the name is trademarked. I'm sure Mr. Bookman has a great fondness for accuracy .. so this should matter to him.

Wait! Did I say Jay Bookman had a fondness for accuracy? Sorry. By the second paragraph of his column we find out that this is not so. There he is, doing what so many other critics of the FairTax have done, blatantly lying about its terms. Bookman writes "Instead, those taxes will be replaced with a retail sales tax of 30 percent on all services and new goods."

That is flat-out wrong, and he knows it to be flat-out wrong. Bookman has adopted the "first lie, then critique" policy of the FairTax opponents. The FairTax is a 23% inclusive tax, not 30%. The FairTax is a replacement for the income tax, so it is calculated using the same methods we use to calculate the income tax. You know --- comparing apples to apples and all that? I wonder if someone would do me the favor of researching the writings of one Jay Bookman to find out if he ever quotes our income tax on an exclusive basis. If he did, he would find out that the top rate is somewhere well over 50%. But wait! He likes the income tax, so those figures will be reported honestly.

The problem here is that you just know that if a critique of the FairTax contains a blatant and intentional misrepresentation in the second paragraph, there is not much that will follow that can be treated seriously. Sure enough ... in the very next paragraph Bookman says that Congressman Linder has claimed that the FairTax would force prices down by as much as 30%. Wrong again. That figure is closer to 22%.

And so it goes. Misrepresent, then attack. The tactics of the left.

Hey ... here's an idea! I'm up for a fight right now. How about a public debate somewhere? Jay Bookman and me! Look, I've debated Yale tax law professors and former deputy assistant Treasury secretaries on the FairTax, I think I might be able to stand up pretty well against a deputy editorial page editor who finds it necessary to lie about an idea before he can criticize it.

Date and time? We'll work it out!

By the way .... don't forget we're going to have a huge FairTax Rally in Columbia, South Carolina on the evening of May 15th. Details to follow.

ATLANTA RIDE FOR KIDS

Atlanta area folks, join hundreds of other motorcyclists (and maybe even me if I can work it out) for the Atlanta Ride For Kids, a scenic ride through the Georgia countryside, Sunday, June 3rd. You'll have a great time while raising funds for the PBTF's medical research and family support programs! Riders on all makes and models are welcome.

AND JUST A FEW READING ASSIGNMENTS

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome has pledge to make his city a sanctuary for illegal aliens. He has pledged that no person on the payroll of the City of San Francisco will help the federal government enforce immigration laws.

The Wall Street Journal tries to explain why the Virginia Tech killer wasn't committed.

Read all about the Democrat's new plan for tax reform! This story says they're trying to craft a "new image." What's new about Democrats wanting to soak the rich? Class warfare isn't a new plan.

Hamas is renewing its calls for attacks on Israel. Obviously this will all be Israel's fault.

Let's face it ... Alberto Gonzalez just didn't do well at all before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He's probably history.

Fred (Run Fred Run!) Thompson says that concealed weapons laws make people safer. Well ... duhhhhh!

Man claims that after his sons found The Whole Lesbian Sex Book at their local library, it caused "many sleepless nights" in his home. I bet it did!

PSA: do not beat the crocodiles for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I'll bet this kid will think twice before he pulls something like that again. Go mama!

Accessorize your iPod with a lip disc and an assault rifle. Or is that the other way around?

Self-flagellation spreads rabies in the Philippines.

100,000 Voices for FairTax Right Now!
Here is your chance to tell Congress loud and clear that it's time! Only our combined voices can win long overdue FairTax legislation. Click here to tell Congress to "wake up and smell the coffee!"

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