SO .. YOU SAY THAT THE ISSUE IS THE ECONOMY?

Mitt Romney wins the Republican primary in Michigan, and Hillary Rodham beats nobody, with nobody taking 40% of the vote. Onward to South Carolina.

Michigan was an interesting study. This is a state suffering under what people are calling a "single state recession." The reason? A governor and legislature that wants to tax everything that moves and paint everything that does not. So, the candidates on both sides of the equation decided to preach the economy in Michigan. Every candidate, save John McCain, had their version of the "we're going to bring jobs back to Michigan" refrain. McCain was a bit more honest in telling these people that those jobs aren't coming back. They'll have to work to develop a new job base.

Jobs? So it's jobs you want? You want to see a boost in the economy that would create new jobs and lift all the boats? Well, let me tell you what isn't going to do it. That would be those stupid $250 checks the MoveOn Democrats are promising to pay to every likely Democrat voter in the country.

Jobs have left this country because of our tax structure and regulation. Our tax structure takes the majority of the blame here. Roger Smith, the former HMWIC of General Motors told the Congress many years ago that the embedded taxes in the price of every car coming out of Michigan are having an adverse impact on the auto industry. Congress didn't listen then .. and isn't, for the most part, listening now.

Yeah - you guessed it - another FairTax rant coming on ... but I'll do my best to make it interesting.

Let's start with a few facts that you might not be aware of:

First .. there are $13 trillion dollars that belong to U.S. citizens and businesses working offshore. These dollars are working offshore to escape our punishing tax system. In some cases U.S. based businesses and individuals earn these dollars overseas and just leave the money there, knowing that if those dollars come home the tax collector will be waiting. So they are invested overseas. Think about it. We have $13 million dollars working overseas and not working here in this country to create jobs and boost our economy for one reason. Just one. Our tax code.

Then we have the cost of complying with our current tax code. These tax compliance costs are estimated to be anywhere from $300 to $500 billion dollars .. and that's a cost that is incurred every year. The average U.S. taxpayer spends close to 60 hours working on their tax record-keeping and tax returns every year. This is time that is taken away from either leisure activities or income-earning pursuits.

Now this is so simple that everyone ought to be able to understand it. If you eliminate corporate and individual income and payroll taxes and if you eliminate the need for any business or individual to file an income tax return with the federal government, you are going to reduce the cost of complying with our tax code to almost nothing. This would mean an infusion of somewhere between $300 and $500 billion dollars into our economy every year .. money now spent on tax compliance costs.

It takes $100,000 to create a job. Lower tax compliance costs by just one billion dollars. Let that one billion go to work in our economy, and what do you have? Enough money to create 10,000 jobs. Pour hundreds of billions into our economy .. money that can be invested rather than wasted on tax compliance .. and just how many jobs do you create? And we're just talking about tax compliance costs here.

What happens when businesses can operate in the United States with no tax component on either capital or labor? That question was asked of the leaders of about 400 huge corporations not headquartered in the united states. Over 300 of these business leaders said that they would immediately open their next manufacturing or distribution facility in the U.S. What would that mean? Jobs, that's what. By the way, the remaining corporate heads said they would go ahead and move their headquarters to the U.S.

There's your job program. There's your economic plan.

And let's not forget the $13 trillion in offshore deposits. As soon as we lift the tax burden on Americans and American businesses that money starts coming back home. That money ends up being invested in American businesses and financial markets. Now I'm no economist, but I do have this wild idea that trillions of dollars flowing into this country and into our business and financial markets is going to have a positive impact on our economy.

Downside? Of course there's a downside. Government loses power. Lobbyists lose income. Our present tax code is, in reality, a jobs program .. but it's a jobs program for elected officials and lobbyists. They're not going to turn lose of their best jobs program ... our current tax code ... unless you force them to do so.

But ... that will have to wait until the current season of American Idol is over, won't it? After all, you have your priorities.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ....

FairTax, The Truth: Answering the Critics will be in the book stores in less than three weeks. You can order the book online by clicking right here. You can also order the book from Barnes & Noble .. but they'll charge you about two bucks more. Just trying to save you some money.

I TOLD YOU .. NO EMAILS ON THE AIRPLANE PROBLEM

Yet you persist. Web Guy tells me there were hundreds of emails from listeners yesterday saying that the airplane on the treadmill won't take off. If I had the means, and if it were legal, I would love to be every one of you that the airplane is going to take off. Can't, though ... being the rule of law type of guy that I am. All I can say is that you're going to be mighty embarrassed when Mythbusters runs their solution at the end of the month.

In a sense, this is rather dismaying. What I'm seeing here is the result of government education. So many people out there sending emails who apparently don't have the ability to think rationally ... to visualize a problem, think it through, and come up with a logical solution.

If you ppl can't noodle out this rather simple problem, please do me a favor and stay away from the polls on election day. You just don't have what it takes.

MUSLIMS ENDORSE RON PAUL

The Muslim Observer is a newspaper based in Michigan. The editors at the observer have peaked out from under their turbans and have decided that Ron Paul should have won the Michigan primary. Fine and dandy .. they get to chose their candidate. You might, however, be somewhat interested in just why The Muslim Observer chose to endorse Ron Paul.

The newspaper says that it is supporting Ron Paul because he meets the Muslim community's concerns about the War in Iraq, "an issue that every media outlet has ignored in the primary political campaign in Michigan." The paper says that the War in Iraq is the primary source of major problems in America. In other words, according to this Muslim newspaper, it was the US reaction to an attack by the serene religion of Islam that is to blame. Let's not blame the actual root of the problem ... Islamic extremists' disdain for the US and everything it stands for, and its willingness to kill infidels in the name of Allah. The paper cites that Ron Paul voted no against the War in Iraq, is against the Patriot Act and wants to bring home the troops immediately. Therefore, because of these cowardly characteristics, Ron Paul deserves the full support of Muslims in the Michigan primary.

Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't read like an endorsement that is going to sit all that well with the American people. For me .. it just reaffirms the very reason why I cannot support Ron Paul. This is a man whom I do not believe would do what he needed to do to protect our country from Islamic goons.

DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

Keith Ellison is a Democrat congressman from Minnesota. He just took a little trip to Norway - paid for by your tax dollars, by the way. He went to Norway in order to reinforce his support for a bill that would create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace. No, I'm not making this up. An entire Cabinet devoted to "peace." So why did he have to go all the way to Norway? Because this is apparently where you go to be indoctrinated into the ways of peace and social justice.

This idea of a Department of Peace gets even better. Guess who authored it? None other than our favorite Democrat Dennis Kucinich! (I wonder what his absurdly hot wife thinks about it?) When describing his trip to Norway, Ellison gave us a little insight into the war in Iraq. He says, "This conflict could have been avoided if we had a stronger cultural connection to peace. It's not just the will, but the skill to make peace." Did you get that, folks? It's because we don't have a cultural connection to peace. If that is what he has to say about American culture, what could he have to say about his own Muslim culture? Yeah .. we're talking about that Keith Ellison. Our Islamic member of Congress.

This whole Department of Peace idea is nothing but whiny political correctness at work. Does anyone care to take a stab at just how we would define "Peace?" Has the ferret figured that one out? The Soviets defined "peace" as "an absence of opposition to world communism." Perhaps Ellison defines peace as an absence of opposition to the idea of one world under Islamic law. Some people simply define peace as an absence of conflict. Well, when someone is attacking me I might suggest that my failure to enter the fray would be more of a capitulation than a quest for peace.

Let's put a bit less effort into this pandering to the idea of peace ... and a bit more into a definition. Then we'll know what in the hall we're talking about.

DELTA MERGER?

The rumors are strong. Negotiations are underway with Northwest. United is also in the picture. Please .. Northwest, not United. The labor union culture is just too strong with United ... let them stew in that mess without dragging Atlanta's airline into it.

GOVERNMENT SCHOOL ETHICS CODE

Let's cut right to the chase with this disgusting display of government school lunacy. Bergen Community College in New Jersey will require its students and staff to sign an ethics code. We're not talking about just any ethics code. This mandatory code requires students to pledge to "embrace and celebrate differing perspectives" and, of course, to help the "less fortunate."

Ok ... let's stop right there. You know how I feel about the phrase "less fortunate." It makes my blood boil, and it should make yours boil too. In starting off this New Year, I decided that "less fortunate" was a phrase that needed to go. It needs leave the lexicon of mainstream media moonbats who insist that being "less fortunate" is all based on luck. There is no such thing as work ethic, individual achievement or personal responsibility. If you succeed, then you did it only because you were lucky. If you don't succeed, it is not because you were lazy but because you were dealt an unlucky hand. But let's move on ...

Administrators at this government college drafted this code in response to a rise in "uncivil" behavior on campus. This included language that was demeaning to women and minorities ... oh the horror! If you do not sign the pledge, you would not be able to attend the school. And if you violate the code, you would be subject to a judiciary hearing, which is what is currently used in cases of assault.

The head of the diversity program on campus (what a joke ... diversity program!) says that we want to go beyond "tolerance" and get to a place where everyone respects individuals for who they are. Yeah, that would be nice in a fairy tale. But in the real world, that isn't how it works, unfortunately. These government educated graduates are going to have a real shock when they enter the world of reality.

So let's take a quick peek at this code of responsibility (#3 and #4 are my favorite):

In the full knowledge of the commitment that I am freely willing to undertake as a student, I promise to respect each and every member of the college community without regard to race, creed, political ideology, lifestyle orientation, gender or social status sparing no effort to preserve the dignity of those I will come in contact with as a member of the college community. I promise to Bergen Community College that I will follow this code of responsibility.

1. Honesty, integrity and respect for all will guide my personal conduct.

2. I will embrace and celebrate differing perspectives intellectually.

3. I will build an inclusive community enriched by diversity.

4. I am willing to respect and assist those individuals who are less fortunate.

5. I promise my commitment to civic engagement and to serve the needs of the community to the best of my ability.

RAISE TAXES ... FIX A BRIDGE

The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has come up with a brilliant and innovative way to overhaul the US infrastructure: raise taxes! The commission recommends that the federal gasoline taxes should be raised 40 cents per gallon over five years in order to fix bridges and roads. The commission sites the Minneapolis bridge collapse as a prime example. The tax increase proposal, by the way, will cost $225 billion each year for the next 50 years.

But now hear this. Investigators have now determined that the Minneapolis bridge collapse was caused by a flaw in its design, not because the government didn't properly maintain it. In case you are interested, the designers specified a metal plate that was too thin to serve as a junction of many girders. One investigator said, "This is not a bridge-inspection thing." But hey, let's waste billions of taxpayer dollars. That's government for you.

Something else for you to chew on. Year after year Minnesota politicians have been getting wonderful port projects - earmarks, if you will - inserted into appropriations bills in Washington. None of those earmarks were for bridge repairs.

I know .. no surprise there.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Michelle Malkin wants a "suck it up" candidate.

OPEC has intentions of raising oil production "only when the market justifies it."

Who would have thought that my book, "Somebody's Gotta Say It" would be such a hit with Palestinians? You just never know.

In case you were under a rock yesterday, there was an explosion targeting the U.S. embassy in Beirut (that would be in Lebanon for all of you in government schools).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is busy "Greening the Capitol" by changing the menus in the cafeteria with healthier, gourmet alternatives.

Apparently Democrats wanted Mitt Romney to win in Michigan, to keep more Republicans in the race.

This should be comforting (or not). More than 1,500 men detained in Saudi Arabia on charges of harboring extremist ideologies have been released after receiving "counseling."

A Muslim cab driver in Nashville pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault after trying to run down one of his passengers after they got into an argument over religion.

The Green Party held a presidential debate in San Francisco. Guess who was the star? Cynthia McKinney. Even better ... guess who was the moderator? "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan.

The state of Idaho wants to repeal a ridiculous law, which bans packaged liquor sales on Election Day.

A guy tried to jump off the empire state building in 2006 but was stopped by a security guard. He is now suing for $30 million because the security guard who stopped him "endangered his life" and caused him "severe emotional distress." No, I'm not kidding.

A teenage girl is now facing charges of felony armed burglary, felony armed robbery and violation of home detention after wielding a knife at a Burger King and demanding a cheeseburger.

About 37% of US companies have some sort of flexible work arrangement like telecommuting. But news studies show that the practice is actually having a negative effect on coworkers who don't telecommute. In other words, they are jealous.

You can only imagine what types of websites are among the most popular at Dallas Public Libraries.

Here's some exciting news for all you Hillary voters ... Oprah is getting her own TV network.

A family drove hundreds of miles with grandma (who had gone tango uniform) in the back of the RV. They continued their trip in order to fulfill the wishes of their, now, dead granny.

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