Jay Kersting's Blog

Many folks will run out at midnight to mail their tax forms off at the last minute.  Ours were done a while back and the money we got back from our overpayment has been spent.

It is always at this time I am reminded that I hate the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  It is the single most oppressive piece of legislation ever passed on the American people. 

Yesterday, I again had former Missouri Lt. Governor Bill Phelps on the shows to talk about the Fair Tax. 

I have a few points to bring up regarding the Fair Tax.  First, it has many opponents and most of those are ignorant of the details of the Fair Tax and how it works.  Second, many people who like the idea openly state that it will never pass.

Let me start with the second point first.  Simply put, if you think you can't do something, you won't do it.  So, stop saying it will never happen and work to make it happen.

Back to the first point, educate yourself on the Fair Tax so that you can shed the country of the ignorance on this issue.

Is the Fair Tax the great fix to all things in taxation?  No.  But it is the best plan that I have seen.

Some like a flat tax.  A flat tax has been tried and failed.  The original income taxes were flat taxes.  The loopholes are still in place for those who can afford to find them.  If you have NO income, you still pay no taxes.  And a flat tax is STILL an income tax and the Congress could make changes later on to but steps back in the program.  The problem is NOT solved.  Period.  Flat Tax does NOT work.

The Fair Tax hits those who spend the most the "hardest"....but that is not so hard really.  It is equal to those who spend less on a percentage basis.  Except those who earn less, therefore spend less, get a higher percentage back through the "prebate" checks that come each month to hit the taxes up to the poverty level.

Look at the plan.  Run your figures through the calculator on the site and see how you come out.

As for the Kerstings....we come out ahead by just shy of $1900 in spending power a year.

The best way to spread the "gospel" of the Fair Tax?  Get others to run their numbers through the calculator.

I openly admit that this plan is NOT perfect.  It has problems.  Our current system IS BROKEN and it IS PUNATIVE.  If you have a better plan, bring it forward. 

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Speaking of taxes and taxpayer money, pick up the May 2008 issue of Popular Mechanics.  It hits newsstands today.  The cover story is "Rebuilding America" and it includes plans for newer and safer bridges, tougher levees and dams, as well as ways to improve airports and roads. 

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Have you grown tired of the criticism of Barack Obama and his recent comments yet?

Judging by the money heading to Hillary Clinton and John McCain, you are not.

So, is Barack Obama an elitist?

Is he a Marxist, as some now think as they note a parallel between things he has said with the comments of Karl Marx?

Last week, he was closing the gap with Senator Clinton in Pennsylvania.  Now, he is down by nearly 20 points!

I don't know what to think.  I would offer this bit of advice to ANYONE who speaks with the media...especially those in the written word media (newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc.).  RECORD YOUR CONVERSATIONS.  IF you are ever taken out of context, you have the spoken record to cover your ass.  If you misspoke as Obama contends, you screwed up and you can playback what you said directly so that you can BEST fix it.

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Jimmy Carter is being dissed in Israel?  Carter has NOT been given a special security detail.  However, no request ever came.

Carter, with his fine, fine record of success in foreign relations (see Iran, Panama Canal, etc....and if you want to talk about the Camp David Accords, even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion).

Carter has compared the Israeli government's policies to that of apartheid.  And now he is meeting with Hamas, a group that is recognized as being a terrorist organization but most of the Western world.

What a genius!

He'd probably meet with Usama Bin Laden if Bin Laden would take the meeting. 

I once thought he was a good man with bad ideas.  Now, I am no longer sure.  I am certain that he has bad ideas.  He has yet to prove me wrong.

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