Tag: essay series

Michigan TEA Party activists, a growing movement across the state, convened near Lansing on Saturday, June 13th, 2009, to hear speakers, learn about grassroots activism, and show a sense of support for possible 2010 ballot initiatives.  The Michigan FairTax Proposal (MFTP) was selected by the majority of voting delegates as the proposal of choice to unify behind and support, from amongst four suggested initiatives.  The MI FairTax focuses on job creation and economic growth by changing the method and structure of the state's tax system from taxing income to taxing retail consumption.

In my first essay in this series, "The Government's Authority to Tax," I mentioned that all arguments to the contrary aside, the government (federal, state, and by extension local) does have the constitutional authority to levy and collect taxes.  The secret to permanently reforming the government lies in constitutionally restricting its ability to tax at will.  While this will be difficult to accomplish at the federal level, the Michigan FairTax Proposal makes this something readily doable at the state level.  But the government's misuse of its legitimate authority is not the only reason to support and pass the MFTP; and with this in mind, I present the second essay the "Continuing to Beat the Fair Tax Drum" series here (with a hat-tip to John Crawford for the basic idea):

Michigan TEA Party activists, a growing movement across the state, convened near Lansing on Saturday, June 13th, 2009, to hear speakers, learn about grassroots activism, and show a sense of support for possible 2010 ballot initiatives.  The Michigan FairTax Proposal (MFTP) was selected by the majority of voting delegates as the proposal of choice to unify behind and support, from amongst four suggested initiatives.  The MI FairTax focuses on job creation and economic growth by changing the method and structure of the state's tax system from taxing income to taxing retail consumption.

It's a fairly well-known fact to regular contributors to this site, to my associates at the Kent County Republican Committee, Libertarian Party of West Michigan, and TEA Party of West Michigan, and to just about anyone who knows me well that I am an open and unapologetic (and occasionally shameless) advocate for, and supporter of, the Michigan FairTax Proposal.  I am so because I have done the "deep-digging" homework on this proposal, and fully understand its value.  With this in mind, I intend to present a series of essays to explain the reasoning behind this proposal in what should be an easy-to-understand way - under the umbrella title of "Continuing to Beat the Fair Tax Drum."  The first of these essays I present here: