[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CONSIDER THE FAIR TAX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. I'm here to support the Fair Tax. The current U.S. Tax 
Code is too big, too complicated, and benefits too many special 
interests, and must be replaced with a code that is fair and encourages 
savings and investment.
  This code has been amended tens of thousands of times, my colleagues, 
and it's grown to over 60,000 pages, possibly more. For this, and many 
other reasons, I rise in support of the Fair Tax and urge my colleagues 
to consider this new tax simplification program.
  The Fair Tax will eliminate Federal income taxes, corporate income 
taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, the alternative minimum tax, 
and the death tax, and replace it with a flat, simple and efficient 
consumption tax.
  Mr. Speaker, Ronald Reagan hit the nail on the head when he described 
the government's basic view of the economy as: ``If it moves, tax it. 
If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.''
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this burdensome view taken by our 
government has resulted in the current problem we face today, where 
citizens and business owners across this country devote billions of 
hours and billions of tax dollars just to navigate the process of 
paying their Federal income tax.
  A simpler Tax Code may have prevented former Senator Daschle or 
current Secretary of the Treasury Geithner the embarrassment of having 
to explain their failure to properly pay the taxes due to the 
complicated IRS tax system.
  I know many of my constituents in the Sixth Congressional District 
are aware of how this simple tax reform will work when implemented. 
They have written numerous letters to me and voiced their support at 
many town meetings.
  I thought I'd take a moment this afternoon to lay out the basic 
principles of this legislation for those who are not familiar with the 
Fair Tax.
  The Fair Tax will do away with all Federal taxes such as income tax, 
the death tax, as I mentioned, all the way down to the estate tax. 
Basically, many Americans with low incomes will receive a check at the 
beginning of each month from the Federal Government that will cover the 
cost of the consumption tax on necessary goods, thus increasing the 
purchasing power of low-income individuals and completely avoiding any 
unintended tax increase on their purchasing power.
  Furthermore, a study conducted by Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson 
illustrates that roughly 22 percent of the retail price of an item is 
the direct result of the cost our current Tax Code places on a product 
through payroll taxes, business taxes, business taxes, compliance 
costs, and other taxes.
  Therefore, by paying an additional consumption tax, we will be able 
to fund our entire government, and the taxpayer can keep 100 percent of 
his hard-earned paycheck. This would lead to increased savings, 
increased investment, and Americans, not the Federal Government, would 
decide how to best utilize their wealth.
  In addition, Mr. Speaker, the Fair Tax, through its simplicity, will 
provide transparency to the Federal budget and Federal spending here in 
Congress. Each time the government claims a needed tax increase to fund 
runaway spending, as we do, and government expansion, or special 
district funding requests, the American citizen would be directly 
affected by this irresponsibility and would be aware of it immediately 
through the transparency of the Fair Tax system instead of hidden tax 
increases and budget gimmicks that our government institutes today.

                              {time}  1630

  So now, my colleagues, it is time to get rid of this complicated, 
inefficient, and unfair tax. Now is the time to institute transparency, 
efficiency, and, finally, fairness in our Tax Code.
  Now, for those of us in Congress and perhaps throughout the Nation 
who are skeptical, I have a suggestion for them, an approach that I 
think would be possible. Why not take Washington, D.C. as a 
demonstration project to see if it would work here in Washington, D.C.; 
allow all residents of this city to pay no Federal taxes, and institute 
a fair consumption tax, and this consumption tax would be collected by 
the city and then sent to the Federal Government. Then we could see how 
it would work and discern its advantages and disadvantages.
  The Fair Tax I think ultimately would prove to be very useful, and I 
urge my colleagues to stand for real change and support this fair 
solution.

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