Presidential Candidate Announces Fair Tax Platform

Talk about a blast from the past, but former Alaska US Senator Mike Gravel (D-VA) said Thursday he will run for President in 2008. Gravel, 75, has not faced voters since he lost for reelection in 1980. His three main issues: opposition to the Iraq War, passage of a direct democracy constitutional amendment establishing national referendums on legislation (much like state ballot initiatives), and adoption of a "Fair Tax" plan that would replace all federal individual and corporate taxes with a 23% national sales tax on all new goods and services. "The American people are frustrated with the level of dysfunction of government,” Gravel said. “The thought of getting out there early, right now, is really the big tactic for me. Once I’m out there and people see the issues I’m raising, it will resonate with people," he explained. Gravel's anger over the Iraq War and government secrecy -- which he views as very similar to the Vietnam War issues he dealt with in the Senate -- prompted him to run. Gravel, who was almost solely responsible for both ending the military draft and for getting the secret "Pentagon Papers" into the press in 1971, actively ran for Vice President in 1972 (and won a few hundred convention delegates). Gravel plans a formal announcement on Monday in DC.

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Will I support Gravel simply because he supports a National Sales Tax? Well, I'll hedge my bets. He's my frontrunner until I find someone who supports a NST AND tough enforcement of illegal alien laws. And if someone comes along who wants to privatize Social Security as well...that's my man or woman as the case may be.