FairTax Rally - Gainesville GA (Part 2)

Overflow crowd gathers to hear about Fair Tax system
By Jeff Hart

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=104628

GAINESVILLE - Rick Frommer of Murrayville said it didn't take him long to realize he was paying too much in taxes.

"The first time I got a paycheck when I was 14 or 15 years old and I saw all this money taken out of it I knew I didn't like it," he said.

Frommer was part of an overflow crowd at Longstreet Cafe Wednesday night that came to hear Herman Cain and others talk about the Fair Tax proposal, which has been proposed to legislators by FairTax.org.

According to its website and literature, FairTax.org is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to replacing the current tax system. The plan states that it wants to:

- Abolish the IRS - Close all tax loopholes and brings fairness to taxation;

- Maintain our current Social Security and Medicare benefits;

- Bring transparency and accountability to tax policy;

- Allow American products to compete fairly;

- Reimburse the tax on purchases of basic necessities;

- Enable retirees to keep their entire pension, and;

- Enable workers to keep their entire paycheck.

Hall County Fair Tax Co-cordinator Stephanie Usrey, who was one of the organizers of Wenesday's meeting, said they plan to hold more meetings in the coming months.

"We plan to hold monthly meetings and get the word out," she said. "This will not be the only one. We are trying to get enough people to sign the petition to get the legislators to put the idea on the floor of the House (of Representatives).

"Usrey said they need 21 members of the House and 10 Senators to be able to get it out of committee.

"That's our goal. We're just one of many groups that are forming all over the country. Hopefully they'll hear us and put an end to this unfair system," Usrey said. "We're not saying we shouldn't pay any taxes. We just think it should be a more fair system. (The current) system wasn't what the Founding Fathers had in mind."

As for Frommer, he said it couldn't come fast enough. He had nearly a third of his five-digit paycheck is taken by taxes.

"I would like to see it in my lifetime. If we can get enough people to support it, maybe it will happen. I don't (think) it's right that the government should be able to take that much."