Now this is a shock.When I attended the Iowa GOP straw poll in Ames, the folks who support the "fair tax" (Americans For A Fair Taxation) were a huge presence--they even sponsored a Ferris wheel. Mike Huckabee drew much attention by endorsing the fair tax and by his strong finish.
Any organization that has passion and can drive people to the polls is a welcome ally for any candidate. But now Marc Ambinder reports that the organization is in fiscal trouble and has basically shut down its Iowa operations.
That's not just bad news for Mike--but bad news for consumption tax folks like me, who believe a national sales tax deserves serious discussion within the presidential campaign.
3 comments:
Jeff,
FairTax is NOT broke.. Trust me on that...
The Iowa operation is up and running like it was before.. Instead of HUGE event style events like we did this summer..they're focusing on grassroots efforts to turn out FairTax supporters to the caucuses
Unfortunately, Mr. Ambinder spoke with an individual who is associated with FairTax..but is supporting a candidate who is AGAINST FairTax.
This individual has no idea what our grassroots team is doing and what our plans for the future are...
That is good news! I think the group has a legitimate idea that deserves wide debate.
Jeff
Jeff,
The leadership of AFFT has sent out a letter today stating that they are not broke...but....they did run low on funding and have cut back a bit, basically taking a short breather to fine tune, become more efficient, and then get back at it.
To be honest, there could not have been a better situation for the organization than for the national office to back off for a little while and let the local groups, and organizations, strengthen themselves a bit. Way too many supporters were dependant on AFFT providing Free T-shirts, free bumper stickers, Free Literature, Free Everything they asked for....and no one seemed very concerned about how the funds to replace those freebies would be maintained. This relatively brief break for AFFT has made many local organizations develop their own state and local funding, ask for donations from supporters, etc. etc. I think it has made many in the grassroots rely on their own creativity and develop ways to supplement their own local Fair Tax groups, etc. Thus strengthening the bonds between local supporters and inspiring creativity. We needed this....and hopefully AFFT will promote and develop more of a local/state type grassroots movement, rather than a movement directed nationally by a distant national office somewhere in Texas.
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