Now he’s back as host of a new show (“Huckabee“) on Fox News and doing commentary for ABC Radio. He is also starting a national tour now to promote his new book, Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America. Governor Huckabee’s book covers the FairTax at length, clearly stating that, “It’s been my position that a responsible tax structure should be flat, fair, finite, and family friendly. The FairTax covers all those criteria.”

The Boortz Show comes to you from 690 WOKV in Jacksonville, Florida today. I was in Jacksonville last night to speak to the Northeast Florida Builders Association. The banquet hall was full of some of the very people that we are led to believe will be dead-set against the FairTax. Well, you couldn’t tell it by the applause and the reception the FairTax received. After a one-hour speech I signed well over 100 books for those in attendance. There was not one objection raised — not one negative response to the FairTax idea. The FairTax is truly an idea that is popular with the people while being unpopular with the political class. The president’s so-called tax reform panel was a huge disappointment. The crowd last night was not. My fighting spirit is renewed. Believe me … the FairTax is far from dead. The idea will only die when Americans have fully surrendered their lives and their economic liberty to the Washington crowd.

With a touch of “simple laryngitis,” Neal Boortz spoke briefly to a standing-room only crowd in the Grand Ballroom of Roanoke’s Wyndham Hotel on Tuesday, offering a dramatically revised tax plan and signing
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copies of his recent best-seller, “The FairTax Book.”

“It takes power away from politicians,” the popular AM radio talk show host said of his plan for a fair tax, receiving a sweep of applause. “By the way, is this voice turning anybody on?”

“The FairTax Book,” which Boortz co-wrote with Georgia congressman John Linder, proposes replacing the federal income tax and other taxes with a sales tax. The book’s jacket bears the letters IRS with a red line through them.

“The government shouldn’t do anything for us we can do for ourselves,” Boortz, a self-described libertarian, said shortly before taking the podium. “I just default to freedom.”

See the full article for more.

And Boortz had these comments in yesterday’s Nuze:

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA

Belinda and I were met on our arrival in Lynchburg yesterday by Macel Falwell, the wife of Rev. Jerry Falwell. A gracious lady indeed. We were immediately off to Liberty University for a meeting with Dr. Falwell. where we had an interesting conversation on politics and the FairTax. Following dinner with Tom Wright, the Executive Director of Americans for Fair Taxation, we headed over the Barnes & Noble to sign a few books. [Photos] Did I say a “few” books? Our best estimate was that there were between 650 and 700 people at the Barnes & Noble and we ran out of books. Some people drove from as far as Richmond, Virginia — and we ran out of books. Sorry, folks … nobody expected a crowd that large.

TONIGHT — ROANOKE

We’ll be broadcasting from our Roanoke affiliate WFIR this morning, a little relaxation this afternoon, and then we’ll be signing books at the Wyndham Airport hotel in Roanoke tonight at 7:00. After the last book is signed it’s a little nighttime IFR across the Smoky Mountains into Atlanta.

When I arrived at the Barnes & Noble in Knoxville last night for signings of The FairTax Book the people were lined up out the front door and down entire length of the shopping center. [photos] It was a truly amazing crowd, and I can’t tell you great folks in Knoxville how much I appreciate you being there. This has been an incredible week of book signings, Indianapolis on Tuesday night, then Lexington, Ky., and now this great event in Knoxville. Next week we have Oklahoma City and Tulsa … and I’m already looking forward to it.

And here’s the photo (by FairTax fan Dan Starks). Wow!

Last night as I pulled into a parking lot outside of Turner Field (the home of the Division Champion Atlanta Braves!) the parking lot attendant told me “It looks like Katrina and Rita knocked the FairTax right out of the news!”

Well, he’s partially right. The initial four-week book tour ended with Belinda, Royal, Net Dog and I escaping New Orleans just 18 hours before Katrina rolled in. At that time The FairTax Book was No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller’s list. We’re still up there, but with the minds of the people justifiably on the damage done by these two hurricanes, we’ve slipped out of the top spot.

I say the parking lot attendant was partially right because the FairTax is still very much on the minds of people in Washington. Specifically, it’s on the mind of the lobbyists on K Street. As we told you in The FairTax Book, these K Street lobbyists make their livings by manipulating the federal tax code for the benefit of their clients. And a handsome living it is. These lobbyists make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — sometimes over a million dollars — a year! Make no mistake, the FairTax is a threat to them and their high paid livelihood!

These are people who’s very lifestyle and business success depends on their ability to keep their fingers on the pulse of the Congress, and when congressmen and senators start getting calls, letters, faxes and emails from thousands of constituents, the lobbyists know it, and it’s not something they’re going to ignore.

Trust us on this … these lobbyists are not on your side in the cause of tax reform. They’re on their side … and their side only. Their jobs and their incomes must be protected, and if it means that you must continue to live under an oppressive tax system that stifles innovation, hard work and economic growth, so be it.

Yesterday we received an email from a listener with close connections to a congressional sponsor of the FairTax. According to our listener this congressman is relating stories about K Street denizens getting the word to various congressional and senatorial offices that if they dare support the FairTax bill they can kiss some big campaign contributions goodbye. So … it would seem that the pressure is on.

Those of you who have read The FairTax Book and have come to support this incredible idea for tax reform have sworn enemies in the law offices along K Street in Washington. The lobbyists are fighting for their very lifestyles, and they won’t go away. So, if you go away, if you stop spreading the word about the FairTax, if you stop contacting your elected representatives and holding their feet to the fire … the K Streeters will have won.

Last night my co-author, Congressman John Linder and I, discussed the growing unrest on K Street. We realize that one of the best ways to keep this FairTax idea in front of the media and in front of elected officials is to keep the book alive and as high up the bestseller’s lists as possible. That’s why both Congressman Linder and myself are hitting the book-signing highway again. In coming weeks we’ll be in places like Denver, Grand Junction, Indianapolis, Lexington, Knoxville, Orlando, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and more.

In addition to getting out there and pushing the book, Congressman Linder has agreed to another idea. Congressman Linder and I are going to take every penny we make in royalties from the sale of the book over the next two weeks and dedicate those royalties to hurricane relief. Every cent. We’re doing this because we want to start The FairTax Book moving up in the charts again … and we want to be able to do that without making it sound self-serving.

Neither one of us wrote this book to make money. The royalties I receive are all — 100% — going to charity. We wrote the book because we believe that the FairTax would be nothing less than a second American revolution; the largest transfer of power from government to the people since the Revolutionary War.

If you’re behind this idea, go buy another copy of the book. If you like you can make it easy on yourself and order it from Amazon.com. On Monday we were No. 113 on Amazon.com. Yesterday we were No. 115. We would like to see how far we can move this book up today … with all of the royalties going to Katrina and Rita relief. You can also go to FairTax.org and become a FairTax volunteer.

This idea is too good to be blown away by a hurricane. Do what you can.

A new article by Gary Harmon in yesterday’s edition of Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel provides some interesting information about Boortz — and how favorably his ratings compare, in some markets, to talk-radio heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Here is the article:

Nationally syndicated radio-talk-show host Neal Boortz will visit Grand Junction on Saturday to promote his book advocating a radical change to the federal tax system and thank listeners who rallied to keep him on the air on KNZZ News Talk Radio in Grand Junction.

Boortz, whose talk show originates from WSB-AM radio in Atlanta, which is owned by the same company that owns The Daily Sentinel, is the co-author of “The FairTax Book,” which advocates abolition of the federal income tax and replacing it with a national consumption tax of 23 percent.

A libertarian who supports President Bush in the War on Terror and criticizes him for increased federal spending, Boortz was talking loudly about abuses of eminent domain for large retailers before the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the powers of local governments to condemn private property.

Grand Junction radio listeners might not have heard Boortz on any of those subjects had they stayed quiet back in February 2004, when KNZZ canceled his show in favor of Tony Snow.

“I will admit it was probably the single biggest error in judgment we made,” said Jim TerLouw, KNZZ general manager.

Boortz’ removal set off a series of complaints to the station.

“We had an unprecedented number of bummed-out people,” TerLouw said. “When we took him off the radio, these people were hurt,” one telling him, “You’ve taken away my good-morning time.”

What listeners didn’t want, TerLouw said, was “another right-wing political show” that sounded like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, both conservative Republicans.

Listeners, TerLouw said, wanted a different voice, what some described as a “stimulating, different point of view.”

Today, Boortz “is our strongest personality,” with more listeners than Limbaugh, Hannity or any other talker in the station’s lineup, TerLouw said.

In an e-mail, Boortz said his Grand Junction experience isn’t entirely unprecedented.

In Atlanta and Orlando, where he goes head-to-head against Limbaugh in his fourth hour against Limbaugh’s first, “I beat him,” Boortz wrote.

“When Hannity and I competed head-to-head, I also bested him in the ratings. I guess that gives me some minor bragging rights.”

His libertarian voice, he said, allows him to prosper in conservative settings.

“I think it’s because the listeners learn that they are always going to get my true feelings. I won’t adjust my opinions and statements to fit some party line. If I get upset with the Republicans, I’m not the least bit afraid to say so. My libertarianism allows me to cross the party lines and call out the scoundrels wherever I find them.”

Spots for Boortz’s book signing have gone quickly, said Monica Salvo, promotions director for KNZZ.

All 600 tickets for the first signing session at the Doubletree Hotel from 2 to 4 p.m. are taken, and more than 500 of the 600 available tickets have been taken for the second session, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

The station has distributed tickets to listeners across the Grand Valley and from Utah and New Mexico, Salvo said. Tickets are free and may be obtained at the KNZZ offices, 1360 E. Sherwood Ave. Grand Junction.

Hastings Books and Music will sell books at the hotel for the signing.

That is some very good news, overall, for the FairTax.

My friends, you have no idea of the impact that The FairTax Book is having on our elected officials in Washington. Officials at the highest levels are expressing their surprise to Congressman Linder of the success of the book, and you can believe that they are ready to take some action.

While on vacation I’m writing some items to clarify portions of the book — and I hope to have them posted in the Nuze by Thursday. In the meantime, if you haven’t yet bought or ordered The FairTax Book, please do so. The link above will take you to amazon.com or see if your local book store has any left.

Hey ..I’m not trying to pad my own pockets here. I’ve already told you that my royalties age going 100% to charity, including a rather large check to the Red Cross for Katrina relief. My interest here is in promoting a tax reform plan that I sincerely believe will bring about a positive change in the life of virtually every American, except, perhaps, for the K Street lobbyists who have been making hundreds of thousands a year gaming the present tax system for their clients.

The longer we keep The FairTax Book up near the top of The New York Times Bestsellers List, the more attention we get in Washington DC, and the greater the chance that HR 25 is going to get serious consideration in Washington.

Last weekend I was sitting in a restaurant near the west coast. At the next table was a man I knew to be well connected in Washington and Hollywood. (Not mentioning names here.) I actually overheard him telling his luncheon guests about the FairTax! The word is getting around, my friends, and politicians are finding this movement harder and harder to ignore.

As soon as I’m back off vacation I’ll be heading out for more book signings. One week from Saturday I’ll be at the Republican Leadership Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I’m told that almost every Republican with presidential aspirations will be there.

When I get up before that group to make my presentation on The FairTax I want to be able to tell them that the book is still right up there at the top of the list. The books that are sold between now and Monday afternoon will make the difference … so you know what to do.

I’m going to write next week of The FairTax Plan and post some notes and clarifications about HR25 right here. So … keep checking back!

The FairTax Book co-author Congressman John Linder has been getting some interesting reactions from his colleagues on Capitol Hill. One Congressman who had heard little about HR25 called Linder to say that every time he got on an airplane lately there would be at least three or four people sitting there reading The FairTax Book. And those of you who have been sending copies of the book to your elected officials are having an impact … Linder gets constant comments from other members wondering just who it is that is sending these books to them.

“It was Neal Boortz week here,” says Sharon Kelly Roth, director of public relations at Books & Co. in Dayton, Ohio. And The Book Standard’s geographic chart for the Dayton area reflects that.

With a phenomenally attended signing at Books & Co. on Aug. 22, which did great things for sales, The FairTax Book kept the No. 1 spot in Dayton—the only local area in which Eldest was not No. 1 on the The Book Standard’s 99 local-area charts.

The FairTax Book has held the No. 1 spot in Dayton since its debut in early August, but that was expected to change once Eldest was released. That expectation was upended, however, after more than 1,000 people turned out to see Boortz and co-author John Lindner at Books & Co.

The shop sold more than 1,000 copies of The FairTax Book to the eager fans at reportedly one of the biggest book signings the store has seen. According to Roth, Boortz encouraged people to write to Congress and march to Washington: “He motivates people to change the tax system.”

The article begins:

NEW YORK (Money magazine) – If you don’t care much for talk radio, or you don’t live in the South, the name Neal Boortz might not ring a bell.

But pay attention: Around 4 million people nationwide catch his radio show. It’s No. 1 in Boortz’s home market of Atlanta and ranks first or second in numerous smaller cities in red states.

His 180-page polemic for radical tax reform, The FairTax Book, made its debut at No. 1 on the New York Times’ bestseller list in August.

When Boortz came to Jacksonville for a book signing at a downtown hotel on a sticky, sweltering Thursday night last month, close to 1,000 people turned out for a chance to meet him — and to bask in his rage at the Internal Revenue Service.

As I was reading, I kept expecting the tone of the article to go south. But it never really does. Author Pat Regnier keeps hinting that there’s a big ol’ problem with the plan, but the meatiest criticism he comes up with is this:

In an eight-year-old study paid for by AFFT, Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson noted that because the taxes paid by everyone in the chain of production are embedded in the cost of goods, prices could decline an average of 20 percent if all those taxes were scrapped. The FairTax Book devotes an entire chapter to this idea.

What The FairTax Book fails to mention is that prices can only fall this sharply if companies cut wages. I asked Jorgenson about this, and he agreed. Say your salary is $100,000 a year today, but you take home $80,000 after taxes.

Your company is still paying that extra $20,000. In a FairTax world, it will save that money, and be able to lower its prices accordingly, only if it can reduce your salary to $80,000. In other words, your take-home pay is the same as before. Sure, you’d get to “keep 100 percent of your paycheck,” as Boortz and Linder repeatedly write, but it would be a smaller paycheck. That’s kind of a big thing to leave out.

I pressed the point with Boortz and Linder. Boortz denies that the book intentionally overpromises. The introduction, he notes, emphasizes that “this book isn’t about saving a penny in taxes.” But he concedes that the book is confusing about this, and vows to correct it in later printings. Fair enough.

Meanwhile, these guys want to replace the entire tax code, they’ve ignited a populist movement to get it done, and tens of thousands of copies of the uncorrected book make the FairTax sound like magic.

Er, I don’t know about you, but I’d happily trade our current system for one which gives me about the same amount of money in my after-tax paycheck, dramatically reduces compliance costs for individuals and businesses, doesn’t tax savings or investments at all, removes the incentive for offshore bank accounts, closes the IRS, and supercharges the economy.

I suspect a lot of other Americans would, as well. So I think this article is likely to do a lot more good than harm, overall.

After noting that a consumption tax would elminate a (conservatively estimated) $110 billion in compliance costs and would increase the average American’s real income by 9 percent in the long run, Regnier ends with this:

And although Boortz and Linder use the red-meat language of the right when pitching the FairTax, there are some elements of their plan that liberals ought to take a close look at.

It replaces the Social Security payroll tax, which tends to hit less affluent people harder. Rich big spenders could end up contributing more to the retirement system than they do today. And the other tax plans favored by Washington types raise their own fairness questions. Boston U.’s Kotlikoff, who recently argued for the sales tax in a cover story for the liberal New Republic, worries that other consumption-driven reforms will be a boon to the already wealthy.

These are serious ideas Americans should hear more about. What we don’t need is more spinning. FairTaxers promise a world where taxes are effortless, the IRS is dead and gone, and nobody has to sacrifice a thing. But we know this:

There are complications in any tax system. Somebody’s got to collect the money for the government. And there will always be losers in the tax game.

I can live with that. Kudos to Regnier and Money Magazine for what is, overall, a relatively objective and even-handed presentation of the pros and cons of the FairTax.

Go read the full article. It has some good stories and it’s an enjoyable read.

UPDATE (9-8-05) – Okay, seeing this makes me think CNN’s not being so fair-minded after all. It’s starting to look like a concerted effort to discredit the FairTax plan.