Let me know, below, in the comments.

I had to upgrade our server on September 24 for security reasons, and for some reason the upgrade torched this blog.

A normal re-installation of WordPress didn’t work, so I had to wipe the account and start over. I didn’t have time to do that until today.

I think I have everything working again now. If you notice any problems, please let me know! You can reach me at webstuff at zader dot com.

My web development work with Zoom Strategies is keeping me more than busy lately, so I need to disappear for a while, here.

Jeff/Morphh and Mark Bostleman each have editor-level privileges over the blog and any ensuing discussion. I’m grateful to them both for their contributions around here.

I’ve updated the site’s contact data in case you need to contact one of us. I’ll be available if anyone really needs me, but otherwise I expect to be on sabbatical for a while.

Of course, this applies to those who promote the FairTax as well as those who oppose it.

In my opinion, the FairTax dissenters who post on our site add a great deal of value to our discussions. They raise objections — sometimes great objections — for us to analyze and discuss. (The question of taxing government expenditures is, I think, a good recent example of this.)

On the other hand, anytime we use words like “scam” or “scheme” or “myth” or “dishonest” to describe something we disagree with — and we don’t offer incredibly solid evidence for such claims — then we are undermining any opportunity for constructive dialogue.

A dialogue between two people assumes that they are both being intellectually honest. If you think the person you are talking to is not being intellectually honest, then there is no point in talking.

Similarly, if you think the FairTax is a scam or that it relies on myths, then you’d better be prepared to offer real evidence, presented without puffy rhetoric, if you have any hope of convincing people who don’t yet see your perspective.

If you’re not prepared to meet this standard of dialogue, then please go elsewhere. It takes time to monitor the discussions in these forums, and I’m determined not to see the discussions devolve into senseless accusations.

Anyone who has tried maintaining a forum like this one will notice that it takes much more time to comprehensively rebut a spurious argument than to present it. That gives a natural advantage to dissenters who like to take pot-shots, and I’m increasingly sensing a need to level the playing field, in that regard.

Toward this end, I’m going to begin occasionally pointing out the problems in people’s accusations. For example, if you claim something is a myth and you offer no real evidence for your assertion, I may well add a comment to your comment, as editor, pointing out your failure to back up your accusations.

Sometimes I will rebut the argument, other times I’ll simply point out that you’ve provided little or no evidence. (Other times I’ll rely on our readers to point out the spurious nature of an argument. My own time is limited, of course.)

I’m 100% committed to discussing the pros and cons of the FairTax, but I’m not willing to let our site devolve into a forum for attacking the FairTax with innuendo and flimsy arguments.

As owner of the site, I welcome dissent, but I don’t welcome drive-by attacks. If anyone else has additional suggestions for better achieving this balance, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

It also got bad enough that I was unable to post any new entries (e.g., to let you know that we were experiencing difficulties).

The only workaround I could find was to upgrade our blogging software, which I’ve just done.

I think things should be working fine now. Please have at it, and let me know if you encounter any problems.

Also, we’ve been light on new posts lately, as you’ve no doubt noticed. If anyone out there is interested in having an account to make new posts, please let me know (jzader at fairtaxblog dot com).

Finally… Merry Christmas from the Fair Tax Blog!

If I’m not mistaken, any of you who post to the site have the ability to moderate comments. I just need to make sure you receive notification of any comments that are pending moderation as well.

My expectations for moderation are simple: Don’t approve anything snarky, sarcastic, or likely to lead to flame wars.

Any takers?

Note that the results you personally see on Google may vary, however, depending on what Google data center is closest to you. Google’s results are continually updated, and we could fall off page one before long. But this is the first time I’ve seen us on page one of Google.

Google channels something like 50% of all search engine traffic on the internet, so our improved rankings pretty well guarantee that traffic to this blog (currently averaging about 90 visitors per day, not counting spiders) will continue to increase over the coming months.

This might be a good time to thank the 5,620 people who have linked to our blog so far and contributed to our discussions of the FairTax Plan. …Thank you!

Now Beta Testing: The FairTax Scorecard is Online and ready for Beta Testing. The Scorecard provides an up to date list of which congressional leaders do or do not support the FairTax legislation. You can sort the scorecard to get a tally just the way you want it. More information can be found by clicking on the congress person’s name.

State Support: The Scorecard also supports State Legislatures. Why wait for the US Congress to act, we can also contact our local state congress persons and get them on board.

Volunteers needed: We need your help to enter addresses into the database. We want to list the leader’s main offices as well as local district offices. We also need help adding more state legislatures, currently only Florida and Georgia have state legislature entries.

Does Your Congress Person Need a Book? Look them up and find out. If they have not received a book, send them one and add your name to the list of active supporters.

Please Send Comments: Let us know what you think about the site — send comments to FairTaxScorecard@Gmail.com

Consumers always pay all of the taxes. When a business is taxed, it marks up the tax and passes it on to the consumer—that is what a business does. Another problem is that this tax is hidden. I recognized this years ago. Buy a $35,000 new car, and pay a few thousand extra in taxes in GM’s name. What I did not know is that the hidden tax was more that a few thousand—try $7,700 extra!

As an engineer, I can get into so many details that it will make your eyes float. As a businessman, providing computer tech support over the phone, I learned to cut back on unnecessary details. As a statistics tutor in grad school, I enhanced my ability to simplify complex issues to help others increase their understanding and ownership of ideas. I hope I can do the same with H.R. 25.

In the past I had my own businesses. I have also worked for large companies in the aerospace industry. I earned a B.S. in Engineering from Western Michigan University and an MBA in Management and International Business from the University of Tampa. I read the FairTax Book as well as H.R. 25. Believe me, the book is better. So that’s where I’m coming from.

While I will try to simplify issues regarding consumption tax, I’m not a best selling author. Your first step should be to read the book. Buy the book or get it from a Library—I don’t care—just read it. Even if you have a good understanding of many FairTax issues, the book does a great job at teaching economics from a practical standpoint. That alone is worth the cost of the book.

I believe production should be rewarded and wasteful consumption should be discouraged. Productivity has its own rewards, which will be greater if we can keep Uncle Sam’s hand out of our purse. FairTax will discourage consumption, and thus promote individual conservation.

I’ll try to talk about the following issues in the following weeks:
- Productivity vs. Consumption
- Propagation of the FairTax Book (Library and Book Loans)
- Price Levels
- Lobbying Congress

May April 15, 2007 be your individual independence day.

Bill Rook, MBA
Sarasota, FL