I wish I had gotten in on this a little earlier... it seems that yesterday, Neal Boortz went ballistic on an Amazon reader who had the temerity to place a negative review about Boortz' new book. Which is kind of funny in and of itself... that one negative review can get so firmly under his skin, when there have been critiques of the "Fair Tax" plan making the academic rounds, and posted on the internet, for years (for an amusingly contrarian review from a "starve-the-beast" Grover Norquist conservative, see here). But, let somebody make a critical remark on Amazon, and you'll see a tiny mushroom cloud over Atlanta.

Anyway, the reviewer has posted again (claiming that his original post was removed). Here's the product page. I can't link to the review, but since it's so juicy, and possibly apt to disappear, if Boortz' Dittoheads rate it down too much, I'll reproduce it here:

Amazing. I write a negative review about The FairTax Book on Amazon.com. Neal Boortz then trashes me the next day on his radio show and his website claiming I never read his book. I email Boortz and offer to debate him on the air, but he doesn't respond. Then my review gets mysteriously deleted off the Amazon site. All in the space of 24 hours. Like I said, amazing.

Well, I did read the book. (It's not exactly rocket science, it only takes about an hour.) What's more, I've followed the FairTax debate for about 10 years now and am constantly amazed at the lengths FairTax proponents will go to deceive the public that their plan is so wonderful. But I'm even more amazed at the number of ordinary people that will willingly allow themselves to be deceived without ever asking the most basic of questions.

I won't repeat my earlier critcisms of the book (since you can probably still find them on Neal Boortz's website, along with his rebuttals), but for you folks that REALLY WANT TO BELIEVE in the FairTax, please ask Boortz a few basic questions next time you call his show.

1. How did you come up with the 23% rate? The authors claim that our entire federal tax system can be abolished and replaced with a national retail FairTax of 23% (on, what they call a "tax inclusive" basis, which the rest of us would consider a 30% tax on a "tax exclusive basis) (see p. 153). Moreover, they claim that this rate will be revenue neutral -- that is, the FairTax will raise just as much revenue as our current system does.

Sounds great! The only problem is: They don't show one calculation or cite one source to show how they arrived at that rate. Think about that for a moment. They write an entire book claiming that this 23% tax will do all of these wonderful things, but DON'T CITE A SINGLE SOURCE to support that claim. The best they can do is say that a "group of Houston businessmen" hired a bunch of "researchers and analysts [that] concluded that we would need an inclusive sales tax rate of 23 percent." (p., 148). SO WHY DON'T YOU CITE ONE OF THEM SO THAT YOUR CLAIM CAN BE SUBSTANTIATED?

On the other hand, there are numerous sources out there that say the 23% rate is a crock. Look at William Gale's articles at the Brookings Institution website. He claims the rate would need to be 60% (on a tax exclusive basis.) Bruce Bartlett, writing for the National Review, said the Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation had calculated that the tax exclusive rate would be 57%. (Look up his Aug. 9, 2004 article on NRO.com.) I just found those studies today while surfing the web. I'm sure there are other studies, but you won't find ANY cited in The FairTax Book. Don't you wonder why?

2. How do they know retail prices will decline under the FairTax system? The crux of the authors' argument is that goods and services already contain an "imbedded tax" of about 22% which will magically disappear as soon as the FairTax system is put in place. So, amazingly, pre-tax prices for goods and services will drop by almost exactly the same amount as the new 23% tax rate. Thus, you won't be paying anymore for goods and services under the FairTax system than you currently are now.

How do they know this? Well, they devote an entire chapter (nine whole pages -- see Chapter 5) on this very issue. And they actually cite a study on this topic. The only problem is, the study is eight years old and was PAID FOR by the Americans for Fair Taxation (see, p. 59, fn. 1), which is the same group that advocates for the FairTax. Not exactly an impartial source. Let me ask you, if a university professor produced a report eight years ago stating that cigarette smoking was good for you, and that report happened to have been paid for by the tobacco companies, would you consider that report credible? Come on Boortz, can't you cite at least ONE NEUTRAL REPORT to back up your claims?

3. Is there such a thing as a free lunch? The authors claim that: (a) virtually everyone's income will rise (since we won't be paying any income taxes or payroll taxes); (b)we'll all get free money back from the government (i.e. "prebates" of around $6000/yr. for a family of four (p. 85)); (c) prices won't rise (they might even come down!); and (d) the government will still collect the same amount of tax revenue each year. Hallelujah! It's a MIRACLE! (It's also mathematically impossible.) Come on ye followers of the Church of the Painful Truth: You know already that there's no such thing as a free lunch.

4. Last question, and it's the real kicker: Who's taxes will go up under the FairTax system? Hmm. It won't be the poor; Boortz says their taxes will be eliminated (because of the "pre-bates"). It won't be the rich (because they tend to spend a smaller percentage of their incomes on taxable goods and services than everyone else, so their taxes will drop big time). So who's left to make up for the tax revenue lost from the poor and the rich? Oh yeah, the middle class. Shafted again! Who'd a thunk it?

Folks, before you start sending me hate-mail again, please ask Boortz or Congressman Linder these basic questions. And when they start spouting off that there are "numerous studies" that prove this and that, ask them WHY THEY DIDN'T PUT ANY IN THE BOOK SO THEIR CLAIMS COULD BE VERIFIED? Hey, we all want a simpler, fairer tax system - even us evil liberals want that. Unfortunately, the FairTax just isn't it.

Kind of rings a bell... I once said something very similar:

I've noticed something about Boortz. Sometimes, when his source is the Weekly Standard or World Net Daily, he will divulge to his audience where he got a piece of information. Other times, he won't tell. I've finally discovered the pattern. Can you guess? The times that he refuses to divulge his sources are the times when they include information he doesn't want you to find out about.

I cannot wait to see how this plays out. Buck, please let me know how hysterical Neal gets on the program today: I'll be unable to listen. And, though I have a very busy day ahead of me, I'll do my best to provide some further commentary on this little tempest as it develops, and as I have time to address the substantive points concerning the "Fair Tax" scheme.