SC FairTax Rally Highlights
16 May 2007
Yesterday had so much to talk about that it’s difficult to sort it all out. Between the FairTax Rally and the GOP debate, I could write far more than most of you probably want to read. I’ve decided to break it all up into three posts. This post will deal with the FairTax Rally and its high points. The second post will deal with some of my criticisms of the FairTax rally and how they could make it better. Finally, I will write a post about the debate last night. I hope you will stick with me throughout.
As a volunteer at the FairTax rally I had to be there at 1:00 for training. That made for a long day but it was well worth it. There were about a dozen volunteers from Charleston that convoyed up together yesterday morning. We met at the rest area near mile marker 203 on I-26 and went up from there.
There were numerous speakers, some surprises. Of course Neal Boortz spoke several times along with Sean Hannity. Herman Cain was scheduled to speak but he was ill and could not make it. Predictably Boortz and Hannity were inspiring and really whipped up the crowd. If you haven’t heard Sean Hannity speak in person you’ve missed out. They guy is just good.
Neal Boortz told the audience about the new book he and John Lender are working on, The FairTax, Answering the Critics. He pointed out the the vast majority of criticism of the FairTax is actually criticism of things is doesn’t do or doesn’t involve. Boortz told the audience that the critics first lie about what the FairTax is then attack their false picture of the FairTax.
The goal of the rally was 10,000 people. I haven’t heard any official numbers but if they didn’t make it, they didn’t miss by much. There was a great crowd and everyone was excited. The general tenor was one of optimism and there was a concerted effort to convince supporters that the FairTax could become a reality this year! I don’t share that same optimism though I did come away convinced that it is at least possible. Prior to this rally I didn’t really think the FairTax was achievable at all.
The strangest part of the rally was when John Stossel spoke. I think most of the crowd was confused because Stossel didn’t really support the FairTax. Rather, he spoke about a flat tax. At one point someone in the crowd yelled out “FairTax” and there were a few hoots of supports. All in all the crowd just seemed confused. I found myself wondering if Stossel knew what rally he was at. As for the organizers, why didn’t they ensure that speakers would actually speak in support of the FairTax? Stossel didn’t, however, dampen the spirits of the crowd.
Unannounced speakers included Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee. Both spoke passionately about the FairTax and indicated they would work to implement it. Of the two, only Huckabee mentioned it in the debate and he went on at length when he did mention it.
The absolute highlight of the rally was the march. Everyone had a sign provided by rally organizers and we filed out of the coliseum en mass to march around the Koger Center. The looks on the faces of people outside was priceless. There was small groups of supporters of various candidates, none larger than a couple dozen people. Then here comes this massive crowd of close to 10,000 people all wearing white FairTax t-shirts and carrying FairTax signs, chanting in unison and marching all around the Koger Center. It was really an amazing sight. I’ll have some photos posted later in case your local news didn’t carry it. They certainly should have, there were TV cameras on use the whole time and at any given point in the march, it took at least 20 minutes for the whole crowd to pass.
Here are a couple of short videos of the march. The quality isn’t very good because I shot it with my cell phone but you can at least get an idea of what it was like.
I very much enjoyed the rally and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to attend one. Clearly support is building but that can only continue if more and more people join the movement.
Stay tuned later today for observations and analysis of the GOP debate.
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Tags: Conservatives, Economics, FairTax, Government, IRS, Politicians, PoliticsRelated Posts
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May 17th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I must admit that, like Stossel, I really didn’t understand the difference between the fair tax, and the flat tax, so I went to FairTax.org. Here is a chart comparing and contrasting the tax plans: http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/FairTaxFlatTaxIncomeTaxComparisonChart.pdf
May 17th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Great to see you here Jenn! I hope you’ll comment more. You always have wonderful insights
There are a lot of differences but the biggest is the elimination of the IRS with the FairTax. No more deductions from our pay checks!
A flat tax is far superior to our current system but it doesn’t compare to the FairTax.