Gohmert’s Bailout Alternative: My Letter To John Campbell (R-CA)
Earlier this morning, Stephen Littau posted a novel idea by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) to use the $350B set aside for the 2nd half of the TARP program for a two-month tax holiday early in 2009. This would eliminate the income and payroll taxes for the months of January and February, allowing workers to keep their own money.
I know, letting us keep our own money shouldn’t be declared as that much of a “novel” idea, but that’s what Congress has come to.
I personally like this idea, as I like most ideas that keep Congress’ hands out of my pocket. So I decided to let my elected representative, John Campbell (R-CA) know about it.
Below is my letter to Rep. Campbell. I highly recommend sending* similar letters to your own representatives, in order to at least propel this idea to the level of something they actually think about. Feel free to use my letter as a template, although obviously some of the aspects in there are written with the understanding that I’m speaking a Republican with some fiscal conservative street cred, so a few points may need to be massaged based on who it is sent to.
Dear Congressman Campbell,
I am writing to request your support for your colleague, Louie Gohmert (R-TX). He is currently preparing a new “bailout” bill that would declare an income and payroll tax holiday for the months of Jan-Feb 2009. For more information, see his press release at (http://gohmert.house.gov/Article.aspx?NewsID=1355).
This bill will allocate roughly $330B, an amount Congress already has available through the remainder of the original TARP program, to be used for a tax holiday. The bailout would put people’s own money back in their pockets during a time of severe economic hardship, and the expectation of extra money in the Jan/Feb time period would be sure to spur retail spending during this Christmas season.
In addition, the inclusion of the FICA tax in the proposal ensures the extra funds will go disproportionately to those of lower income, who will be more likely to spend the money rather than immediately save it, encouraging domestic consumer demand.
Finally, as a libertarian, one thing that I know you and I have in common is a desire for tax relief. Allowing workers to see, even if only for two months, what their paychecks would be like without the greedy hands of IRS withholding would go a long way towards generating political support for the extension of the 2001/2003 tax cuts. This would again help our economy.
I would love to see you work with Rep. Gohmert on his proposal, and perhaps even become a co-sponsor. It would help your constituents, the economy, and potentially even improve the chances that we can enact a more permanent tax relief in the future.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Brad Warbiany
Good luck, and if you send letters or receive responses, let me know.
* By “send”, I suggest fax or email. Do not send physical letters, as they may take a very long time to arrive (due to the additional scrutiny after the anthrax attacks). I personally believe that fax is preferable, as it shows that you took the time to write and print a physical letter. But if in doubt, send both.
