Imagine making all taxes totally transparent for all American taxpayers, rather than having embedded taxes in everything we buy. Income taxes, and the cost with complying with them, make up 20 percent or more of all retail prices. These charges are hidden to the consumer.

There could be a solution to this problem. Congressman John Linder, Rep. for Ga., wrote the House Bill HR25 called the “FairTax Bill.” The bill was introduced in July 1999.

If this bill were to pass it would abolish the IRS. If there were no IRS Americans would take home their whole paycheck, not be charged sales tax or corporate taxes, and the 16th Amendment would be history. The bill would also un-tax the poor, lower the tax burden on most, while making the overall tax rate progressive.

The question would be, where will the money come from? Well, consumer goods will be taxed 23 percent. There are certain things that are not taxed. For example, if you buy used goods or if you buy something strictly for business purposes, you pay no consumption tax.

That 23 percent may freak some people out, but like what was said before, there are already hidden taxes in the goods we buy now. The prices will not change by extreme amounts, and you will see the extra tax you are paying on your receipt.

Some other reasons the “FairTax Bill” would be great for society are that it would close all tax loopholes, and bring fairness to taxation and would unshackle the current U.S. economy. The bill would also maintain our current Social Security and Medicare benefits and it would bring transparency and accountability to tax policy.

One big effect is that it would allow American products to compete fairly. This FairTax would also reimburse the tax on purchases of basic necessities, enable retirees to keep their entire pension, and would ensure workers keep their entire paychecks.

The government also has taken away the power from the people. If this bill were to be passed, power would be given back to the people. This was the way our Founding Fathers meant for it to be.

The IRS is consumed with pages of tax compliance laws. So much so that they have trouble answering questions about their own tax laws.

Some of you are thinking this will never happen. To let you in on the support behind this tax, supporters of the bill held a rally in Georgia. The convention center the rally was held at could only seat 4,000 people.

Well, it was a packed house and they shut the doors on at least 3,000 more. The turnout was unbelievable. Because of this they decided to start taking the rally on tour to other states. The second rally was held on July 29 in Orlando, Fla., ten thousand people attended.

There was a book published by Rep. John Linder and talk show host from Georgia Neil Boortz called “The FairTax” which was on the best-sellers list. There is a website, FairTax.org, that has frequently asked questions that really help explain the bill. You can sign a petition and write your representative.

We have the power to change our government. We have a voice. We need to speak up and be heard.