Come Juan, Come All

Fairtax takes 100% of the power of class warfare and special interest favors out of the hands of legislators. If NOTHING is deductible, then what purpose would it do for large organizations, corporations, or special interest to spend millions of dollars hiring lobbyists to "influence" a legislator's decision on a tax bill?
There is nothing to argue, nothing to legislate, no decisions about deductibility to make, and therefore NO OPPORTUNITY to lend special favors or mold the tax code in accordance with the will of the highest bidder (our current system).

The prebate is a monthly check covering taxes on all household necessities. The size of your monthly prebate check would be based upon the government's published poverty levels (the poverty level is defined as the amount of money required to pay for basic necessities - based on the size of your household). Example (stay with me here - this is HUGE):
Married couple with 2 kids. Government poverty level $25,000. This is how much the government says it cost to survive as a family of 4 for 1 year. So, under the Fairtax at 23% (most experts agree that this is the percentage that will result in the collection of the same amount of revenue as we are currently raising), that couple would pay $5,750 in taxes in a year (when they spend the $25k to survive). The prebate is simply a monthly check (in this example $479...$5750/12), to cover the TAX on all spending up to the poverty level. And yes, it would be paid to ALL citizens. This is a HUGE point that the liberals are trying to use to decry the unfairness of the Fairtax..."so we're gonna send Bill Gates a check for $500 a month?" Yes we are. Because that is FAIR. Will there be an easy way for the wealthy to direct that prebate to their favorite charity? Yep. Will that be deductible? Nope. Remember - nothing deductible, means nothing for lobbyists to argue and no battlefield on which legislators can wage class warfare against those of us who work and earn for a living rather than vote for a living.
The funny thing is that the poor will be MUCH better off under the Fairtax. They have federal income and payroll taxes eliminated. They receive their ENTIRE paycheck (btw, can you imagine getting a paycheck and there being not a single thing taken away - the psychological feeling of that alone would help our economy and our spirit), AND they get a monthly check every month that guarantees that they can spend all of their money (up to the poverty level) and not pay a dime of tax.
Let me make another point that is huge to understanding the Fairtax. It has to do with embedded taxes. Critics will say, "everything is gonna cost 23% more - so you'll need your whole paycheck just to stay even". Nope. What they won;t talk about is the very real concept of embedded taxes. Every single thing you purchase has taxes embedded in them. A simple example: Loaf of bread - $2.00 on the shelf. What makes up that $2.00? First (and obviously) is the cost of the wheat - say $1.00 (this is the cost to own the land and grow the wheat). Cost of all transportation related activities (trucking the wheat to the factory and then the bread to the store) - say $0.10. Labor costs $0.90 (this is all labor cost - from the guy who plants the seed to the guy who carries the bread form the truck to the shelf). This is under our current system.
Now let's talk Fairtax...currently the labor cost I listed includes all labor cost - which of course includes payroll taxes like social security, medicare, FUTA, etc. Those costs are EMBEDDED in the cost of the item - in other words when the bread maker is determining a fair price, he adds up all of his costs, adds a profit, and sets a price. One of those costs is labor and a large portion of that labor cost is payroll taxes he pays on every single employee. Fairtax removes those taxes, therefore the embedded taxes are reduced. And no one tell me that he will charge the same and make more because that's not how free market works - he might do that until the competitor decides he'll just make what he was making before and thus forcing all bread makers to do the same - this is basic free market forces at work. So - the bread costs less by the amount of embedded taxes so the supermarket pays less and the supermarket charges less. Let's say the embedded tax costs are $0.37. So, everything down the line is reduced leaving the supermarket with a loaf of bread to sell at 0.40 less. Fairtax price: $1.63. Add the 23% Fairtax: $2.00.

So now the bread is back to $2.00 AFTER tax. Same price, BUT...and this is the big but (hehe). Remember your paycheck that used to be filled with deductions for payroll and federal income tax? Now it's not. So, you have your ENTIRE check to pay the SAME amount for the bread (and everything else). Anyone want to argue? BTW, sure I used simple numbers so it would work out, but I assure you the models are very clear and undisputed by economists - well at least economists that are NOT employed by special interest for the sole purpose of convincing the people that this is a bad idea and thus ensuring the continued election of their favorite bought politician.
But you say, "wait, Russ, there's no free lunch - if I'm not paying as much and my neighbor isn't paying as much, and Bill Gates isn't paying as much - how do we have as much?"
Glad you asked. There are many reasons, but I will detail just one - the biggest one. Fairtax captures billions (perhaps trillions) of dollars in previously untaxed activity. Currently the federal government receives no revenue from illegal operations, foreign corporations, visitors to our country, etc. When a drug dealer buys a pimped out '83 Cadillac from that dealer on the corner - he pays tax. When that stripper who gets paid cash (and thus evades tax under the current system), gets a boob job - she pays taxes. When foreign visitors buy a souvenir Declaration of Independence at the Statue of Liberty gift shop...they pay taxes...American taxes. That's right - every single person on US soil pays into the US tax system - EVEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. They consume, they pay. Let them all stay - open the borders. No longer is it a flood of people representing a drain on our government services. Under Fairtax, I see a flood of taxpayers - come Juan, come all.