Friedman book popular among politicians

The most popular reading at the Capitol these days came from the shelves of a Gwinnett County developer.

When the Gwinnett Daily Post began asking local legislators what they’ve been reading over the holidays, eight came back with the same answer — “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century,” by Thomas L. Friedman.

Rep. Billy Mitchell revealed that he got the book from Emory Morsberger, a former legislator who now leads Gwinnett’s revitalization efforts. In fact, Morsberger likes the book so much that he bought 350 copies and sent it to as many officials as he thought would read it. The book talks about the advances of the digital revolution and their influence on developing nations.

“I went to China seven years ago, and it was a third-world country. I took my family there last summer, and I was astonished (at the changes),” Morsberger said. “They’ve bypassed us. ... We have to stop fooling around. We have to get back on track.”
The Morsberger book club actually began about five years ago, when the Snellville man began discussing a philosophy he’d found in a book.

When he began distributing the pages to as many officials as he could, George Kelling’s “Fixing Broken Windows” principles became so popular in Gwinnett County that a government initiative bore its name.
Morsberger said he hopes he spurs officials to action with the Friedman book as well.
“It’s an appropriate book for our times,” he said. “I feel a sense of urgency to get our act together.”

FairTax reintroduced
The day that the members of the 110th Congress took their oaths of office, U.S. Rep. John Linder began again his mission to rewrite the country’s tax code.

Linder reintroduced Thursday H.R. 25, the bill he’s made popular as the FairTax.

“The progress we have made since first introducing the FairTax is simply amazing,” said Linder. “The grassroots growth has been phenomenal, and it is evident that Americans get it. They are way ahead of the politicians on this one. In the 109th Congress, we had 59 supporters on the bill, and we did not solicit a single one. They came to my office because their constituents demanded it. That is happening all over the
country.”

The bipartisan legislation with Congressman Dan Boren, D-Okla., as an original co-sponsor would repeal income taxes in favor of a nationwide sales tax.

Linder created support for the idea, which would also abolish the Internal Revenue Service, with his best-selling “The FairTax Book,” co-written with Neal Boortz.

“Americans realize that we can achieve a voluntary tax system by allowing everyone to pay taxes when they choose and how much they choose by how they choose to spend,” Linder said. “We are giving Americans an option of paying 23 cents of every dollar they spend with the freedom of anonymity, or paying 33 cents of every dollar they earn and the fear that the IRS will come knocking because of some unintentional mistake. They get it, and they are coming in droves to support change.”
The idea also comes with a “prebate,” where families are given funds to offset the tax consequences of spending up to the poverty level.

“Big ideas take a long time to achieve in Washington D.C., and I am excited with the progress we have made in such a short period of time,” Linder said.

By Camie Young
Gwinnett Daily Post
January 7, 2007

For more information, visit linderfairtax.house.gov.
Political Notebook appears in the Thursday and Sunday editions of the Post. Camie Young can be reached at camie.young@gwinnettdailypost.com.