Support The MITE's HeadTalker Campaign ...

... to get the coming public discussion going in the right direction! When you click the link below and sign up, you'll be allowing a message (ONE message, ONE time!) to go out over your social media connections urging concerned taxpayers to call their US Representatives and US Senators to ask for their support for bottom-up tax cuts.

Time for Bottom-Up Tax Reform

Update: Thanks to everyone who participated in this campaign -- we reached 973,282 people with The MITE's message asking Americans to call Congress!

"Tax Reform" Time is "Talk to Congress" Time!

Next week, the White House will roll out its "tax reform" agenda. Tax cuts, and changes in the way taxes are done, were among President Trump's top campaign promises, and with his party holding majorities in both houses of Congress, there's a very good chance that something big will happen on taxes this year.

If you think that something big should be The MITE -- legislation creating a regular, annual increase to the federal income tax's personal exemption and an income floor on FICA taxes -- it's time to talk to your US Senators and US Representative. Here's a site to help you figure out who those people are and how to contact them.

Some sample text/talking points for your email or phone call -- feel free to use it any way you like, including modifying it:

Dear [Representative/Senator] [Last Name],

Next week, the White House will roll out what its "broad principles and priorities" for tax reform. Your job in Congress, of course, is to turn "broad principles and priorities" into actual legislation. In doing so, I hope you'll consider two proposals:

1. Legislation mandating an annual, regularized increase in the personal exemption to the federal income tax. This would have the effect of cutting EVERYONE'S taxes EVERY year, while dropping the poorest Americans from the tax rolls altogether.

2. Legislation creating a "FICA floor" -- an exemption, similar to the income tax personal exemption, only to the personal/employee/self-employed share of FICA taxes. Due to lifespan variances and collection ceilings, these regressive taxes have the effect of forcing poor Americans to subsidize the retirements and healthcare expenses of wealthier Americans. Let the poorest Americans keep more of their income and use that income to improve their lives and situations.

I hope to see you named as a sponsor or co-sponsor on legislation implementing these two common sense tax reforms in the near future.

Respectfully,
[Your Name]

The MITE's First Congressional Candidate Pledge Signer is ...

... Bill Stinson, an independent candidate for US House of Representatives from Florida's 8th District! Dr. Stinson is a former NASA engineer and an advocate for sustainable renewable energy and term limits.

The MITE Steering Committee doesn't endorse candidates, but of course we have a warm place in our hearts for the candidates who support our cause -- especially the brave early adopters who do it before it's cool!

Election 2016: Trans-Partisan Tax Cut Time?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/01/16
POC Darcy G. Richardson
904-428-9281
media@themite.org

ELECTION 2016: TRANS-PARTISAN TAX CUT TIME?

July 1, 2016 - Liberals and progressives hate regressive taxes. Conservatives and libertarians, well, they just hate taxes in general. Common ground from which well-sowed seeds might bring forth a bountiful political harvest? Activists behind the Mobilization for Incremental Tax Exemption, aka the MITE, think that's possible. The ad hoc, trans-partisan project backs two proposals:

Passage of legislation mandating an annual, regularized increase in the personal exemption to the federal income tax of no less than $5,000 each year until AT LEAST such time as said exemption reaches $100,000 per year; and

Passage of legislation creating a "FICA floor" -- an exemption to the personal/employee/self-employed share of FICA taxes on gross adjusted incomes of less than $15,000 plus $5,000 per dependent, with a mandated annual regularized increase of no less than $5,000 per earner and $500 per dependent until AT LEAST such time as said exemptions reach $100,000 per earner and and $20,000 per dependent.

"We're offering a simple, bottom-up solution that disconnects the concept of tax cuts from all those other political fights over spending priorities and social values," says Thomas L. Knapp, a Libertarian Party activist and one of the MITE's founders. "Everyone gets a tax cut. We all benefit, the poorest among us most of all. And it's a proven solution -- the personal exemption already exists and Congress raises it periodically anyway. The MITE program just puts that process on rails and extends it to payroll taxes as well."

The MITE's election-year priority is getting candidates for Congress and the presidency and vice-presidency to pledge support for their program. "We're not endorsing or supporting candidates," says long-time progressive and third party politico Darcy Richardson. "We're just providing a mechanism for candidates and the public to discover each other on the common ground represented by these two just and rational tax-cutting ideas. Year after year, Republicans call for cuts to the top rate, Democrats demand that 'the rich' pay 'their fair share,' everyone calls for simplification and solutions, and nothing ever really gets done. Here's where the can stops getting kicked down the road."

Through July, the MITE will recruit state coordinators to canvass congressional candidates, with an eye toward pressing for and publicizing candidate support as the November election approaches. Their web site is located at themite.org.

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