Dear Joe:
In answer to your rhetorical headline - we were not duped. Susan and I are strong supporters of Frank Kratovil, not because he is a Democrat, but because he is a good man who earnestly and capably represents our district. We previously supported Wayne Gilchrest for the same reasons. We were not paid to endorse Frank Kratovil, as you have falsely asserted, and our comments were not scripted. We were asked questions about Frank Kratovil and the “fair tax” proposal which Dr. Harris endorses on his website. The television ad accurately reflects Susan’s concerns regarding the “fair tax.” Our only regret is that the ad did not include the many good things we had to say about Frank Kratovil.
Susan and I do not know Dr. Harris, and we would not publicly criticize him. We do, however, strongly disagree with the “fair tax” which he supports as an alternative to the current tax system. Before Frank Kratovil’s ad, many people had never heard of the “fair tax,” and if they had, they certainly did not understand its potential impact. To the extent that the television ad has opened a dialogue on this subject, it will encourage people to educate themselves and to more clearly understand where Frank Kratovil and Dr. Harris differ on this important issue.
Your call for an apology from Frank Kratovil is unfounded. It is not possible to explain all of the nuances of a proposed federal tax in a 30 second commercial. The tax endorsed by Dr. Harris is, in fact, a 23% sales tax. Unlike other sales taxes, however, the “fair tax” applies to the purchase of almost all goods and services, including health care expenses. The “fair tax” is not fair. While the tax might be beneficial to those who are prosperous, healthy, and free to choose how they will spend their money, it will not benefit those who need costly medicines or expensive home healthcare. It also hurts parents who struggle to provide medical and dental care for their children.
I found the FactCheck.org article to which you referred. Interestingly, the article describes the “fair tax” as “highly controversial,” and points out that, in 2005, President Bush’s Advisory Panel On Federal Tax Reform was critical of the “fair tax” and “concluded that ‘middle-income Americans would pay a larger share of the federal tax burden’ under the proposal.” That same article referred its readers to an earlier article entitled “Unspinning the Fair Tax.” The earlier article, also by FactCheck.org (an organization which you describe as a “respected public watchdog group”) concluded that the “fair tax” "is not a 23% tax, but rather a 30% tax. And it is revenue-neutral only through an accounting trick. It will collect more money from those earning between $15,000 and $200,000 per year, and less from those earning more than $200,000 per year."
Susan and I were amused by your mistaken assumption that because we are lawyers, we would benefit by the passage of the “fair tax” and welcome Dr. Harris’ support of it. I would still like to believe that some people, especially our representatives, can look beyond self-interest. Yes, Joe, we understand the “fair tax.” We understand that Dr. Harris supports this proposed tax, and we understand that it would hurt most residents of our congressional district.
Mark Tilghman
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Agree or disagree with him, Mark Tilghman is a stand up guy, and he has done a lot to fight for the citizens of Salisbury.
ReplyDeletewell said, classy yet informative
ReplyDeleteLooks to me like the tax proposal, while interesting and not without some merit, won't provide tax relief to those who need it most, and will again favor the personal incomes of the well-off.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a dead idea, by any means, but it won't work the way it's written.
I'm a little dismayed that the commercial didn't have any reference to the bill's content, other than the scary number, which most viewers probably see as just what it was meant to be in this ad: a scary number calculated to steer away votes, rather than reap them.
Shabby that they resort to this kind of advertising, but that seems to be the way politics work.
Here, here! Sounds pretty straight forward to me.
ReplyDeletePlease vote this bum out of office he is Pelosies back pocket hes a Cap and Trade idiot
ReplyDeleteMr. Tilghman:
ReplyDeletePlease stop beating around the bush about your conduct.
You and the spouse did not discuss the "fair tax" plan -- it is your failure to do so or point out that the sales tax is proposed as an alternative to the income and other taxes that makes you and her complicit in Kratovil's scheme to fraudulently smear his opponent.
Look at the post below to see how some independent media view the ad.
If FK won't apologize to us, you should do so.
Well done Mr. Tilghman ... I am really surprised that Joe Albero would publish this letter.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't Mr. and Ms. Tilghman insist that the ad discuss the fair tax rather than misrepresent Andy Harris' position?
ReplyDeletePS -- Mark and Susan: to get out of a hole, rule 1 is stop digging!
Cat on a hot tin roof!
ReplyDeleteALL:
ReplyDeleteHere's what Andy harris actually said (from his website):
"I favor fairer, flatter, simpler and lower taxes -- I can support either the flat tax or the fair tax."
Kratovil and the Tilghmans could have told truth but did not do so. Instead they tried to smear Harris and scam the voters, and they should apologize now!
What a tangled web we weave,
ReplyDeletewhen we practice to deceive!
11:01 --
ReplyDeleteYou said: "Mark Tilghman is a stand up guy, and he has done a lot to fight for the citizens of Salisbury."
That's correct, but in this instance he screwed up big time!
11:25 thats the only way democrats know how to respone when they dont get thier way.
ReplyDeleteJoe:
ReplyDeleteAndy Harris has said only that he could support some form of fair tax -- in which a sales tax replaces the income and other taxes. He has not supported any specific percent sales tax, so Kratovil and the Tilghmans are really misrepresenting his position.
They should apologize to the voters now.
11:13 & 11:18:
ReplyDeleteDo you really think the Tilghmans had ANY say in which clips were used? How would you go about insisting that the entire tax proposal be discussed in a 30 second commercial that includes several different people?
They may have discussed other parts of the fair tax...but we'll never know because the editors only used two soundbites.
The fact remains that they did the research for themselves and decided they didn't think the "fair tax" was a good idea.
Well I am a small business owner and tax payer and I am tired of everyone trying to punch holes in the fair tax whose only understanding of it comes from factcheck.org. Listen, everyone has an agenda including factcheck.org. Oh BTW, the tax system we have now is working great for everyone.The current tax code is 90,000 pages long and you have to be an attorney to understand it. So what is wrong with a simplier tax code. I kind of like the idea that if you buy something, you know exactly how much tax you are paying. I also like the idea of not punishing risk and profit. Having four kids, wouldn't be nice to be able to leave them the fruits of your labor instead of the govenrment coming in and taking %55 of your estate in the form of a death tax. Why must companies in the US have to make decsions based solely on there tax implication.Please go buy the book and read it and see if it makes sense to you. Don't rely on some website or what some politician says. That is what got us int this mess. To have someone say that Andy harris is for a %30 tax increase in inaccurate unless you are willing to tell all the other taxes that would be eliminated by constitutional amendment. So the add is dishonest. Your support of Kratovil is fine. He has the same issues that Wayne had. If a voter doesn't know how a person will vote on issues important to them how can you send them to washington. I would rather have a down the line Liberal than Frank Kratovil because he doesn't seem to have any principles. He votes against health care for all the right reason but is against it repeal. Well if it is bad law then it is bad law. He has played politics and not stood for priciples and that is going to cost him.
ReplyDelete11:50 --
ReplyDeleteIf they were foolish enough not to demand reasonable control of how their comments would be used, the Tilghmans really do deserve the criticism that they are getting.
Origins of the Income Tax
ReplyDeleteThe federal income tax was established in 1913. It actually required an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it legal. Why? Our Founding Fathers believed that taxing individuals on their private income was economic folly. They were right. The absence of an income tax, a tax on productivity, allowed our economy to grow and individuals to prosper for 124 years.
The original income tax legislation affected only individuals earning $4,000 or more per year, at a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans earned far less. The 16th Amendment was eventually ratified and added to the Constitution, and a national income tax was born.
That 16th Amendment was simply worded, the tax return consisted of only one page, and the entire tax code itself consisted of only 14 pages. No one could have imagined the vast impact it would have on the lives of their children, grandchildren, and future generations of Americans.
Since then, the federal income tax system has become so complex that it requires tens of millions of Americans to seek professional help to comply with it, not to mention the enormous, expensive federal bureaucracy required to enforce and administer the tax. The Internal Revenue Service employs more investigative agents than the FBI and the CIA combined, and with 144,000 employees, employs more people than all but the 36 largest corporations in the United States.
In addition to the $10 billion needed to operate the IRS, at least $265 billion (that is $900 for every man, woman, and child in this country) must be added to account for the cost of complying with the tax code. Massive amounts of our national wealth are consumed merely by measuring, tracking, sheltering, documenting, and filing our annual income.
I see this as no different than the misinformation Republicans spread about the health care bill. Not quite a lie but not quite the truth.
ReplyDeleteThe Tilghmans are stand up people?
ReplyDeletePlease, and Mike Pretl and King Burnett are pro business too. Those two shiesters shilled for Kratovit and in fact are willing accomplices in Kratovil's smear campaign against Harris. It's funny actually, an associate of mine was asking me who to call regarding a legal issue and I was going to refer them to him.
Mmmmm , don't trust any lawyer , when their are 2 involved , you got trouble , man and wife. Talk about lies , you got em here. Very good text , but still a boat load of crap.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry Tilghman , I don't believe a word that Harris was misleading the people.
I do believe that you are full of yourself.
The ugliness is shameful. the TIlghmans have assessed the proposal and have determined that they support a candidate who is not Andy Harris. So what? They started an important dialog and maybe more people will be educated on the issue before they cast their vote one way or the other. 2:04 is intimating that he/she will cost them business because of the ad. I hope that most peple understand that one of the biggest problems with politics locally and nationally is that everyone wants to hide and be anonymous. Hurray for Mark and Susan for taking a stand wheather I agree with them on the point or not.
ReplyDeleteMr Tilghman participates in a commercial for Kratovil which miss leads and deceives and sights that he is against the Fair Tax idea because of an article @ Factcheck.org. I have read the article that he sights. Total spin.Just for fun, google Factcheck.org biased, and see how many articles come up which point to them turning left and providing political cover for liberals. The article talks about the burden being placed on low income wage earners but never once mentions the prebate that every family would get monthly to offset the taxes they would pay at the register.This check would be calculated based on family size and income. So all the liberal's support could remain intact. It is only the biggest part of the plan. I would think that lawyers would take a little time to educate themselves before they are politically pimped out.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how you people cannot discuss an issue or disagree without insisting that the person you disagree with be crushed personally, in business, etc.
ReplyDeleteYou represent everything that is wrong with this country. 2:04 being a perfect case in point.
Mark Tilghman responds as a total gentleman, and you Party Before Everything or Ideology Before Everything people continue with rabid attacks.
The reality is, consumption taxes, such as sales tax, ALWAYS beat the living dickens out of the poor and middle class while your friends at Wall Street are barely touched.
But keep supporting Wall Street over Main Street. I know you think you aren't, but this is EXACTLY what they would love to see to keep the serfs servin' and lords lordin'.
Political ads are 99% bull anyway, but as Tilghman said, it started a discussion.
Unfortunately, while others are discussing the actual issue, most on hear are just discussing how to damn and ruin the Tilghmans for exercising their rights to free speech and to choosing the candidate they want.
I respect Tilghman and his wife a lot, and "sheisters" is a pretty strong term, Joe. I'm surprised you let something that slanderous and destructive through. I thought you had more class than that.
It would be wise for the Tilghmans (and everyone for that matter) to READ the book written by Congressman Linder and Neal Boortz that describes Mr. Linder's legislation and NOT get someone else's opinion of what the legislation says. That way, they can analyze it and decide for THEMSELVES (not factcheck.org or any other entity) if it would be the right way to levy a tax on the citizens.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the book, many questions are answered and many myths laid to rest. For instance, The Gov. would "refund" a $$ amount back to the tax payers to offset the tax on food, medicines, etc. I don't necessarily agree with that method but the lowest earners would probably reap the highest benefits because they don't consume much more than the basic items anyway. I would exempt food, health related items and medicine from taxation instead of processing millions of rebate checks.
Anyway...if you remove all of the taxes on items at every level and only tax at the retail level, you would find that the level of taxation Mr. Linder is proposing would be the same or less than what we are paying now.
Very interesting book.....I suggest you read it.
The Fair Tax would hit those who spend the most the hardest, while doing away with the embedded taxes you already pay but do not know about. The prebates help the poor the most. The Fair Tax would also bring a ton of jobs back to America and put everyone back to work. If you get a paycheck, you would get the whole paycheck, no more withholding. The Kratovil ad plays on the ignorance of people, pure and simple.
ReplyDelete3:37- You must also not know anything about the fair tax. I guess Wall Street guys don't buy things(house,boats,groceries) so explain to me how they skirt the Fair Tax. However now the tax code has so many loop holes and protection that they can infact use tax shelters to protect profits. The whole wall street reform bill is nothing more than rewarding those that play the game. Have you ever wonder why big banks,wall street,big pharma, and large insurance companies didn't protest all this recent legistaltion. I know why. It is because they are able to play within the system and get rich anyway. All these obama supporters say yeah let's get these evil rich. Nothing has changed. Nothing was done about Fannie mae and Freddie mack that will need another large bailout soon. The current tax code is written and manipulated to benefit those in office. A comsumption tax put the power in your hands. You have the power to buy or not buy. Also the fair tax gives the employee their entire earnings(40hr/week, $10/hr= $400 check.) That plus the prebate check which eliminates the tax burden on the low income and you have a system that takes the power out of washington and puts in into every employee's hand. They have the money and decide when to be taxed. Scary Huh. I thought empowering the worker was what you guys were all about. Who is detroying the Tilghman personally? It is obvious the ad is a deception. They were either ignorant or supportive of it. In either case it is sad. When will Frank start running the ads about how proud he is of his record...still waiting
ReplyDeleteIf you put the people back in office that created and continue to create new and bigger taxes, you will always "lose". This is why it is so important for DE residents to rid itself of the incumbents that demonstrate, like Castle, that individual wishes do not count even though they are the majority.
ReplyDelete