{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://woodall.house.gov/news-story/woodall-continues-fairtax-fight", "Woodall continues FairTax fight", "2014-12-01", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Rob Woodall", "W000810", "woodall.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "From day one, Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) has been pushing what he describes as a \u201cbig idea.\u201d\nThat big idea \u2014 the FairTax \u2014 would totally overhaul the United States tax system, eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and result in what Woodall claims would be \u201cthe largest transfer of power out of Washington and back to the American family that we\u2019ve seen in a hundred years.\u201d\nWhile that \u201cbig idea\u201d may seem to attractive to some, others, Woodall explained, find the prospect of change frightening.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a big idea, and folks don\u2019t like big ideas,\u201d Woodall said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to nibble around the edges than come out and call for the complete reformation of a tax code that\u2019s been in place for almost a 100 years \u2014 that\u2019s a big ask.\u201d\nUnlike the current system, under which taxes are based on income, the FairTax is a consumption-based tax. There would be no exemptions or deductions, instead taxpayers would receive a \u201cprebate\u201d \u2014 or tax refund \u2014 based upon family size alone, not income.\n\u201cWhat we say with the FairTax is that we\u2019re not going to micromanage your purchasing decisions,\u201d Woodall said. \u201cWe\u2019re just going to give you the one rebate based on your family size.\u201d\nThough the prebate would require the issuance of checks and the accompanying administrative effort to support that process, Woodall still believes it is the best option available.\n\u201cIt is my least favorite part of the FairTax, but is it night and day better than where we are with the current system? Absolutely,\u201d he said.\nUnder the FairTax, all taxes would be collected by retailers at the final point of sale. There are no taxes anywhere in the manufacturing chain, Woodall said. While a revenue collection agency would still be necessary with the FairTax, that agency, Woodall emphasized, would not be the Internal Revenue Service.\n\u201cUnder a FairTax scheme, where there\u2019s a small auditing structure that only looks at retail businesses, there\u2019s no possibility you could ever end up with that targeting of political enemies that we\u2019ve seen come out of the IRS,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is essential we abolish the agency that has all of that power, all of that influence, all of that information about you and your family.\u201d\nReturning that power to the people, Woodall said, is important because it removes the temptation of \u201csocial engineering\u201d that an income-based tax system presents for groups such as the Ways and Mean Committee and the Finance Committee.\n\u201cThey can manipulate everyone\u2019s life through the tax code \u2014 not for nefarious purposes but for things they think are good purposes,\u201d Woodall explained.\nThe power to tax, he added, is the \u201cpower to destroy, the power to manipulate.\u201d\nRemoving that ability, Woodall said, makes it very hard to get the Washington establishment on board.\n\u201cYou can imagine, there are some folks who are disappointed to see that power leave Washington,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are folks that think they are very smart and very caring and if only they\u2019re allowed to make these decisions about taxes, they\u2019ll be able to make people\u2019s lives better by helping to control some of the family\u2019s decisions.\u201d\nWoodall believes the FairTax will make people\u2019s lives better and will bolster the economy. Currently, the measure has more supporters in Congress than it has ever had \u2014 76 in the House and nine in the Senate.\n\u201cThere\u2019s not going to come a day when we\u2019re not going to try to do more the next cycle than we did the last cycle,\u201d Woodall said.\nThe problem, he added, is that until a president takes office who is willing to lead on the FairTax, it will be hard to pass the legislation.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve always known that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe FairTax was not a Washington creation, it was a grassroots creation and we\u2019re not going to get passed by leadership in Washington, we\u2019re going to get passed across the grassroots, across the country.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://woodall.house.gov/news-story/woodall-continues-fairtax-fight"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5968468505889177, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}