John Linder announces retirement from Congress
U.S. Rep. John Linder was first elected to Congress in 1992/AJC file.
U.S. Rep. John Linder, the Republican from Gwinnett County, this morning announced that he would retire from Congress after 18 years.
Linder made the announcement at the dedication of a new Gwinnett County GOP headquarters. Linder aide Derick Corbett confirmed the congressman’s decision. “He will not seek re-election,” Corbett said.
The announcement, made at the tail end of a brief speech by Linder, caught attendees off-guard. “Nobody knew it was coming,” said David Hancock, District 2 manager for the Gwinnett GOP.
Linder was one of Newt Gingrich’s top lieutenants when he was U.S. House speaker, and most recently has been an advocate (paired with radio commentator Neal Boortz) for a sales tax to replace the federal income tax.
His retirement will set off a rush for his seat, which is solidly Republican. Among the likely contenders is Don Balfour, the state Senate rules chairman.
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195 comments Add your comment
Dave
February 27th, 2010
2:41 pm
tc,
Wrong again! The vote was a tie in the senate, with the Vice President (Dick Cheney) casting the deciding ballot on the Bush tax cuts as is his constitutional right as President of the Senate.
Vote by Party Yea Nay
Republicans 48 3
Democrats 2 46
Independents 0 1
Total 50 50
Vice President Dick Cheney(R): Yes
Bush’s tax cuts were NOT passed by reconciliation, but why let facts interfere with a good talking point.
BTW, here is the house vote, too just in case you have something wrong to say about that.
Vote by Party Yes No
Republicans 224 99.6% 1 0.4%
Democrats 7 3.4% 198 96.6%
Independents 0 0.0% 1 100%
Total 231 53.6% 200 46.4%
Not voting 4 0
Bradford
February 27th, 2010
2:43 pm
Here’s an idea. Instead of the Fair Tax…how about NO income tax?
It would be nice if this seat could be filled by a TRUE conservative, like Ron Paul, the man people like Neal Boortz won’t give the time of day to. Neocon Neal is about as conservative / Libertarian as I am a three legged ballerina.
FREEDOM!!!
cb
February 27th, 2010
2:45 pm
Amazing…you can almost always tell when someone hasn’t experience much of life yet! A lot of youth just getting into politics….go by “word, just words” and not substance. If you live life outside the political sphere, you get to experience reality and just how those decisions made by those in power really affect you. Funny how youth always think they are wiser than those who have managed to survive and make it longer in life. Wisdom is not handed out with your college degree; it’s the journey you will soon travel that will provide you that.
I own a typical small business and by no means do I or my partner make a lot. We employ 4 people. OUR names are the ones listed on our loans, not our employees. They take no risks, they can leave and go to another job at anytime, and we provide as many benefits as possible.
Everyone assumes that loans are the problem, not true, you can always get into more debt, but then how do you pay that back with the economy at a STANDSTILL. Unfortunately, what we are experiencing now with the uncertainty of higher taxes, penalties, if you don’t cover more benefits and whatever else they can think of keeps anyone from wanting to spend.
Understand this one thing…IF NO ONE BUYS YOUR WIDGETS, YOU CAN’T MAKE ANY MONEY TO STAY IN BUSINESS OR KEEP YOU EMPLOYED!
And no one wants to spend if they think they are going to have less to live off of.
This is the reality of life!
Being a conservative does not make me mean, just means that I am responsible for my actions and my decisions. I will help my fellow man, when I can. My family comes first. And yes, I would like to make more, but guess what…when I make more, I have the ability to spend more, which then may in turn provide you that job your looking for!
I know
February 27th, 2010
3:04 pm
Economic Collapse caused by: Affirmative Action Lending to anyone that could make an X on the application and then wall street selling these worthless assets around the world. Both parties to blame, one more than the other and Barney Frank more than any other man. Progressives, Republicans and Democrats are killing us.
Beck boy
February 27th, 2010
3:10 pm
Need to replace him with another good Republican to vote NO on anything that Obama wants. The country is not important, just the Repbulican Party continuing to block anything our government wants to do. Sometimes you have to put the Party first before country. Bring back the Bush ownership society and outsourcing. The corporations were making lots of money then and people were happy. Now the ownership society crashed and we have outsourced most middle class jobs. Lets cut taxes for the rich and corporations, that will fix everything. The middle class will continue to be left behind but to heck with them, they can always join the military. Yep, cut taxes and start a couple more wars and everything is fixed. Oh how I miss those Bush years.
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:11 pm
Boortz and Linder are trying to convince the non thinking public that the fair tax would be good for them. Would someone tell me how a person making $30,000 per year, goes out and buys a microwave oven and pays the same tax as Warren Buffet, is fair. That is about as unfair as it gets. The top 1% of the income earners in this country make 23% of the money and pay about 33% of the income tax, and spend about 10% of all retail dollars. If you consider all of these facts, then we would then be running much larger deficits, because the top 1% would not be paying the same amount of taxes as they are now. I’m sorry that I don’t have a dollar figure on that, but by the above percentages you can see that they would defenitley be paying a lot less. When this happens the feds would have to raise the 23% Fairtax to compenste the loss revenue. Listen folks don’t let these millionares convince you that this is a good thing. Boortz is always complaining that the system is working against the rich. If that is the case then why back in 1970 the top 1% made 8% of the income and 40 years later that number has risen to 23%. One out of every 4 dollars goes to the top 1%. It looks to me that the system is entirely in their favor. I know that I am repeating myself, but no more the spinmaster does.
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:13 pm
Beck Boy, that was great. I wish more people were as informed as you are.
Mason Hicks
February 27th, 2010
3:13 pm
There is simply nothing here. This is one of the worst comment blogs I have ever read. All of you guys, really, all of you!!, on both sides of the argument, whatever that argument actually is, are real idiots. I can defenitely see why you are all changing your names. I guess this is the result of decades with the worst education system in the country. Call me when there is some glimpse of intelligence here. But I’m not waiting up…
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:22 pm
Hey cb, I guess you were speaking of king George the second. Your business would not be having problems if he had not doubled the national debt. Clinton gave us two straight years of a balance budget, with 5 trillion dollars on the national debt. Bush gave us no balance budget and an extra 5 trillion for a total of 10 trillion dollars on the national debt. Do you know why? Two tax cuts, both passed with reconciliation in the senate, two wars that were not paid for, Medicare prescrition bill not paid for. The CBO estimates that all of this together so far has put the country in 3.4 trillion dollars more debt. So I suppose you were speaking of our 43rd president when you were blaming words and no experience on your problems.
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:25 pm
Hey Mason this is my real name. I guess all of those numbers and facts were too hard to digest. Go back to listening to Limbaugh so you can learn something.
Antarctic toothfish
February 27th, 2010
3:34 pm
Cynthia McKinney! Her lying brother is already in the White House. How come Van Jones got the Green Jobs Czar job and she didn’t?
Tore doesn't get it
February 27th, 2010
3:34 pm
Tore, the fair part about someone making 30k paying the same tax is this……..
Now you don’t follow Buffett enough or you would know that he has more write
offs and loopholes than you can ever imagine. He has stated that his secretary
pays a higher tax rate than he does.
With the fair tax, you get taxed on what you spend so if a rich person buys
a yacht they pay a bunch of tax money and they get no write offs or loopholes
to avoided taxes.
under the current system, suckers like you see congress raise taxes and jump for joy.
You get tired from jumping for joy and go to sleep. While you are asleep Congress
writes loopholes and tax laws that allow rich people like Buffet to pay 17% taxes as
he did in 2006.
My God are people like you ever going to learn?
the tax code needs to be simple and the fair tax is fair as it gets.
Don’t be afraid of something good.
cb
February 27th, 2010
3:35 pm
I’m support neither party, since they both insist on raising my taxes. I don’t support either party on their spending sprees and please don’t deny that your choice (I’m pretty sure is Obama) is not on one at this time. Should my business taxes sky rise and my personal ones along with that, there will certainly be one less person under my employment, in order to keep someone employed. Or I guess I could just close shop, take the route of just another “employee” somewhere, with no responsibilities other than show up.
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:37 pm
Hey dave, both Bush tax cuts were passed with reconciliation. Tc was right. Go look it up before you accuse someone of being wrong.
tore
February 27th, 2010
3:43 pm
I noticed that everyone keeps saying that taxes have gone up under Obama. In 2009, taxes went down for 95% of all workers. Not by much, but it wasn’t an increase like all the fear mongers have you believe.
Bill Orvis White
February 27th, 2010
3:44 pm
The patriotic FAIRTax will be passed very soon hopefully with the assistance of Mr. Linder on the sidelines. The FAIRTax needs to happen for our survival. Under this brilliant plan, jobs will be created, small businesses will expand and goods will move quicker. It’s the best stimulus plan ever. You far left secular “stuck on stupid” Democrats are going to lose big time in November so your ideas are irrelevant just like this installed-president who is taking a vacation from history. After Hussein Obama’s quick removal, we will hopefully see this FAIRTax thing come to life.
Audrey in Georgia
February 27th, 2010
3:50 pm
Great News! Vote NO republicans!!!
Rich
February 27th, 2010
3:52 pm
The reconciliation process was created for taxes and spending, not fot the Federal Government taking control.
Robert Lilly
February 27th, 2010
4:06 pm
UGA Grad wrote…..The dentist works six hours a week, four days a week and drives a new Mercedes, has a big home, and a second home in the mountains. Insurance paid less than a third. I tried to compare prices on the Internet, only could find out what the cost was at a clinic for Americans in Mexico. Prices were a third of what they are in United States and office has newer equipment.”
Then go get your dental work done in Mexico. If Mexico imposed all the rules and regs that the US did then dental cost woud be the same. What on earth did you get your degree in? Sure wasn’t common sense.
PoliticalDog
February 27th, 2010
4:20 pm
UGA Grad, you are a disgrace to the university. If you do your research it was both parties along with probably people like yourself the bought 500K houses and made 50K a year. You know why companies leave the US or offshore, taxes, and Democrats and Obama love taxes which is why the Democratic party is a failure. Bush inherited a recession just like Obama but Democrats don’t want to talk about that……….Republicans tried to stop the mess at Freddie and Fannie but who stopped them, Democrats. At least Newt and the Republicans saved Bill Clinton’s presidency by holding him accountable, they did not hold Bush accountable and they fell off the wagon of fiscal responsibility.
PoliticalDog
February 27th, 2010
4:24 pm
I am glad I moved out of Dekalb country, majority Democratic. Look at where Democrats have the majority in government and you will find high crime, high taxes, high unemployment, welfare, and liberals complaining about taxing the rich. Rich people create jobs, and liberals and Democrats will never understand that.
Linder’s old district will not put a Democrat in it and I am glad, glad I left Dekalb, glad I left the Democrats.
tore
February 27th, 2010
4:28 pm
Hey Political Dog, Bush did not inherit the recession of 2001. It started in march and he was already President. 8 of the last 9 recessions were started by republican presidents. I am so sorry that my facts rained on your parade. My guess is that you get your news from the talk shows.
Tired of BS
February 27th, 2010
4:29 pm
Madison and UGA Grad are exactly the problem this country faces. You can educate yourself, you can go to college and become educated, but then you are left with the losers like these two, who do nothing but suck off of the system. Madison, UGA Grad, take your bow and head your worthless asses back to the hole from wence you came.
Tired of BS
February 27th, 2010
4:38 pm
Tore….. can you say 9/11…( which never would have happened if Bill Clinton had taken Bin Laden out when he was offered on a silver platter…. btw to Bill Clinton, a democrat) I knew you could.
jsc3
February 27th, 2010
4:45 pm
For all the people who are deriding the Fair Tax: With the folks we have in power now, for whom the solution to everything is “raise taxes”, we will end up with a Value Added Tax roughly equal to the Fair Tax (in amount, not in concept), while retaining the existing convoluted income tax structure too. What a deal!
Less Tax
February 27th, 2010
4:47 pm
Flat Tax………Fair Tax……..Income Tax………what we need is LESS tax………..I can take any collection method but lets not just change how and who pays taxes. No system can or will be structured to reduce taxes for everyone without a reduction in spending………We need to REDUCE SPENDING in Washington D C!
Georiga represenative John Linder announces retirement from Congress | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
February 27th, 2010
4:58 pm
[...] story: John Linder announces retirement from Congress | Political Insider Tags: Congress, Congressman, County GOP, County GOP headquarters, Georgia, Georiga represenative, [...]
Atlantan
February 27th, 2010
5:05 pm
UGA is embarrassed by their grads again… What do you want to bet Uga Grad has a cell phone, color tv, cable, etc. It is about choices jackie. Also sounds like your degree isn’t coming in much use as you clearly are envious of those who make more than you. While you were screwing around in Athens your dentist was studying their butt off and then taking on massive loans to get his MD.
Grow up!
Atlantan
February 27th, 2010
5:11 pm
Tore – envy is a sin. Please I wish you and all the other American Progressive Statist would move to Greece so you can experience the outcome of what you desire or perhaps Venezuela.
dagnabit
February 27th, 2010
5:11 pm
It’s hard to believe some of the stupidity I’m reading on this blog.
red rooster
February 27th, 2010
5:15 pm
There’s a bigger fight that is going on that needs to be dealt with first… “Implied Powers of the Constitution” If “implied powers” (General Welfare Clause) are revoked from the Fed. Courts’ decisions like Jefferson (Anti-Federalist) wanted from the onset, then the Federal Income Code (16th Amendment) will be considered unconstitutional. If you want to learn more about Implied Powers, i wrote more about it @http://redrooster.blogtownhall.com/ I too am a fairtax supporter. Linder will be missed. Thank you Mr. Linder for your informative and insightful book that narrowed our arguments and gave us a well studied plan. RR
Commonsenseagitator
February 27th, 2010
5:16 pm
Good riddance to bad garbage
cb
February 27th, 2010
5:25 pm
Looks like the only thing taught in schools anymore is “I am entitled”. Not the type of entitlement freedom provides; to choose any career, to chase any dream, to become an entrepreneur instead of an employee, to take a risk, to succeed.
No unfortunately, they only teach “I AM ENTITLED TO WHAT YOU HAVE WORKED FOR AND ACHIEVED”!
Coolcat Looking Like a Fool
February 27th, 2010
5:28 pm
I have enjoyed this microcosm of American Gridlock from afar. Just a question for you guys–Is General Larry Platt available? Get your pants off the ground, people!
Mike Greb
February 27th, 2010
5:30 pm
First, I wish to thank U.S. Rep. John Linder for his service to his country. I look at politicians with a certain duality. While I honor their service, the realities of serving as a politician upsets my values of honesty, integrity and and pragmatism. If people go into politics with any shred of integrity and honesty, they quickly find out that these values are for loosers. The wingnuts in your party set the agenda, and you have to satisfy most of their litmus tests are you won’t get very far.
Madison
February 27th, 2010
5:32 pm
Tired of BS, Could you please tell me how I suck off the system. Working hard and paying taxes is sucking off the system. Just because I disagree with you on taxes I now suck off the system. You sir are not as smart as a demented slug!
tc
February 27th, 2010
5:33 pm
i am back dave, and in spirit of kindness would you mind google how bush’s tax cuts were passed. they were thru reconciliation, which requires only 51 votes as opposed to the filibuster proof 60. no apology necessary.
Chris
February 27th, 2010
5:48 pm
Linder was partially responsible for writing and promoting that nonsensical FairTax which would increase prices by 30%, raise taxes on the middle class, and lead to more deficits for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, we will have seen the last of him. He’s done enough damage.
mb
February 27th, 2010
5:49 pm
How can anyone with half a brain not understand that the Fair Tax is actually fair. We all pay tax based on what we spend. An individual making $500K a year will pay far more than someone only making $30K because their spending will be far more. The fair tax will also tax those who are in this country illegally because it is based on their spending.
So how can anyone not see this as a good thing?
Madison's mom
February 27th, 2010
6:01 pm
He never had friends growing up, be nice to him. He is so smart.
Madison
February 27th, 2010
6:03 pm
That wasn’t my mom just so you all know.
Ryan W.
February 27th, 2010
6:05 pm
I’m an economist. Not only is the “fair tax” plan practically unworkable (unless we plan on disbanding costly government projects like the military and Social Security altogether), it is incredibly regressive.
If you make less than $340,000 a year in income and support the plan, you’re supporting something that will cripple you. You’re being sold snake oil, people.
Chris
February 27th, 2010
6:10 pm
Listen to Ryan. It’s a tax hike for most of us, especially when our expenses necessarily exceed our income (e.g., medical expenses, purchasing a house or car, or job loss). In certain years, we could actually end up paying taxes on multiple amounts of our income.
Also, keep in mind that the 23 percent/30 percent figure (depending on your point of view) is only for the first year. The legislation has a formula that would adjust the rate every year based on the previous years federal receipts. The 23 percent figure is bait and switch. It will necessary go up.
Madison
February 27th, 2010
6:11 pm
I love how all you little simple minds use insults when you don’t have an argument. The Boortz school no doubt. The Fattax is going to tear the Republican party apart and give you a full 8 years of Obama so enjoy it!
Yellow Fuzz
February 27th, 2010
6:15 pm
UGA Grad,
Who pays you to write that crap?
Here’s some “change” for you. Hahaha. And remember YOUR Democrats took control of BOTH Houses in 2006!
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
Ryan W.
February 27th, 2010
6:19 pm
“We all pay tax based on what we spend. An individual making $500K a year will pay far more than someone only making $30K because their spending will be far more.”
They will spend more, but for this to be “fair” the person making $500K would have to pay 17 times as much as the person making $30K. They’re not going to spend 17 times as much on groceries, or their mortgages, or their cars, or anything.
Even George W. Bush’s economic team said this would impact the poor and middle class in too harsh a way. According to the President’s Advisory Panel for Federal Tax Reform report, which compared the individual and corporate income tax (excluding other taxes the FairTax replaces) to a sales tax with rebate, the percentage of federal taxes paid by those earning from $15,000–$50,000 would rise from 3.6 percent to 6.7 percent, while the top 5 percent of earners would see their burden decrease from 58.6 percent to 37.4 percent.
There’s a reason this idea is being pushed by billionaires like Steve Forbes. It’s great for him. It’s bad for anyone who’s even remotely middle class.
Madison
February 27th, 2010
6:22 pm
Ryan, Be careful, you will be called a liberal and a Democrat. Also, Steve Forbes is pushing the Flat Tax not the FairTax.
Ryan W.
February 27th, 2010
6:23 pm
I’m an Independent, but I realize anyone to the left of Glenn Beck is a “socialist” these days.
Right, I forgot Forbes was behind the flat tax. That’s another bad idea for another day.
Limbaugh is Evil
February 27th, 2010
6:26 pm
Unfortunately, he will be replaced with someone more reactionary and far-right wing. Have a good retirement you fair tax lunatic, do nothing.
tc
February 27th, 2010
6:29 pm
BOW you can’t be real…..but you are funny. If fairtax is a slam dunk, why did it not pass when bush was screwing things up with his republican held congress 2002-2006? I’ll ask again, can a state that has an income tax now go to a fairtax method to see if it works close to what is intended? not quite comparing apples to apples, but is there a place to try this? just as some have expressed concern about revamping the entire health system (repubs want incremental change), can some state take baby steps on tax reform?