After trekking throughout Iowa all day Saturday on the campaign trail, U.S. Congressman Steve King ended his tour at Iowa State to speak about a tax reform idea called FairTax.

Steve King has been a member of congress representing the 5th District of Iowa since 2002 and is currently battling Democratic candidate Christie Vilsack for the newly formed 4th District congressional seat.

King spoke in front of a crowd mixed with ISU students and Ames residents in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union, along with former Georgia Congressman John Linder, the founder of FairTax. They sought to explain their reform plan, which they say has been slandered and incorrectly explained by opponents.

The FairTax Act calls for the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service and its replacement with an Excise Tax Bureau and a Sales Tax Bureau in the Department of Treasury. FairTax eliminates all federal income, estate, corporate and payroll tax and replaces them with a 23 percent federal sales tax. Under this act it is calculated that the same amount of revenue will be brought in as the current system.

“Currently, the United States gets 33 cents of every dollar you make,” Linder said. “This act would save people of the U.S. money.”

In addition to removing federal taxes, the FairTax Act calls for a fix of the country’s trade imbalance. Under the FairTax, more American-made products must be exported out of the United States than what is imported.

King said: “This gives American companies more of an advantage; it brings jobs back to the United States, and makes us market more of our products overseas.”

The pair say the FairTax Act is also a tool for small-business growth because it exempts taxes on any business inputs.

“Tax cuts have only really affected the top 2 percent, but if we get a tax increase, it affects all of you,” King said.

King also spoke about how the system embodies a way to even out taxation between the rich and poor. The establishment of the FairTax would remove existing tax loopholes and would tax people only on what they buy.

As Linder put it: “The wealthy spend way more than anyone else.”

The main focus of the plan is to put more money in the pockets of Americans, therefore boosting the economy by increasing consumption.

The plan also provides an incentive for savings and investment among Americans.

King said the reasons for the blockage of this bill have come from special interest groups and lobbyists who represent companies that do not want to lose the tax breaks they have developed and have invested in over the years.

“Right now it’s not an economic question,” King said. “It’s a political question.”

ISU students like Alex Malliet, sophomore in pre-business, came to see King to gain an understanding of what the candidate stands for and to gain more knowledge of the issues.

“I hadn’t heard a lot about this tax plan till now, but with taxing what is spent, it balances out the taxation between the rich and poor,” Malliet said.