John Elmer Linder (born September 9, 1942) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician who was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1993 to 2011. His district was numbered the from 1993 to 1997, the from 1997 to 2003, and the from 2003 until 2011. He is a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. Linder announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of the 111th Congress. In March 2019, he was announced as President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's nominee to be the next United States Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; Linder was not confirmed and his nomination expired at the end of the

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Early life, education, and career

He was born in Deer River, Minnesota, was educated at the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year pro ...

, served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

, was a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial c ...

and businessman, president of a lending institution, and a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005 ...

where he served for seven terms.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committees assignments

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

** Subcommittee on Oversight ** Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support (Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures

Party leadership

* Republican Steering Committee Linder chaired the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

, the campaign funding arm of House Republicans, during the

105th Congress The 105th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997, ...

. He was defeated for a second term as chairman after a poor showing in the 1998 mid-term elections. In the 109th and 110th Congresses, Linder took a leadership role in the effort to enact fundamental tax reform. His legislation, the ''Fair Tax Act, 2005'' () and the ''Fair Tax Act, 2007'' (), was a proposal for changing

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

tax laws to replace all federal personal

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

es,

payroll tax Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the em ...

es,

corporate tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed a ...

es,

capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all countries impose a c ...

es, self-employment taxes,

gift tax In economics, a gift tax is the tax on money or property that one living person or corporate entity gives to another. A gift tax is a type of transfer tax that is imposed when someone gives something of value to someone else. The transfer must ...

es and inheritance taxes with a national retail

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

and monthly tax rebate to

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

s of citizens and legal resident aliens. In 2006, he voted against renewal of the

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights m ...

Fair Tax Act

Linder is coauthor of ''

The FairTax Book ''The FairTax Book'' is a non-fiction book by libertarian radio talk show host Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder, published on August 2, 2005, as a tool to increase public support and understanding for the FairTax plan. Released by R ...

'' with radio talk show host

Neal Boortz Neal A Boortz Jr. (born April 6, 1945) is an American author, former attorney, and former conservative radio host. His nationally syndicated talk show, ''The Neal Boortz Show'', which ended in 2013, was carried throughout the United States. The ...

, which spent time atop the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller list. The book discusse
H.R.25
, also known as the ''Fair Tax Act'', which Linder sponsored. They released a follow up book '' FairTax: The Truth'' in 2008. Linder first introduced the legislation in July 1999 to the

106th United States Congress The 106th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 19 ...

. He has reintroduced substantially the same bill in each subsequent session of Congress. While the proposed bill has yet to have a major effect on the tax system, the ''Fair Tax Act'' has the highest number of cosponsors among

tax reform Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...

proposals (attracting 76 in the

110th United States Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

), gathering much stronger support than popular

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progress ...

legislation. A number of congressional committees have heard testimony on the FairTax; however, it has not been voted on in either Chamber. The bill is cosponsored by former

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...

, but has not received support from the Democratic leadership. Matching legislation has been introduced into the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

by Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss.

Interest groups

Linder has worked with interest groups such as Americans for Fair Taxation as well as National Taxpayers Union. Since 1996 Linder has backed the

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...

100 percent of the time. Since 1996 Linder has backed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at least 90 percent of the time except in 2005 where he backed them 75 percent of the time. Throughout his career he has supported groups like National Small Business Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, and Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He also has backed the interests of the NRA throughout his career.

Campaign finance

A former dentist, Linder has received $40,100 from health professionals as well as $57,900 from the health sector as a whole. He also ran his own lending firm so he receives backing from the Insurance and Finance sector amounting to $86,839 as 12/31/2008. He has received $25,401 from the Construction industry and $25,300 from the Energy and Natural Resources industry. Overall in the 2008 cycle he has a total income of $581,976 of which he spent $375,540, and by the end of the cycle he had accumulated no debt at all.

Voting record

Linder opposes abortion and has voted for anti-abortion legislation. Linder voted against a minimum wage increase in 2007. Linder voted against the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He voted in favor of the

Military Commissions Act of 2006 The Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The Act's stated purpose was "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of ...

. He voted in favor of reauthorizing the

PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...

in 2005. He opposed transferring prisoners from the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Gua ...

. Linder voted against the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

and the related

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (, ) is a law that was enacted by the 111th United States Congress, by means of the reconciliation process, in order to amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (). The law includes the ...

. He voted against the 2008 Medicare bill that was vetoed by George W. Bush. He voted against the re authorization of the

State Children's Health Insurance Program The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...

(SCHIP) in 2007, and voted against the

Family and Medical Leave Act The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The FMLA was a major part of President Bill C ...

in 1993. He voted against reauthorizing the

in 2006. In 2006, he co-sponsored a measure to repeal the

estate tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an ...

. Linder voted in favor of the "

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decembe ...

" Amendment in 1993, and voted against the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. He voted against the

Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a landmark United States federal law, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Auth ...

. In 2006, Linder voted in favor of the

Federal Marriage Amendment The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), also referred to by proponents as the Marriage Protection Amendment, was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would legally define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA ...

(H.J. Res. 88), proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.John Linder's Voting Records on Issue: Constitution
Linder voted against legislation to limit the federal government's authority to prosecute medical marijuana users in states where medical marijuana is legal. Linder voted against the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and voted against the

American Clean Energy and Security Act The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bill ...

(H.R. 2454), which would have established a cap-and-trade system for

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and l ...

. He voted against measures to shield the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...

from

drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is pressed against the work-piece and rotated at ...

. He voted against the

Water Resources Development Act of 2007 The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 or WRDA 2007 (, formerly ) is a United States law that reauthorized the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), and authorized flood control, navigation, and environmental projects and studies by the Unit ...

. He voted against establishing the Sedona-Red Rock National Scenic Area and expanding the

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Casa Grande Ruins National Monument ( ood, Siwañ Waʼa Ki: or ''Sivan Vahki''), in Coolidge, Arizona, just north-east of the city of Casa Grande, preserves a group of Hohokam structures dating to the Classic Period (). History of the area Th ...

. Linder voted against the

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States a ...

, which would benefit undocumented youth who were brought to the United States as children. He voted in favor of Secure Fence Act of 2006, legislation to create a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He voted in favor of the Real ID Act of 2005. In 1996, he voted to designate English as the official national language. In 1997, Linder voted for an amendment calling for the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations; the amendment was rejected in a 54–369 vote.

Criticisms

FairTax presentation

Some have criticized Linder,

, and

Americans For Fair Taxation Americans For Fair Taxation (AFFT), also known as FairTax.org, is a U.S. political advocacy group based in Clearwater, Florida that is dedicated to fundamental tax code replacement.

for the way they have presented the

FairTax FairTax was a single rate tax proposal in 2005, 2008 and 2009 in the United States that includes complete dismantling of the Internal Revenue Service. The proposal would eliminate all federal income taxes (including the alternative minimum t ...

plan, a tax reform that replaces all federal income taxes with a single national

on personal consumption above poverty level. The most common critique is the method of presenting the FairTax rate as a 23% sales tax. Under the plan, consumers would pay to the government $23 out of every $100 (referred to as '' tax inclusive''): items priced at $100 would contain $23 of taxes. American sales taxes have historically been expressed as a percentage of the original sale price (referred to as '' tax exclusive''): items produced at $77 pre-tax, cost $100 with the tax added (30% on top of $77). Congressman John Linder has stated that the FairTax would be implemented as an inclusive tax, which would include the tax in the retail price, not added on at checkout—an item on the shelf for five dollars would be five dollars total. The receipt would display the tax as 23 percent of the total. Linder states the FairTax is presented as a 23 percent tax rate for easy comparison to income tax rates (the taxes it would be replacing). Proponents believe it is both inaccurate and misleading to say that an income tax is 23 percent and the FairTax is 30 percent as it implies that the sales tax burden is higher, when in fact the burden of the two taxes is precisely the same. The plan's opponents call the

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...

deceptive.

FactCheck FactCheck.org is a nonprofit website that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by providing original research on misinformation and hoaxes. It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg Sc ...

called the presentation misleading, saying that it hides the real truth of the tax rate. The FairTax has also been questioned by Social Security groups which believe the economic assumptions of the FairTax are unsound. The basis of the FairTax is that taxes affect economic decisions. The FairTax would remove all payroll taxes. Yet, the impact analysis of Social Security done by the FairTax supporters claims that the FairTax will not change the number of beneficiaries under existing law. Under economic principles normally applied by the Linder and Boortz, removing the cost of participation would increase not only the number of beneficiaries but the size of claims.

Non-disclosed travel

Linder has also been criticized for omitting a trip paid for by a client of

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...

from travel disclosure forms, even though he declared it on his personal income filings. According to John Byrne and Ron Brynaert of The Raw Story, "Linder should have filed a travel form shortly after his trip and could have corrected it when he belatedly filed for other trips last year. Failing to properly report sponsored travel is a violation of House rules."

Political campaigns

Representative John Linder at a meeting of the House Committee on Rules

Linder was first elected to Congress from the newly created 4th District in 1992, defeating state senator Cathey Steinberg by 2,600 votes. He would never face another general election contest anywhere near that close. His district was renumbered as the 11th District in 1997 after Georgia's previous congressional map was thrown out as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Georgia gained two seats after the 2000 census, but the Georgia state legislature produced a map intended to produce a congressional delegation of seven Democrats and six Republicans. Linder and fellow Republican

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attai ...

were drawn into a heavily Republican district that, while retaining Barr's district number (the 7th), contained more of the territory Linder had represented for a decade. Linder handily defeated Barr in the 2002 Republican primary, all but assuring him of a sixth term. Linder ran unopposed in 2004. In 2006, he was re-elected with 70.9% of the vote.

Electoral history

References

External links

John Linder for U.S. Congress
''official campaign site''
Linder's FairTax
official site *
Profile
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Linder, John 1942 births Living people People from Itasca County, Minnesota American dentists American Presbyterians Christians from Minnesota Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives United States Air Force officers Presbyterians from Georgia (U.S. state) University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American politicians Military personnel from Minnesota