John Linder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Rob Woodall |
| Constituency | 4th district (1993–1997) 11th district (1997–2003) 7th district (2003–2011) |
| Member of theGeorgia House of Representatives from the 44th district | |
| In office January 10, 1983 – January 14, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce Widener |
| Succeeded by | Bart Ladd |
| In office January 13, 1975 – January 12, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Harry Geisinger |
| Succeeded by | Bruce Widener |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Elmer Linder (1942-09-09)September 9, 1942 (age 83) Deer River, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lynne Linder |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Minnesota, Duluth (BS,DDS) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1967–1969 |
John Elmer Linder (born September 9, 1942) is anAmerican politician who was a member of theUnited States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. His district was numbered the4th from 1993 to 1997, the11th from 1997 to 2003, and the7th from 2003 until 2011. He is a member of theRepublican Party.
Linder announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of the 111th Congress.[1] In March 2019, he was announced as PresidentDonald Trump's nominee to be the nextUnited States Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations;[2] Linder was not confirmed and his nomination expired at the end of theTrump administration.
He was born inDeer River, Minnesota, was educated at theUniversity of Minnesota Duluth,[3] served in theUnited States Air Force, was adentist and businessman, president of a lending institution, and a member of theGeorgia House of Representatives where he served for seven terms.[4]
Linder chaired theNational Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign funding arm of House Republicans, during the105th Congress. He was defeated for a second term as chairman after a poor showing in the1998 mid-term elections.[5]
In the 109th and 110th Congresses, Linder took a leadership role in the effort to enact fundamental tax reform. His legislation, theFair Tax Act, 2005 (H.R. 25) and theFair Tax Act, 2007 (H.R. 25), was a proposal for changingUnited States tax laws to replace allfederal personalincome taxes,payroll taxes,corporate taxes,capital gains taxes,self-employment taxes,gift taxes andinheritance taxes with a national retailsales tax and monthly tax rebate tohouseholds of citizens and legal resident aliens.[6]
In 2006, he voted against renewal of theVoting Rights Act.
Linder is coauthor ofThe FairTax Book with radio talk show hostNeal Boortz, which spent time atop theNew York Times bestseller list.[7] The book discussesH.R.25Archived 2008-09-18 at theWayback Machine, also known as theFair Tax Act, which Linder sponsored. They released a follow-up bookFairTax: The Truth in 2008.[8]
Linder first introduced the legislation in July 1999 to the106th United States Congress. 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, theFair Tax Act has the highest number of cosponsors amongtax reform proposals (attracting 76 in the110th United States Congress),[9] gathering much stronger support than popularflat tax 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 formerSpeaker of the HouseDennis Hastert, but has not received support from the Democratic leadership.[10] Matching legislation has been introduced into theSenate by Georgia Republican SenatorSaxby Chambliss.[11]
Linder has worked with interest groups such as Americans for Fair Taxation as well as National Taxpayers Union. Since 1996[12] Linder has backed theNational Right to Life Committee 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.[13]
Linder opposes abortion and has voted for anti-abortion legislation.[14]
Linder voted against a minimum wage increase in 2007.[14] Linder voted against theDodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.[15]
He voted in favor of theMilitary Commissions Act of 2006. He voted in favor of reauthorizing thePATRIOT Act in 2005. He opposed transferring prisoners from theGuantanamo Bay detention camp.[16]
Linder voted against thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the relatedHealth Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. He voted against the2008 Medicare bill that was vetoed by George W. Bush. He voted against the re authorization of theState Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2007, and voted against theFamily and Medical Leave Act in 1993.[17]
He voted against reauthorizing theVoting Rights Act in 2006.[14]
In 2006, he co-sponsored a measure to repeal theestate tax.[14]
Linder voted in favor of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Amendment in 1993, and voted against theDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. He voted against theLocal Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007.[18] In 2006, Linder voted in favor of theFederal Marriage Amendment (H.J. Res. 88), proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.[19]
Linder voted against legislation to limit the federal government's authority to prosecute medical marijuana users in states where medical marijuana is legal.[20]
Linder voted against theOmnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and voted against theAmerican Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), which would have established a cap-and-trade system forcarbon emissions. He voted against measures to shield theArctic National Wildlife Refuge fromdrilling. He voted against theWater Resources Development Act of 2007. He voted against establishing the Sedona-Red RockNational Scenic Area and expanding theCasa Grande Ruins National Monument.[21]
Linder voted against theDREAM Act, which would benefit undocumented youth who were brought to the United States as children. He voted in favor ofSecure Fence Act of 2006, legislation to create a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. He voted in favor of theReal ID Act of 2005. In 1996, he voted to designate English as the official national language.[22]
In 1997, Linder voted for an amendment calling for the U.S. towithdraw from the United Nations; the amendment was rejected in a 54–369 vote.[23]
Some have criticized Linder,Neal Boortz, andAmericans For Fair Taxation for the way they have presented theFairTax plan, a tax reform that replaces all federal income taxes with a single nationalsales tax 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 astax inclusive): items priced at $100 would contain $23 of taxes.[7] American sales taxes have historically been expressed as a percentage of the original sale price (referred to astax exclusive): items produced at $77 pre-tax, cost $100 with the tax added (30% on top of $77).[24] 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.[8] The receipt would display the tax as 23 percent of the total.[6] 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 thesemantics deceptive.[24]FactCheck called the presentation misleading, saying that it hides the real truth of the tax rate.[25]
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.
Linder has also been criticized for omitting a trip paid for by a client oflobbyistJack Abramoff 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."[26]
Linder was first elected to Congress from the newly created 4th District in 1992, defeating state senatorCathey 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 sevenDemocrats and six Republicans. Linder and fellow RepublicanBob Barr 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.[27]
| Year | District | Democratic | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 4th | Ben Jones | 96,526 | 52% | John Linder | 87,569 | 48% | |||
| 1992 | 4th | Cathey Steinberg | 123,819 | 49% | John Linder | 126,495 | 51% | |||
| 1994 | 4th | Comer Yates | 65,566 | 42% | John Linder | 90,063 | 58% | |||
| 1996 | 11th | Tommy Stephenson | 80,940 | 36% | John Linder | 145,821 | 64% | |||
| 1998 | 11th | Vincent Littman | 53,510 | 31% | John Linder | 120,909 | 69% | |||
| 2000 | 11th | (no candidate) | John Linder | 199,652 | 100% | |||||
| 2002 | 7th | Mike Berlon | 37,124 | 21% | John Linder | 138,997 | 79% | |||
| 2004 | 7th | (no candidate) | John Linder | 258,982 | 100% | |||||
| 2006 | 7th | Allan Burns | 53,553 | 29% | John Linder | 130,561 | 71% | |||
| 2008 | 7th | Doug Heckman | 128,158 | 38% | John Linder | 209,349 | 62% |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 4th congressional district 1993–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 11th congressional district 1997–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 7th congressional district 2003–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theNational Republican Congressional Committee 1997–1999 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
