Back Cover

There are two days this year when millions of adults like you play pivotal roles as Americans. The first is April 15, when you pay your taxes. The second is November 2, when you vote for the people you want to spend them.

“John Fox has an unerring sense for ferreting out aspects of the tax system that are sorely in need of questioning. From tax benefits targeted to people in need—and then denied to the most needy—to laws that subsidize the mansions of the rich but collect taxes from poor single individuals, he has identified issues that should be raised with every candidate. And he has done this in a remarkably clear, and entertaining, fashion.”

Jane Gravelle, Chief Economist, Congressional Research Service, U.S. Congress

“Want to do your civic duty AND have fun at the same time? Read John Fox’s edgy new book, 10 Tax Questions the Candidates Don’t Want You to Ask, and then practice those zingers on a politician near you. Fox gives you the keys to the truth of how your candidate will perform on tax issues and legislation. You'll never have more fun being an informed voter.”

Jim Blasingame, host of the nationally syndicated radio/Internet show,
The Small Business Advocate, and named by the Small Business Administration as the 2002 Small Business Journalist of the Year.

“In this important election year, I can’t imagine anyone better suited than John Fox to alert voters to the important tax questions we need to ask candidates.”

Charles Lewis, founder and executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog organization in Washington, D.C., that has been honored over 20 times for its investigative reporting and research on public policy issues.

SAID ABOUT JOHN FOX’S If Americans
Really Understood the Income Tax (2001):

“Fox gives the public at-large—and tax experts as competing forces at work in legislating tax policy. With these tools at hand, ordinary citizens, by exercising their collective voices, might well be heard by Congress and the White House alike.”

Mortimer M. Caplin,
Commissioner of the IRS under John F. Kennedy

“John Fox brings us back to reality: what do we really want from our income tax system? …If you care about taxation, then you must care enough to read this superbly crafted book.”

C. Eugene Steuerle,
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.

“I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a reliable road map through the half-truths offered by advocates of one tax change or another.”

Joel Slemrod,
Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business, Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan Business School

John O. Fox spent 36 years wrestling with the tax laws as a lawyer in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the highly praised book If Americans Really Understood the Income Tax (Westview, 2001). Mr. Fox has commented frequently about tax issues on radio and television, and his articles on what’s right and wrong with the U.S. revenue system have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and many other newspapers. He teaches “Winners and Losers,” a course on U.S. tax policy at Mount Holyoke College.