THANK YOU AGAIN ATLANTA

A personal note, if you'll indulge me, for the people who listen to The Neal Boortz Show on my Atlanta flagship station, News Talk 750 WSB. I'm now in my 37th year of hosting a daily talk show on Atlanta radio. I've been on WSB since 1993. Once again the ratings have come in, and once again The Neal Boortz Show is number ONE! A few years ago I was walking from my office to the studio at WSB when someone who works for one of our FM stations walked by. He looked at me and grumbled "How does it feel to always be ____ ing number one?" "Pretty damn good," I said.

Before we get to the notes, I just want to offer my heartfelt thanks to the radio listeners in Atlanta who spend their time with me every day. I also want to tell you how much Belinda and Royal mean to me and to the show. I love those two people ... and I recognize the role they play in smoothing down my rough edges and attracting listeners. Nobody anywhere has a better crew. We also have Ken Rogers, Laura (the Web Wench) and our newest addition Cristina "Precious" Gonzalez. I'm truly blessed to work with such great people. Some of the people who wear suits around here aren't too bad either.

Thanks, folks. Love you .. mean it!

SOME EXCITING FAIRTAX NEWS, AND A PLEA ...

Do you know why this is happening? YOU, that's why. There isn't a House district in the country where the officeholder can escape questions about the FairTax during any given town hall meeting. Across the nation on any given weekend you will find FairTax training sessions underway where advocates gather to spend a few hours learning how they can better educate others on the FairTax. When constituents send a message to their elected officials that the are informed and knowledgeable about the FairTax, and that they want action on H.R. 25, the elected officials. With every training session there are more and more people out there who simply won't accept evasive answers from their congressmen and senators. This "Oh, the tax would have to be at least 60%" stuff won't work any more; nor will the claims that the FairTax would put an undue burden on the poor.

Informed citizens bring more co-sponsors and support to the FairTax. Once a congressman knows he can't rely on misinformation to put off constituents he has to make a decision as to whether or not he's going to support the fair tax, or oppose it. When the ability to obfuscate through misinformation is lost, its mighty hard to explain to the voters why you oppose H.R. 25.

NOW ... ABOUT THE RALLY ......

I'm really hoping that one week from today I'll have more great FairTax news to share with you. I'm hoping that I'll be able to come on the air and say that we filled the Carolina Coliseum last night with 10,000 FairTax supporters. As you know, Fox News Channel is televising a debate for Republican presidential candidates from Columbia, South Carolina next Tuesday night. Our FairTax rally will be right across the parking lot from the venue for the debate.

Every single candidate present for the debate, and the people who advise those candidates, will be aware of the rally. That would mean that they will know whether the turnout was large .... or small. If the turnout is large it will bring a solid message to each of those candidates that the FairTax has support -- lots of support -- and is something they really need to think about. If the crowd is small each of those candidates will be free to dismiss the FairTax as nothing more than the pet project of a few zealots. The difference between a capacity crowd and a small showing can make a huge difference in the future of the FairTax.

This is a plea. I'm asking you to make a sacrifice. I'm asking you to go out of your way to come to Columbia, South Carolina for the rally next Tuesday. Columbia is just a few hours away from great population centers like Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, Greenville-Spartanburg, Jacksonville, Savannah and others. People in those cities would have no problem with people driving that far for NASCAR. OK ... so a race might be more exciting, but spending a Sunday at the races isn't going to do much to change the country. Believe me, taking a half-day, nine hours .. or however much time it takes .. to come to Columbia to be a part of this event can truly have an impact on the future of this country. How often do you get to be a part of something like that. It's time to think about doing something for our children and future generations, and tossing beer cans at Jeff Gordon won't fill the bill.

As I told you .. the FairTax has a record number of co-sponsors in the House right now. The movement is growing. The detractors are taking hits. Opponents are being turned into supporters. We can do this! "But it takes effort and sacrifice.

Please ... don't assume that someone else is going to fill your seat at the Carolina Coliseum next Tuesday night. It's up to you.

Several areas of the country are arranging busses to come to the rally, and they're looking for people to fill the seats. The Tampa Bay FairTax Advocates are arranging a bus. You can click on the link to reserve your seat. There's another bus coming from Virginia Beach. You can make your reservations on that bus by emailing the FairTax district director for that area. Here's your email link: If other locations are arranging transportation please let us know so that we can post links here.

Another thing ... thanks for tolerating my dedication to the FairTax. I spent a year co-authoring a book on the FairTax with Congressman Linder and then traveling around the country to promote the book and the idea. I then gave my royalties from that book to charity. Congressman and I are now working on a sequel; "The FairTax, Answering the Critics." Harper Collins will publish that book under its HC label. I can find more fun things to do than write another book at this point .. .but I feel so strongly about how the FairTax could transform this country that I'm absolutely dedicated to the cause.

Please ... we want to see you in Columbia next week.

OK .. .on to other things.

FEWER AMERICANS WATCHING TV

Now I count this as good news, and am proud to say that I am part of this trend. There is only one "entertainment" show that I regularly watch on television, and that would be 24. It's just this man crush I have on Jack Bauer. The rest of my watching is confined to news programs, some sports and HD specials with spectacular photography. Many years ago I would sit in front of the tube for four hours a night. I now look back on this as wasted time.

I think that TV is robbing our children of much of their mental development. When you read a book you form mental images of the people and locals you read about. You even develop a mental image of how the various characters sound as you read. When you listen to radio you still have to develop those mental images. Your mind works. But when you watch television it is all taken care of for you. Your aural and visual images are created for you. Nothing is left to the imagination. There's no work for your mind to do. Not good.

There's another negative impact of entertainment TV. After tens of thousands of hours of watching television people start to develop this subconscious idea that all of the great problems that face mankind can be solved in one hour. Two, if the problem is particularly severe. Now Americans get antsy when a problem lingers, when a solution is delayed for days -- let alone for months or years. I think we're seeing this right now in our national attitude toward the effort in Iraq. Times up! We need to find something else to watch!

Fewer Americans watching TV? No complaints from me.

LET'S GET TOGETHER AND BURN A MEXICAN FLAG .... OR NOT!

We all know my position on flag burning. So long as you are in this country, you are protected by the Bill of Rights. While I myself would have no reason to burn the flag, I support the right for others to express their distress or outrage with our government in this manner, just so long as you aren't violating someone's property rights. Buy your own flag and burn it on your own property. At the same time, I support a law that sets the penalties for anyone who pounds the pudding out of someone they find burning the symbol of our country as a protest. The penalty shall be one dollar. Upon payment of the find your criminal record will be expunged.

You can call me unpatriotic. I've been called worst. Trust me. I just believe it is much more important to maintain the integrity of our freedoms, as protected in the Bill of Rights, than bend to those who place emphasis on symbolism, rather than liberty.

That brings us to a flag burner in Tucson, AZ claims that the city government would not allow him to burn the Mexican flag. What was he protesting? Apparently the city government is helping illegal aliens from Mexico get local jobs and deliberating disobeying immigration laws, along with other allegations. The protestor takes it a step further, saying that the illegal immigrant population worked with the government to stifle the man's protest. That one bears looking into.

So .. here's our situation. In America, or at least in Tucson, you can burn an American flag, but not a Mexican flag. Could the reason here be that Tucson officials feel that Americans are more likely to be law abiding and tolerant of the protest of others than Mexicans? Are Mexicans more prone to violence? Hey .. don't ask me, ask the Tucson city government. They're the ones who seem to be running scared from freedom of expression. Look, if this guy wishes to express his justified frustration with his government, then so be it. He is suing the city of Tucson for $10 million, in efforts to deter government abuse. Good luck to this protestor...he's in for one hell of a justified fight!

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY MONTH

In honor of May being Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, we'll feature a daily reminder for you to be safe on or around motorcycles. Evel Knievel made a living off of performing dangerous stunts on his motorcycle. Here's one. Check out Monday's and Tuesday's if you missed them.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Art or Eyesore? This lovely "art" installation cropped up on the lawn of the local art college recently. It's right on one of the main drags through Atlanta. And this photo doesn't even do it "justice." It's spread all over the place. So what do you think? The Atlanta branch of the Savannah College of Art and Design's lawn installation is art an eyesore

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to sue President Bush if he issues a signing statement on the Iraq spending bill? She's really feeling the power, isn't she? But you know what? We do have a rule of law in this country, and I would surely love to see this whole signing statement thing hashed out in our courts.

John Edwards gets paid the big bucks to study poverty? Well, it is ironic but I don't have a problem with him earning big bucks, but studying poverty...sounds like a lot of horsesqueeze to me.

You know I don't talk about abortion, but it looks like Mr. Giuliani is really going to have some explaining to do about donations to Planned Parenthood.

Federal mandates for paid leave are about the last thing I would want as a business owner, much less a small business owner. Not to mention that it is detrimental to business success.

A printer printing 3-D objects? Wow, I must be getting old!

Eat a ham sandwich, Kate Blanchett!

Some of you wondered about my reference to Andre Rieu in yesterday's Nuze. Click here and you'll understand. Now, after having watched the video, perhaps you would like to learn more about these ... um .... talented young women. Here's your link!

My stable mate, Clark Howard, seems to be giving some serious thought to running for mayor of Atlanta! He's got my enthusiastic vote!

Oh .. this is soooo sad. The CBS Evening News, with Perky Katie Couric, just suffered their worst week ever in the ratings. If they slip just a little more I'll have more people listening to my show than watching Perky Katie. Am I being harsh here? Give me a break! This is a "journalist" who responds to an explanation by the Secretary of State of our goals in Iraq with the question "Who made us the boss of them?" Give me a big-time break.

With TV viewing down, maybe its time for the so-called "old media" to launch an attack on the new! The new, by the way, would include this web page.

We asked, and you sent them in. Listeners report that these companies block access to boortz.com from their servers.

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