#1 NYT BestSeller Hardcover "NonFiction"-Boortz and Linder

[underpants]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/books/bestseller/0828besthardnonfiction.html

1 THE FAIRTAX BOOK, by Neal Boortz and John Linder. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, $24.95.) A radio talk show host and a United States congressman call for the abolishment of the federal income tax and the I.R.S.

2 100 PEOPLE WHO ARE SCREWING UP AMERICA, by Bernard Goldberg. (HarperCollins, $25.95.) The author of "Bias" takes aim at "Hollywood blowhards," "America bashers," rappers and others.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Well f*&k me!

And f*&k the country too, I might add....

[SoCalDem]

2. Fiction/Fantasy section

and only proves that the propagandist publishing companies (Regan et al) are busily churning out "new product"..

The RNC/AEI/Heritage etc buy these things by the truckload to pump up sales and then hand them out at "conferences"..they are "offered" for sale at these events, but surely they are free for anyone who wants one.. The MASSIVE SALES (fake), are the excuse needed for the "book tour" and the visits to all the gabfests on the circuit.



after a while, these things show up at the dollar store..collecting dust in a clothebasket on the back aisle....

Doorstops are always useful..

[Touchdown]

3. This happens whenever books are new

...and the authors make the talk show circuit.

Look at Jon Stewart's "America: The Book". 46 weeks in the top ten. Boortz's screed, 2 weeks. Goldberg's blacklist. 6 weeks. Friedman's flat worldview: 19 weeks.

Watch Goldberg's screed end up in the $5 bin by October, just like Hannity's.

[underpants]

6. True Story-the first time I noticed O'Reilly

Fox News had just come on the air so the guy's picture on the book looked very familiar. I was in a "Everything for a Dollar" store, the book hadn't been out THAT long either.

O'Reilly doesn't benefit from the mass buying like Coulter and Hannity do. They either don't like that he veers off script from time to time OR they knew more about him than we did back then.

[shugah]

4. where's the dagger?

doesn't the NYT indicate which books have had "bulk orders?" i don't see a dagger next to either one of these books, but c'mon! more people want to read about taxes and the IRS than lance armstrong and video vixens? i find that difficult to believe.

as far as the 100 people blah blah blah - i'm sure everyone who really wanted to read that book got it the first week it was out.

come on NYT - show us the daggers!

[fasttense]

5. Take a look at what is actually selling

http://asp.usatoday.com/life/books/booksdatabase/default.aspx

NYT usually lists what is sent to bookstores and not what is actually selling the most.

Even so FAIRTAX is number 5, and 100 People is number 9.

But guess what is number 2 - Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau.

Kevin Trudeau has been charged by the FTC for making false or unsubstantiated claims for products on his TV infomercials. The guy is a con-artist and people are still buying his books. To settle the FTC charges, Kevin Trudeau, who developed and appeared in all the infomercials, including the one for his "Mega Memory System," will pay $500,000 in consumer redress and will be barred from making false claims for the products in the future. Trudeau will be required to establish a $500,000 escrow account or performance bond to assure compliance. Infomercial producer Mega Systems International, Inc., and its principal, Jeffrey Salberg, also will pay $500,000 for consumer redress. Kenneth Wright, inventor and promoter of "Eden's Secret Nature's Purifying Product," and Roger J. Callahan, promoter of the "addiction breaking system" will each pay $50,000 in consumer redress.
futurehttp://www.quackwatch.org/02ConsumerProtection/FTCActions/trudeau.html



So it seems to me people will buy anything especially if it is a big lie.

[underpants]

7. Thanks I hadd been looking for that

I think I heard about that on NPR (several years ago). Actual sales not bulk buys.

[charlie]

8. I'm always tickled

when I look into Usenet and see what books are being pirated. They've always run almost exclusively to geek tastes -- fantasy, sci-fi, tech books, with the occasional Clancy, King, Rowling -- and nothing much more... with one notable exception. Pop rightwing titles.

You want Bernie Goldberg's book, gratis? It's there. Right now. Coulter? O'Reilly? Hannity? Go get 'em, there yours for the taking. Fucking "free market" mavens are HUUUUGE fans of intellectual property theft.

[turbo_satan]

9. Boortz is a dope, but this book is bound to be popular...

On the face of it, the subject matter is tantalizing -- most people would like to find a way to keep more of their money. I like to give hoi polloi the benefit of the doubt and assume that they don't know how much of a dishonest broker Boortz is. Forgetting for the moment that he's a rabid right-winger masquerading as a libertarian and that he seems to have an inborn hatred for the poor, his book is also filled with inaccuracies, half-truths, and fundamental misunderstandings of taxation and the budget (search MediaMatters for details). In short, B & L's proposal would be an even faster and surer path to financial ruin than the one Dubya has us on.

As for the book's NYT #1 status, I wouldn't get too worked up over it. It's widely known that the NYT rankings are based on very specific samples of sales at very specific locations and that a savvy marketer can spike the ranking. I like to look at Amazon's rankings, as they are determined by raw sales volume. This strikes me as less biased than NYT.

FWIW, the book is currently #14. Higher-ranked titles include "Why do Men Have Nipples?" and "Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything."

[maxrandb]

10. This Scares Me

Initially, I thought that there was no way they could wrap this "National Sales Tax" (very unpopular term), with "The Fair Tax" (think Clean Sky's Act, NCLB, Patriot Act, etc), and sell it to the American people.

However, after watching the Democrats roll-over and give these guys everything they want, I'm not too sure.

FYI-I have nothing against a sales tax, flat tax, etc, as long as we also tax investment money, inheritance, capital gains, etc. In other words, I have nothing against it, as long as it can be made "truly" progressive.

That being said. Anytime a couple of millionaires and some Republican Congressman devise a tax scheme that they purport to be "fair", I'm just a little skeptical.

That would be like letting the Energy Industry write Energy Legislation, letting corporations write Labor Legislation, letting polluters write Environmental Protection Legislature, letting the Mining Industry write Mining Safety Legislation, letting Gun Manufacturers write Gun Legislation, letting Drug Companies write FDA Legislation, letting business and industry write "Tort Reform" Legislation.....

err, wait a minute, we already do that

Why not let millionaires write our tax policy?