Don’t be so uncertain. Last time I counted their were 81 for the bill and only 92 against and the remaining congress members and senators are sitting on the fence and won’t come out either way. Huckabee had a strong showing in the presidential race and he was a big Fair Tax guy.

The public at large just needs educated. It’s a strong piece of legislation that could be revolutionary. I agree only a real leader would support something like the Fair Tax. And congress and the senate aren’t made up of very many real leaders. Enough support though at the grassroots is what it’ll take.

“It would also reduce the power of government because it would bring things much more front and center.”

and:

“Also, it would increase accountability because instead of some obscure tax code their is a check being cut that can be tracked as to who is receiving it and what they did with it.”

Your statements are absolutely correct, and articulate perfectly why we need a fair tax. Unfortunately they are also the reason that it will never happen….am I too cynical?

The tax code has evolved into a license to steal, if you understand the labyrinth, and it certainly plays a major role in supporting the lobbying industry.

If you want a sterling example of its engendering corruption, one need go no further than the infamous Charlie Rangel.

It is long past time for a restructuring of the tax monolith and the Fair Tax, or even a Value Added Tax, isa good place to begin.

Nothing else seems to be working at this point – at least not for the overburdened taxpayer.

The current system is so lobby friendly. You can hide and embed lobby friendly tax “rebates” (better known as corporate welfare) throughout the the current tax system. A change to something like a Fair Tax or even a Flat tax would really hurt the lobby industry. If a corporation or industry wanted welfare they’d have to get it just like TARP or something. This isn’t to say that their aren’t individuals who can stomach sitting their with their hand’s out like little beggar’s such as UAW or GM. But I’d think that it’s harder to beg that way then some little tax incentive attached to some piece of legislation. After all the tax lobbyist business is around a billion dollar annual industry itself.

This will also hurt politicians from being able to payoff their supporters so easily. If they want to give an industry or a corporation some money they’re actually going to have to cut a check not just place something in the 67,500 pages of tax code and regulations. Nobody even knows how many billions or trillions of dollars their are in corporate tax loopholes that are utilized each year for some unintended purpose. Just take for example the AMT tax that was created to tax only 155 families in 1969 and now 23 million people fall within it. Or tax rebates for buying employee’s bicycles to ride to work. Good job for the bicycle industry guess the needed stimulus too.

I think something like the Fair Tax would help reduce spending. It would also reduce the power of government because it would bring things much more front and center. If the government want’s to give say corn growers some “stimulus” they’re going to have to say exactly how much and for how long (i.e. one check each year for x years for x dollars). Instead of putting some item in the tax code that is now there forever that more then one type of intended industry or corporation ends up exploiting. Also, it would increase accountability because instead of some obscure tax code their is a check being cut that can be tracked as to who is receiving it and what they did with it.

We do need tax reform. But we need to challenge our spending priorities first. I no longer support run away tax cuts w/out any serious effort to reign in spending.