Kudlow seems to be equally in support of a flat tax or NRST. I thought that Hastert had talked about an NRST or a VAT and that he had not been supportive of a flat tax. Also, I thought that President Bush had recently said that a flat tax wasn't the way to go. If President Bush, Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader Delay and almost all Democrats oppose a flat tax, then it would seem politically dead for the foreseeable future.
In the Spring of 2003, the White House Economic Report to Congress included a special section on tax reform, comparing the flat tax and a consumption (sales) tax. The report concluded that the consumption tax is superior to the flat tax in important respects and overall. A very significant straw in the wind, I think, but not controlling on what is to be done, of course.