[JimRed]

It would seem that way if I advocated the “poor” paying less of a percentage than the “rich” based on income, but I prefer NO income tax for anyone.

A consumption tax with an allowance for basic needs for survival (the same allowance for everyone, rich or poor) gives each the choice of how to spend his own money. You want to keep your taxes down? Spend less on taxed items.

The rich typically buy more, and will end up paying more. The thrifty rich will pay less than their spendthrift counterparts; the poor who choose to spend up to their last penny will pay more than the thrifty poor.

The problems I had with the FairTax as proposed were the “prebate” feature (a monthly prepayment to cover the cost of tax on basic survival), and how to start it off, as all the hidden taxes paid on goods already in the pipeline with the sales tax added will rise in price until the hidden taxes are no more. If these items can be soundly addressed, I would give it my final OK.

[Durus]

I'm not sure why you prefer a consumption tax to an income tax. There are some advantages to a consumption tax and while I'm not opposed to it, I think changing the current tax model to a flat tax faces a lot less hurdles than the creating of the Fair Tax system. If we are going to fight for a constitutional amendment I would prefer an amendment that limits the taxation ability of government to a fixed percentage and collection method forever.