His tweaking isn't the problem-- it is his total inability to grasp simple economic issues. His head in the sand approach, which was once the approach of Boortz as well, is the thinking that has ruined the chances of passage.
Only an honest and truthful debate are going to result in a win for your plan. That means acknowledging that people will NOT keep 100% of their current gross pay. Failure to acknowledge that in selling the plan is a recipe for failure once the truth if finally revealed.
And I don't think that the method of collecting the taxes is "evil", what is evil is the amount they collect which needs to be dealt with first.
Maybe with a smaller, more Contitutional spending pattern something like the FairTax could work.
You stand alone in this position. Withholding and business taxes hide the true cost of government to individuals. That's why the method of collection is the fundamental problem.
If we could change that method to one that emphasized the individual's tax burden, then the gov't spending battle would be won. It is that folks don't realize/feel/perceive the tax bite that allows unbounded growth of government.
Just a simple elimination of withholding replaced by tax payments made in cash monthly - even though it would be revenue neutral - would have a major impact on government spending because it would make/force folks to see how much gov't costs them. THe money to pay for gov't would have to leave our wallets/bank accounts in cash.
Do you really think the method of collection has nothing to do with gov't growth, or are you just lobbying for spending cuts first because you know it won't happen?
You seem to be tryin to shift your position from openly prefering the income tax, but words like "honest and truthful debate" coming out of your mouth do not ring true at all in view of your initial efforts to conceal your real agenda to attack anything FairTax.
"... an honest and truthful debate ..."
In other words, agree with what I say and I'll stop telling lies about the FairTax (and you). otherwise, all bets are off ...
I think you must surely know Robbie that I will never agree with you since you actually prefer the present tax systm - and have publically admitted that. I cannot think of a single reason why I should agree with you OR your preferred tax system ... and I don't.