How much exactly are we talking about in additional spending ? Anybody have a figure handy for the total current Federal spending on salaries ?What makes you think the words "any government" refers to only federal spending on salaries? And what makes you think it's only salaries? The way I read the definition from the bill the tax also taxes retirement pay/benefits for "any (all) government" employees.
You claim it's 21% increase and then poo poo that as if it's miniscule because it's not 30%...guess what, a 21% increase in ALL, as in local, state and federal (that's what "any government" means) government payroll alone, not counting the tax on all of the other benefits and employer costs, would be devastating.
My opinion is the phoney (gag!) "prebate", the Taxable Employer, the Trust Fund Revenue and the Sales Tax Inclusive SS Indexation clauses (clauses that you all purposely overlook) negate by 10 everything else that could be good .
Always Right only mentioned employee compensation, so that is all that I responded to.
I'm glad you finally see why the 30% figure is incorrect for government employees.
At the State and local government levels, 3/4 the wages paid are to educators -- and not subject to FairTax. So those employees will cost 7.65% LESS than they do today. That roughly balances the 21% increase in costs for the non-education employees.
With the employee costs question out of the way, we need to ask just how much "purchasing" the State and local governments do. Grants, entitlement payments, pensions, school facilities, bond payments, etc. are all excluded from the FairTax, so how much spending is left subject to FairTax ?