Wow, I guess I missed all the fun.... LOL This thread was started on Monday and it has died down now. I do get the pleasure of skimming all the way through it and getting the flavor. It looks like we have a mixture of the old opponents with a couple of new ones. Looks like the success of the tea party events has stirred the SQLs from their dormancy and they have come out swinging, as usual, with insults and half truths. That isn’t to say there aren’t some legitimate concerns, but that doesn’t seem to be what is reflected on the majority of this thread.
I am struck, as I almost always am, by the almost complete lack of focus of both Hewitt and the opponents on this thread, on the big picture. Well, I haven’t read Hewitt’s article, but I can just about guarantee that he ignores the major adverse economic trends that FairTaxers would like to see addressed. I am referring to
1. our enormous trade deficit and the ongoing deterioration of our manufacturing sector,
2. the extremely low individual savings rate, which is a matter of concern to virtually every serious economist,
3. the ongoing spiral of complexity and higher and higher compliance costs,
4. the federal budget deficit
5. the looming crisis in Social Security and Medicare
6. etc, etc
The opponents are almost universally silent on these issues for a number of reasons. Many are like most Americans and don’t realize their seriousness. Many are also like most Americans in that they do not realize how these trends are contributed to by our current highly dysfunctional tax system. Some have their own vested interest in the perpetuation of the current system and don’t really care about how it affects the nation as a whole.
Nevertheless, I am encouraged by the fact that my experience has been that once Americans have these trends pointed out to them and receive an explanation about the relationship to tax policy, then get an opportunity to have their questions and concerns answered, they support the FairTax in very strong numbers - typically 75 to 90%.