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And another thought on the principle highlighted in Federalist 21 advancing that consumption taxes in effect seek their own level.

ROTFLM(_|_)O!!!. somehow I suspect the founders did not have an "Automated" Payment Transaction tax on absolutely every economic transaction both consumption and production taxing everything repreatedly based on full value of every transaction in the economy no matter whether it is merely moving one's capital from one place to another or actually involved in trade, it all taxed. The perfect tax on all property, stealing the value of even ones savings and retirement investments all right beneath their noses.

Yep the perfect tax to sustain socialist government, out of sight out of mind, I do believe the old saying goes. Or is that, "there's a sucker born every minute."

Federalist #21:

"Imposts, excises, and, in general, all duties upon articles of consumption, may be compared to a fluid, which will, in time, find its level with the means of paying them. The amount to be contributed by each citizen will in a degree be at his own option, and can be regulated by an attention to his resources. The rich may be extravagant, the poor can be frugal; and private oppression may always be avoided by a judicious selection of objects proper for such impositions. "

And as long as you have government with taxing authority, this natural limit is the only limit that will ultimately be adhered to.

And only exists if the electorate can legitimately avoid the tax which they cannot do under a ubiquitous APT tax. Sorry you are as full of baloney as ever.

"Note that the BAD[Bank Account Debit, e.g. APT] tax is equivalent to a consumption tax, and income tax, an investment tax, a tax payment tax, and a capital turnover tax."
P.H. Albuquerque 2001

From APT's website:

In the words of:

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, once referring to a proposal of substituting all taxes in Australia by a BAD tax, declared: "It would completely render comatose a workable financial system in a very rapid period of time. And in a global world in which we now live we'd basically be saying that we're opting out and going back to the jungle. I think, with great respect ot whoever is advocating it ... it's a crazy idea."
P.H. Albuquerque 2001

Nice try, but I'm talking about real world economics and the effects of taxation on the national economy. All government is socialist, so let's just get over it. Our culture and institutions just haven't evolved to a true laissez-faire system. That being the case, taxes must be collected, and this in spite of any popular sentiments to the contrary. APT is the most efficient way to accomplish this in terms of it's effects on the private economy and the government's ability to collect necessary revenue. APT also greatly enhances our international competitiveness. With your insistence on transparency, you're fighting the last war. LBJ's "Great Society" and Jimmy Carter's "malaise" are things of the past. Competitiveness is the keynote theme of the ensuing information economy.