“You said there was never a flat tax and you were shown to be flat out wrong.”
Yes, and that was a good job you did, digging up the non-flat flat tax example and the Civil War taxes. Hmmmmmpppphhhhh...... Now go tell Mommy you should have a cookie.
The 1861 income tax was a flat tax that was changed 4 times within a few years to a progressive structure and then changed back to a flat tax in 1867. The tax expired in 1872 and another flat tax structure was put in place in 1894.
The 1913 income tax was a flat tax of 1% for more than 98% of the population. That tax was and is considered a flat tax by most every tax historian and tax economist.
So don’t think for a minute that the United States never had a flat tax.
The point you keep your head in the sand about,and that history clearly shows, is that there are progressives that stand ready to turn any flat tax into a progressive tax as soon as they can and they will.
Let’s repeat the last statement, if a flat tax or a FairTax is ever enacted, there are ***today*** lobbyists, individuals and organizations that stand ready to get to work to restructure the tax code to a progressive tax structure. These people exist and are known personally today, they have said they will work around the clock to get and keep a progressive income tax. The flat tax poses no obstacle for them. The FairTax does pose obstacles for them.
The only way to set these proponents of a progressive income tax back and keep them shutdown is to repeal the 16th Amendment and even then they will attempt to argue that income taxes can be applied without the need for apportionment.
The bottomline is that a flat tax has not stayed flat in history and will not stay flat if ever made in the future.
When you decide to get smart, the following FAQ will make you wiser:
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_faq