I'm for Mitch then, as a "theoretical" President.
IMHO...
VAT is a tax hidden from the taxpaying citizen as it is only seen by the taxpayer in the price of consumer goods. It therefore leaves room for politicians to pass the blame for high prices away from their VAT tax and to the business community, saying that they are inflating their prices higher than necessary to accomodate a VAT rate increase. By hidden, I mean a tax where it is not paid separately and directly by citizens. Such a tax would produce an enormous drag on the economy. Sales tax is the nearest thing we have to a tax that citizens see and directly pay. Don’t for get, an IRS abolished could certainly be brought back by a future Congress.
Taxes can be levied on wealth, income or consumption, and we have all three in various forms the U.S. Real Estate taxes are a tax on the value of one’s Real Estate holdings. Sales taxes tax consumption, income tax taxes income.
By taxing every which way, everyone winds up paying one tax or another, no matter how little; whether one is rich or poor, somewhere there is a tax one is paying, or is paying for goods and services where the producer of them is being taxed. The problem with many voters who don’t pay income tax or actually receive cash back is that they don’t see how they are paying other taxes which could be decreased if only their wonderful Congresscritters would stop spending.
The problem our illustrious (/sarc) Congress and Executive branch have is that they spend too much government money. While Congress could impose limits which would create an annual surplus, since the majority of Congressman desire reelection, and they see gov’t spending as key them getting reelected, it would seem unlikely to see limits being passed into law that do not contain loopholes.
It is probably only severe economic pain that will prompt voters to finally vote out those who are part of the Dem-Repub machinery and prompt citizen-politicians who will self-impose a term limit on themselves to run for office.
If the U.S. ever gets it’s act together and admits that it needs to get right with God AND starts producing government surpluses AND gets the union-communist idea back into the realm of the absurd in the popular mindset AND develops even a moderately strong spine about dropping the hammer on islam instead of curtseying to it, the U.S. economy would soar to heights that would last and be understoond and remembered for generations.
He's toast, so go back to your boss and tell him that no amount of spin is going to obfuscate the truth.
Daniels’ people trying to explain away his support for a VAT.