So you like the progressive income tax better? All consumption taxes are regressive, making them better.
How much did you pay in taxes the last time you filled up your gas tank?
If you are like most people, you have no idea. Even as those gas taxes drive up the cost of gasoline way above its actual value, politicians stand on their soap boxes and denounce the greedy oil companies. And people fall for it and get mad at the oil companies because they have no clue how much of that pump price is actually tax.
And the same would happen with a national sales or VAT tax. All the consumer would see is that prices on everything are skyrocketing, without any visibility on what is really driving the prices up. And then politicians could grandstand against greedy big bread, big clothing, big electronics, etc., and much of the electorate will fall for it.
I prefer the idea of a flat tax across the board. That way, everyone can see how much they are paying. Plus, if it is across the board, poor people who currently have no reason to care about tax rates but who do fall for promises of “free” stuff paid by taxpayers would suddenly have some skin in the game; we could see some changes in voting patterns.