Hmmm... I like it!
When I was getting a masters in tax law in the early '80s, any talk of revising the code was shot down because of this same 'what about the poor' rhetoric. It was as if you couldn't even think about changing public policy because somebody, somewhere, might be slightly hurt by a change in the system.
I'm glad to see the changes that we've had over the past few years and will be really happy when the whole system comes crashing down. A sales tax gets everybody, including those participating in the underground economy who currently escape taxation or under report income. You can exempt food and medicine if you are so inclined for policy reasons.
It's frustrating.
What is so equally ridiculous about the poverty stats is that they are static
Almost everybody who is not born into privilege is poor at one time or another in their lives.
When I was a 19 year old college student juggling classes and two part-time jobs I was technically below the poverty line.
Yet by the time I was 24 I had a well-paying full-time job with complete benefits.
People who live their lives from birth to death below the artificial poverty line in America are pretty rare, and they either have behavioral problems or have very different priorities from an average Joe.