A flat tax not only does not rid us of the IRS, but will soon revert to the mess we have now. Half of all lobbying dollars in DC are spent to effect the tax code. That won't change with a flat tax. The FairTax imposes one rate on all new goods with no exemptions and no deductions.
Everything in your argument is a wash, as in it applies equally to my position as yours.
If all that lobbying can affect a Flat Tax, it can affect The Fair Tax.
Capitulation to lobbyist would have to be fought by capitulation to the voters a cycle that starts with leadership. That I think we can agree on.
The IRS as we know it could be abolished with a flat tax or Fair Tax. We will need a collection agency, but lets call it that. The FTCS. The Federal Tax Collection Service. Or shoot, maybe we can just turn it over to the electric company.
Built into my preference for flat tax is that income is more stable than sales. It is the health of the economy filtered by enough factors to not fluctuate wildly. It has some built in smoothing to it that averages out the highs and lows by the time it takes to higher and train, and fire as well the slower rate of salary growth.
Anything hitched to sales or production of goods will become seasonal and highly elastic. Movements in the economy will be magnified several times in tax revenue or lack of it. The reverberations will require fiscal discipline never before known to politicians. Any release of money into the market could have immediate repercussions. Imagine the temptation to the fed. Printing 1% of the money supply will yield a return of 100% in tax revenue as consumers spend the money and prices rise. Rabid Inflation ensues as the dollars chase goods, spending and tax revenue falls, the fed is tempted again... repeat until explosion.
I will use a metaphor. The Fair Tax or National Sales Tax essentially puts the congress on a commissioned salary. The economy does well, they do really well, and vice versa. To operate as a commissioned person you have to have spending discipline. You have to save to cover thin times. You have to be able to forecast effectively. You have to hedge more greatly against catatrophic events because their risk can be magnified if you are in a downturn.
I do not see that discipline or wisdom in the Fed, so I am in favor of putting them on salary.
-- lates
-- jrawk
P.S. How about making things really interesting and moving towards a government funded by fees.