"Looks like the "vat" might be coming our way, BUT the income tax will still be in place. And this from a republican......"
It sounded to me like he was suggesting removing the income tax portion because it's a "job killer" and replacing it with the VAT.
The number of people working just can't support the number of people who are retiring in the near future, and raising income taxes harms the economy.
A VAT tax spreads out the expense of Social Security over all consumers. It also taxes imports which means that we are protecting our markets in the same way other countries are currently protecting theirs.
I'd rather have free trade, but if they're going to put VAT on things they import from us, shouldn't we return the favor?