And a flat tax of any sort is a wonderful idea and would leave us with:
a) payroll/withholding taxes,
On the personal side, the Flat Tax is just a wage tax anyway. It wouldn't matter if it's split into FICA and general revenue.
b) thousands and thousands of pages of tax code which no one understands and which can be easily modified,
There wouldn't be "thousands and thousands of pages of tax code." The Flat Tax is as simple as:
(WAGES - STANDARD DEDUCTION) x TAX RATE = TAX OWED
Even you could handle that. It's much easier than adding up all the sales taxes on your receipts to figure out how much you've paid the government.
c) no manner in which to help US companies in being more competetive with exports (no border-adjustability of taxes),
Border adjustably is pointless. The countries that have moved to a Flat Tax have seen their economies thrive, all without border adjust ability.
d) consumer prices artificially increased due to cascading embedded tax costs,
First it was embedded taxes. Then it was embedded tax costs. Now it's cascading embedded tax costs. Next it will be double super secret cascading embedded tax costs. You never have been able to comprehend the whole "tax incidence" idea, have you?
e) the massive evasion - and lost tax revenue - we now have with the illegal economy (which is not even considered evasion by the SQL crowd since it can't be addressed as under the FairTax),
The illegal economy would thrive with the FairTax. Organized crime, in particular, would love it (besides being able to sell black market goods, there would be no need for money laundering).
f) huge wastage of taxpayer "individual capital" in complying with tax laws and filling out tax forms when such time could be better spent playing tiddlywinks or mowing the lawn,
It would take, literally, less than 5 minutes to determine your taxes (it might take a little longer for you).
g) political control of the publics financial decisions to a large part by tinketing with the tax laws ... and then changing them again when it is seen they do not work as advertised,
The Flat Tax is no more susceptible to tinkering than the FairTax - it might be less so.
h) no means at all for enticing home-grown capital that has fled the country due to taxation to return,
Now you are really showing your ignorance. Foreign earnings are not taxed under the Flat Tax. Foreign earnings could be repatriated without penalty.
i) no manner of attracting foreign capital into the US to help boost our economy and create jobs,
Except a booming economy.
j) and no doubt others which I lack the mental energy to pursue.
I don't think energy is your problem, it's capacity.
"a)." that's exactly the point - it IS a wage tax (or more properly an income tax) and should not be forced upon taxpayers when there is a much better way available in the form of the FairTax.
"b)." That's a bunch of gibberish. Take a look at the flat tax bill in congress presently and tell us how many pages of tax code it eliminates - hint: none.
"c)." Show us a 10-year window of all of he flat tax-only countries that have thrived as you claim. Yeah - right!! Border adjustability in the US would drop exporters prices substantially and put us on a more equal footing with the VAT countries which have such adjustability.
"d)." It has always been cascading embedded tax costs, Nightie, and it's a damned shame you know nothing about them since they do exist and were a big reason that many of the VAT countries converted to VATs - to try to eliminate such costs and make their own products more competitive in other countries.
"e)." The illegal economy will always be there and no one pretends otherwise. At least with the FairTax, the money from it spent on taxable retail items will produce 23% in tax revenue ... which it does not do at present (or under a flat tax). That alone will probably be enough to allow the FairTax rate to be lowered early on after implementation.
"f)." Over and above the paperwork compliance requirements are all of the background recordkeeping and compilation required due to the arcane and ever-changing tax rules. All of this is an unnecessary waste of the human condition (but perhaps you don't understand that being a Squirrel and all).
"g)." The flat tax is LESS susceptible??? Balderdash. Look at the flat tax presently befopre congress and notice that is is laid on top of existing tax laws. A statement like that either proves your crass stupidity or your intentional attempts to mislead people - you may choose.
"h)." The statement was about attracting CAPITAL - not earnings, The last sentence in the immediately prior paragraph applies once again. If capital is attracted back the earnings will certainly follow that.
"i)." With a flat tax on top of the existing tax code, it is a certainty that the result would be the antithesis to a "booming" economy; i.e., a failing one.
"j)." You're right about one thing, at least - you DON'T think and when you attempt that foreign effort your mind gets all mushy as you have demonstrated here once again. I presume you have ample capacity but there's nothing of consequence therein (except mush).