Interestingly enough the name 'FairTax" was chosen by the various groups of people that the originators of the FairTax polled to obtain their ideas about the tax system (and its name). The name that came from this polling was 'FairTax'.
Not all large families receive aid under the present systm - many are just hung out to dry and any aid is unevenly applied to different groups. Man even have 'hoop-jumping' to do to obtain the aid - for example, some have to file an income tax return even if not otherwise required to do so even if they owe no tax.
It looks to me like most large families overall would be more greatly helped by the prebate in the FairTax than any of the present welfare schemes - and the prebate is not welfare but merely a refunding some or all of the tax you would pay. Welfare has no corresponding operation.
Actually, there's nothing "mysterious" about the number you questioned in your earlier post where you assumed part was from matching payroll taxes. Actually I think little or none of it is from that. There have been examples given many times on these threads that show the mechanism of cascading, embedded business income taxes and how they increase prices to the final consumer. There is ample room in this mechanism for prices to be reduced substantially - and when compliance costs are added also, the price reduction would be both real and noticeable.
FairTax opponents, of course, fight bitterly against this as a possibility claiming that business income taxes and compliance costs add almost nothing to prices. That is clearly not the case and never is in an income-based tax such as ours. Whether the price level is raised by 15, 20, or 25% (or more) is difficult to say but it is definitely raised by the effects of business income taxes and compliance costs being embedded into costs that are presented on to other production/distribution levels and eventually to the consumer.
This tax is no more fair than the one we have now, esp. for those people who have played by the rules and organized their financial lives in such a way to be optimal with the present system.
At most these costs are about 8% of the cost of goods-- the real money is in the payroll and income taxes paid to the workers. THis is the bulk of the embedded taxes. You can see this by looking at the income of the FedGov last year and looking at the percentage that is income and payroll taxes. It's the vast majority of the tax income of the US.
the fairtaxers don't help their cause with misleading tables of data.
what you said regarding the trickle down effect of no-income-tax very well may be 100% true. but--
the table clearly states that the person earning $10,712 is getting $3101 TAKEN AWAY from them today in the current system. That is an absolute untruth. The reality is that person will recieve ALL of the EIC, plus all of their gross income, minus their payroll tax -- for a total of $14,097.
if they want to be honest about the trickled down effect remove the -3101 from the "current system" and add it as +3101 to the "fairtax system" and convince everyone that when fairtax is passed this poor person earning 10k a year will get a 30% RAISE -- woohoo, can't wait.