Well, let's add a few on the plus column, then:
Lower interest on public debt (Fed savings $120B/yr, State & Local $80B/yr)
State & Local taxes lowered by adoption of FairTax and tapping underground economy
Increase in purchasing power for educational expenses
Avoidance and evasion limited to 15% of total retail sales purchased outside of large retailers
Huge increase in personal consumption as individuals see larger paychecks and lower interest rates
Expansion of economy by 10% brings in additional $230B/yr
Lower interest on public debt (Fed savings $120B/yr, State & Local $80B/yr)Interest on public debt is already contractually locked in. If interest rates do decline, NEW debt might decline, but CURRENT debt will remain as pre-FairTax Interest Rates.
State & Local taxes lowered by adoption of FairTax and tapping underground economyThe FairTax does NOT tax the underground economy; it merely shifts the tax bite from the point there money ENTERS the underground to where money EXITS the underground. States and localities must now pay 30% FairTax on consumption purchases and salaries; nowhere in all the FairTax propaganda nor in the ramblings of its proponents is this fact EVER acknowledged. States and localities will need to RAISE tax rates to compensate.
Increase in purchasing power for educational expensesI'll grant you this one; but it doesn't take the FairTax to make that so.
Avoidance and evasion limited to 15% of total retail sales purchased outside of large retailersThis fails acknowledge inevitable shifts in purchasing behavior. Avoidance over the ENTIRE base will increase as used goods become favored over certain new goods. This fails to acknowledge inevitable changes in black market purchase levels. The current FairTax base/rate calculations fail to take even you limited avoidance and evasion into account.
Huge increase in personal consumption as individuals see larger paychecks and lower interest ratesWell, this one is just flat out false. ALL the economic models of consumption taxation predict significant DROPS in consumption in the early years of implementation (and ALL of them hold prices AND purchasing power constant - neither prices nor take home wages rise.
Expansion of economy by 10% brings in additional $230B/yrWell, the question is whether the FairTax will allow such expansion. The models used to predict such a windfall hold prices constant, take home pay constant, and purchasing power constant (for ALL). That will not happen under the FairTax: Prices will rise non-uniformly, take-home pay will rise non-uniformly; the net outcome is shifts in consumption not contemplated by the models. Before any expansion can take place, the Tax rate must rise to maintain revenue neutrality, further raising prices. And, given that the actions of the Fed are not modeled in simulations of consumption taxes, it's quite likely that the Fed response will be to throttle any growth that does happen to current levels. Since we will have experienced a significant DECLINE in GDP prior to any growth, it's not at all clear when (if ever) we would catch up.