“Boortz had the better idea, get people onboard with the FairTax, pass it but tie its enactment to repeal of the 16th. This would put unbelievable pressure on pols and states to kill the 16th quick.”
I disagree. IMHO, the political pressure would be much greater after voters/consumers have actually experienced the FairTax, not just heard about it in the abstract. When economic growth is substantial, good jobs are being created and all the hassle and frustration of the old system are just a bad dream, most Americans (of BOTH political persuasions) would be screaming at their legislators if the specter of returning to the old system were looming.
Many people fail to see the benefits of the FairTax now (as evidenced by this thread) or think it is politically impossible; after the FairTax is in place, the numbers of those two categories of American voters will shrink dramatically.
Phil, that all sounds good but it doesn’t play out that way.
What you call a ‘specter’ would actually be an unnoticed small income tax on the wealthy such as was done in 1913.
You can bet that the provision for sunsetting the FairTax if the 16th is not repealed, that this provision will be extended indefinitely. You can bet that at some point when people forget some of the horrors of the Income tax, that a liberal group will find a way to pass ‘a small tax on a very small group of extremely wealthy Americans’ with a ho-hum response from the public.
Unless the 16th is dead and buried, it will come back like a metastatic cancer.
Let the State FairTax movements pave the path. When voters see it can be done and with beneficial consequences, then we can say to them that it can be done on the national level as well, but only if the 16th is repealed.
Otherwise you are playing with fire and it is not necessary to take the risk.
IIRC, the FairTax REQUIRES the repeal of the 16th Amendment.
That bad news is, given the sort of SCOTUS we might have, that might not protect us from an income tax. IIRC, the North had an income tax during the Civil War...
Interest and appeal in the fair tax is gaining momentum around the country. The last couple of weeks of rallies have proven it.