Russia was flat ass broke. They (The Gov) could not extract anything more out of the "people". They had no choice (IMO) but to try something radically different (from that countries original way of thinking).
Personally, I am for NRST and NO INCOME TAX. I like the idea of no one being able to escape the tax (Crooks, illegals, dealers, etc..). But as with any "solution", it will never be full-proof against the crooks in D.C. They will always find a way of taking more. Their problem is they have no accountability. They know not the concept of cutting back spending and flat out dropping programs that simply don't work. D.C.'s answer to everything is "throw more money at it"...
Even if flat tax, NRST or whatever is a huge success, the pinheads we call congress-critters will always find a way to spend it ALL and still "need" more...