Let's start with #2.
I'll get back to more of your other distortions as time permits.
Any criticism of the rate as an argument against the FairTax is bogus.
The level of the rate that is needed to keep the new form of taxation REVENUE NEUTRAL is a commentary on the level of FEDERAL SPENDING, not the method by which you collect revenue.
What you status quo-ers are doing when you make this silly argument is to attempt to make transparency somehow a bad thing. It's not. It's wonderful, and one of the best features of a retail tax.
If the rate needed to bring in the same amount of revenue as the current (largely hidden) system is shocking, it is because the amount the national government is spending is shocking.
The day that the American people can see that fact plainly and clearly, right in front of their faces, is the day that political pressure will begin to build to reign in out-of-control federal government spending.
And the divide-and-conquer political tactics of the high taxers/big spenders won't work anymore, since every American's self-interest will be identical: A LOWER RATE!
And that is why their is such resistance to the NRST by the politicians. The politicians PREFER a system where they can steal you blind a penny at a time without your knowledge.
Very well said. Complaining about the FairTax rate is just shooting the messenger.
It is good to know how much tax is there. It will wake a lot of people up. But it will also be a huge discouragement to people spending and will have a negative effect on our economy.