Why? Is there some country that's truly free and has a better long-term economy than the U.S.?
i’d consider ALL money coming in as income - regardless of source, and tax every dollar at the same rate for everybody. at x percent, everybody’s paying based upon income, the rich pay more, the poor pay less, everybody has a stake in the government, and with no exemptions, it remains really ‘fair’. it’s simple, enforceable, transitionable, and really fair.
How is that so different than taxing all money going out as consumption with a flat rate, other than the consumption tax reducing the number of monitoring/collection points by about 90% (~20 million retailers vs. ~200 individual filers) and front-loading the system to hamper investment? That's simpler and more enforceable, and equally as fair (if not more so given the fact that you have the freedom to invest some of that money without having to pay taxes on it first).
Geez, I'm in proofreading hell today...
This part of the statement should apply to the income tax, not a true consumption tax, of course.