look closer....your pay check will increase 7.65% due to no more ss deduction....add another 15-20% in income tax deductions and your already at 22 -28% increase in take home pay. I own a business with 20 employees and i can GUARANTEE retail prices will fall as well. See.....I match that 7.65% SS deduction not to mention corporate income taxes my business pays. Sure businesses would try to keep the windfall but a free market will guarantee that prices will level out below where they are now......
You will be FAR BETTER OFF with the NSRT.....
If NRST raises the same amount of money as the taxes it replaces, BY DEFINITION, some people will pay more, some less than they pay now.
I wish I could believe your contention that prices would fall - I think there are more companies out there who would merely see this as an opportunity for higher profits and leave prices the same (OK, so I'm a pessimist on this subject - *GRIN*).
Based on the transaction tax percentages I've seen proposed, up to 23%, I still "lose" more money than I would with a flat tax, even as high as 20% (and I want it held to 10%, remember!) - I would also expect ss and medi-whatever to be funded out of this flat tax.
With my spending patterns (and I'm living the "American dream" with a house, kids in college, more than one car, etc., etc., etc.,), the percent IRS gets, plus the percent ss gets, plus the medicare/medicaide load, plus the state sales tax (and this WOULD go up over what we're paying right now), is STILL smaller than the proposals I've seen for a national sales tax - don't forget to factor in the state taxes.
I still think that all (ss, medi-whatever AND cost of gov't) should be funded out of a 10% flat tax.....