[ancient_geezer]

If that is really true, then it is self-evidently the most idiotic thing any member of Congress has ever proposed.

You leaving out the personal exemptions and standard deductions of the income tax, and EITC in your reconning?

Congress has always been rather idiotic. If they weren't I would prefer no FCA or excepted goods under the NRST at all.

Problem is, a strong majority of Congress is rather idiotic in what they do, at least mercenary in their intent.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-George Bernard Shaw

Right now the bottom 60% perceive little to no "Individual Income Tax" burden,(in many cases even a handout) and 70% of the voting public clamors for more from government looking for the top 40% of income earners/producers to foot the bill. That perception continues to grow ever stronger by eliminating even more participants from the Federal Individual Income Tax rolls as proposed in the tax reduction proposals through changes in personal exemption limits and other mechanisms such as the EITC.

Congress plays both ends against the middle; hiding the real burden in inflation, higher prices on all goods and services, lower takehome pay, lower return on investment, and higher interest rates. All keeping the poor right where they are and pushing for more freebees.

That shell game has to end. The NRST is a solid means to achieve that.

[Technogeeb]

You leaving out the personal exemptions and standard deductions of the income tax, and EITC in your reconning?

Nope. They do make the tax code "unfair" to a certain extent (as if the confiscation of wealth by an entity that did not generate it could be anything else), but the only result of those is to limit the amount of money a person pays in taxes; and doesn't result in "getting back" money that they didn't pay in the first place (with the exception of the EITC, which still only offsets payroll taxes even if that isn't officially its objective). As much as I detest the current tax code, I think the "prebate" mechanism is even worse.

Problem is, a strong majority of Congress is rather idiotic in what they do

I can't really disagree on that point. :)

That shell game has to end. The NRST is a solid means to achieve that.

With that; I agree. My only opposition is with the "prebate" mechanism. It is fundamentally flawed, because it will establish a mechanism for income redistribution that can be used at the whim of any future leftist administration. Since the (supposed) desired purpose of this mechanism is merely to offset taxes paid on "necessities", then I believe that a far simpler mechanism (and more cost effective, since it eliminates the associated bureaucracy, a savings of several billion dollars by itself) would be to simply not collect a tax on things that are supposed to be "tax free".