[Myrddin]

You asked for a definition of "wealthy". I offered you a definition. By that accounting, most of us will never fit the definition of "wealthy". Most of us are too busy earning a living to make the right investments to achieve that point of equilibrium where we are financially independent.

Just because most of us will never accomplish that level of equilibrium doesn't mean we aren't saving money.

I fully agree with the concern that the NRST could be corrupted into a very targeted exercise in social engineering. We already see evidence of that with cigarette taxes being the most egregious. Don Perata was targeting gun owners with a proposed 5 cents per round tax in California. The environmentalists stuck us with CRV tax on soft drink cans and bottles in California. There is no end the the possibilities. Consider the nightmare of keeping millions of merchants updated on their current tax collection duties.

[ancient_geezer]

Of course there is the fact that any attempt to play such games in a broadbased retail sales tax, requires the government to either forgo taxes,(i.e. a taxcut), or to increase the rates for everyone on everything they do tax to make up the difference.

The latter not being a particuarly attractive thing to do, to negatively impact a majority of voters at the risk of a politician's encumbency.