With the current tax system, every time I am paid I have hard earned money deducted from my check, and then it is spent by a horribly wasteful government. Unlike most Americans, I do not technically oppose taxation, though the principle involved in my money be spent wastefully is another story. It costs money to run a country and the money has to come from somewhere. If a household were to run itself like our federal government does it would fail miserably.
A National consumption tax would at least in part be a choice I can make. A 30% savings anytime I do not spend money would be an incredible incentive to save rather than spend. Sure this is deferring the spending to a later time, but it accomplishes saving, something I do not do well now. On top of that I feel somewhat in control in the choices I make.
I am a cynic and cannot imagine a world in which politicians would actually do something which makes as much sense as the FairTax. It is not a perfect solution but it is 110% better than the current system.
In the end I pay 30% but at least choose when and how. Currently I do not get tangible results from the theft of 30% of my paycheck. (I understand what I really get) With a sales tax I would pay 30% every time I bought something. Pay the onerous tax but have more stuff! How American is that?
Also it is a fair tax, most everyone would be paying the same, including those which pay NOTHING now. It does not bother me that the poor would be paying a larger percentage of their income in taxes than wealthier individuals. When a wealthy person buys a gameboy with his hard earned money he pays the tax, when a POOR person buys a gameboy with his government check he pays the tax. Being fair they would pay the same amount of tax. The same goes for a foreign tourist or illegal alien, they pay the tax!
