National Sales Tax Unpopular? Not So Fast “¦

More than a couple emailers are currently sending me links to a new Rasmussen Poll the headline for which reads, “18% Favor National Sales Tax, 68% Oppose.” The comments on this, apparently knowing that I support the Fair Tax (which is a national RETAIL sales tax to replace the income tax code) are along the lines of:

“See, you’re not in the mainstream on this issue! Give it up!” – Alice
“Ha Ha You’re not going to convince Ameican’s (sic) to slap an income tax on themselves you retard!” – Bob
“The Natinal (sic) retail sales tax is DEAD! STOP PROMOTING IT!” – Babs

Well, not so fast. See, all you folks sending me this link and telling me how wacko I am are in the category of “don’t try this at home.” You are reacting to a headline and not reading the article. If you actually would read the article you would see that the headline is misleading.

The report on this poll states the following:

ust 18% of Americans nationwide favor a national sales tax. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% oppose such a tax.

then this …

There is more support for the concept if sales tax revenue is used to provide health insurance for all Americans. In that scenario, 40% favor a national sales tax and 49% are opposed.

but here is the kicker which shows that I am not out of the mainstream:

A plurality of Americans would support a national sales tax if it meant getting rid of the federal income tax: 43% favor that trade-off, but 38% are opposed. Pluralities of Republicans and unaffiliateds like the idea, while a plurality of Democrats are against it.

Forty-eight percent (48%) say a national sales tax is fairer than an income tax while 26% hold the opposite view. The sales tax is viewed as fairer by 52% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 49% of unaffiliateds.

Out of the mainstream am I? Also let us not forget that there are different types of sales taxes. The type currently being bantered about by some politicians to raise more money for all sorts of new socialist programs is a VAT tax which is a sales tax collected on every transaction. This is what they have in Europe. What I support (not because it is perfect but because it is infinitely better than the current system of taxation) is the Fair Tax which is a National Retail Sales Tax to replace the income tax, not supplement it. This is a tax collected on the final sale and consumption of a good and eliminates all the hidden taxes that businesses currently pass on to the end consumer because of the existing tax code which is a cost of doing business just like employees are.

The Fair Tax is a revenue neutral sales tax and studies show that it actually increases the disposable income of all Americans (or at least would if implemented) and raises their purchasing power.

I am in the plurality here in supporting such a plan especially if you consider the above data.

The reason that politicians are floating the VAT tax now is because they know that people are getting fed up with the income tax and are growing more and more in favor of a national sales tax like the Fair Tax. They hope that by floating a hideous tax like the VAT they can muddy the waters and turn sentiment against the Fair Tax thus allowing them to keep the Marxist income tax we currently have and hold on to their power.