"DSK" wrote in message news:Cy9Wb.36343

One problem I have with having the Feds put on a consumption tax or an
ad-valorum tax or whatever is that it is a serious brake on the economy.
The web of VAT is choking the European economies, we should observe and
learn and do better.

Different things. A consumption tax -- or national sales tax, if you
will -- is a one time application across the board, at the end user. It
would reach to virtually all dollars in the economy, so a lower % would be
sufficient. Current tax policy only reaches about 60% or less of legitimate
income (not sure of that figure). In some European countries, vat is added
at multiple steps before reaching the end user. That truly is stultifying.