The Fair Tax

I have been do much thinking on the fair tax lately. As someone who comes from an anti-statist point of view, naturally I am skeptical of anything called a "fair tax." I just don't see how this idea proposed by Rep. John Linder, R-Ga, would actually help to increase personal liberty. This idea merely changes the way in which the government is funded. If passed, the fair tax would still extract just as much money from the American people as the current progressive income tax does, albeit in a much different way.

The only good thing I can ascertain from this proposed idea of a national retail sales tax is that it would seem to reward savers and punish spendors. As I consider myself more of a saver than a spendor, I get a little bit excited about that idea. Those of us who don't spend as much may realize more personal prosperity. I like the idea of being able to have more control over the taxes that I pay to the imperial federal government of the United States.

So what is not to like about this grand plan that probably has a snow ball's chance of passing through congress? It does nothing to address the size and scope of the federal government. It will do nothing to shrink the overbloated, spending machine that enslaves us all.

In short, lobbying for this so-called "fair tax" is a waist of time and energy. Those who care about liberty in our lifetime should concentrate their efforts on fighting statism, not cozying up to it and making friends.

We should fight any form of tax that will take the property of the productive class to fund the federal government. If the federal government were operating on a truly constitutional basis, it would only require the funds provided by small tariffs and excise taxes. It would not need to seize monies from wages, sales transactions, or estates of recently deceased Americans.

As Walter Williams has said, "taxation is a slightly less offensive form of slavery." We need to abolish the federal income tax and the IRS, and replace them with NOTHING if we are to achieve true liberty.