999 is nothing but a slogan. Many middle class Americans would lose under the "Fair " tax scheme.Car dealers and sellers of big ticket items would definitely lose under any of the myriad sales tax schemes as would attorneys,doctors,real estate brokers,stock brokers, and accountants.Despite all its many flaws, the progressive income tax is still the fairest tax.

Yep, gotta hate that government tyranny. The one that protects you from foreign invasion and assault. The one that provides disaster relief for those impacted by floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters. The one that assists in feeding the hungry because states abdicated their responsibilities and ensured that all Americans have the right to vote. The one that will most likely fund your Social Security and Medicare far beyond what you contributed.

Ironside, you rail against taxation of income and government spending. You want to get rid of government departments with which you obviously disagree (EPA, Education, OSHA and on and on). Why? What specific actions or programs are they taking that need to be stopped? Do you want the EPA to quit monitoring heavy metal emissions from smelting operations? Do you want the Department of Education to cease funding local Boards of Education (so that your property takes increase - maybe so, it would increase local control.)?

I am in complete agreement that there are things the Feds are doing that don't need to be done (or should be done at the state and local level). And, there is a lot of duplication and unnecessary red tape out there. And, the tax code is subject to manipulation by Congress on a routine basis. But, 999 and/or national sales tax is not the answer until you define the spending that it funds.

And, if you're tired of living under government tyranny, move to Syria!

Bryant, Charlie.

"... move to Syria!" Wow... ?????

What would rub you so bad to resort to THAT particular conservative mantra?

23% of the sticker price of a $30,000 dollar car is to pay the taxes and the administrative cost to comply with all the rules and regulations the government places on companies. Eliminate these government burdens, and the car cost 23% less. Adding a national sales tax of 23% to the cost of the car, the car still cost $30,000 dollars. The only thing that has changed is you no longer have to pay income taxes, and no more IRS. The national sales tax now funds the Federal Government.

Bryant: Please read Article I section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Do you find the Departments of Educations, Energy, EPA, OSHA ect. If the American people want the Federal Government doing these fuctions, then a Constitutional Amendment is required to add them to Article I section 8 for these departments to be legal. Now, the States can do these fuctions. The Tenth Amendment gives them the authority.
Our country is in the mess it is in because most Americans have never read the Constitution, Federalist Papers, or the Letters of Correspondence written between our Founding Fathers about the Constitution, to understand that both political Parties have made a mess of our government. Free people must stay ever vigilant as to how our government is being run.
Finally, please read Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. He states that a Progressive Income Tax is necessary for a Communist Government takeover of a Free Democratic Nation. These are his words , not mine.

Charlie, Bryant. The use of the word "tyranny" to describe our current system of government and taxation is what rubs me so bad. While one may disagree with governmant spending or our ystem of taxation, the one thing we do not live under is a tyrannical government.

Ironside, I also do not see in Article 1, Section 8, the NSA, the FBI, the CIA, or the Department of Agriculture. Also, you repeat a fallacy often used by proponents of flat tax or national sales tax - "no more IRS". Just who do you think will administer the reporting and collection of a national sales tax.

Do you naively believe that the creation of a national sales tax will automatically eliminate tax cheats? Or that all the tax collected will be timely and willingly paid over to the government? If so, check with the Department of Revenue for Georgia.

Again, most of the Federal government has no legal right to do what it is doing. We can add them to Article I section 8 with a Constitutional Amendment. I am simply pointing out that both parties have created a massive bureaucracy at the Federal level that no one understands how it all works. Anyone that has run a business knows that it can grow too large triggering the "Law of deminishing returns" Our Federal Government has reach this level of inefficiency and must be downsized or we will bankrupt the nation. Over a hundred programs to retrain unemployeed workers run by the Federal Government, with each program costing tens of millions of dollars, and each one doing their own thing on what is a good work training program, no oversight to determine the effectiveness of the programs. The Federal Government should not be an employment agency. That is for the private sector to do. Finally, do you know the current tax code well enough to be 100% sure when you filled out your Federal Income Tax return, that it is 100% correct? If so, you are one in a hundred million Americans. Yes, the Treasury Department will receive the taxes collected at the cash register and account for them. Some will try to cheat the system as they now do. I trust the merchant who has invested his own money in his business to collect the tax at the cash registar as it is done today at Walmart. They will be honest because they have their business to lose if they violate the law. Finally, Government closest to the people, governs best.

Most blacks alive in 1960 in the South would probably disagree that "Government closest to the people, governs best".

I do agree that the size and reach of the Federal government has expanded past the limits necessary. But I challenge your assertion that "most...has no legal right". If that were true, whomever's ox was gored would have Federal agencies before the Supreme court challenging their authority.

And, my tax return is 100% correct - if not 100% accurate. Unfortunately, I have been known to lose a receipt or two.

I believe the Constitution is a living document ratified by the people every day. While many ‘powers’ and ‘rights’ are specifically spelled out in the Constitution such as the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms" others are afforded to us via the power vested in the legislative branch who has the power to make laws in so far as those laws do in impede the guaranteed ‘rights’ or ‘powers’ specifically spelled out in the Constitution. Call me a nut but I believe that is how the Founding Fathers intended it to be.

I believe we agree that the Federal Government has become to large,to intrusive, and to expensive and needs to be reduced in size. If the majority of Americans believe as we do, than there has been a hugh political shift in our country for the better.

Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Eforts to emasculate OSHA. the FDA,the EPA,and other important regulatory agencies are misguided.I don't know about the rest of you,but I am not comfortable knowing that the hamburger I throw on the barbie is produced by a meat producer who self regulates.The pursuit of the ultimate profit trumps all else ,so "standards" could very lax indeed.

If a meat producing company did not maintain the highest self regulated standards they would go out of business. Meat is not recalled because the company fears the FDA. They recall because they fear the public will stop buying their meat.

You must be joking. Conduct some research.

Several years ago my mother worked at a chicken plant; she was a Dept of Ag inspector but here is the kicker, she was hired, supervised and paid for by the chicken plant not the USDA. Her position was mandated but not funded. How is that not self-regulated?

You are right. We need to provide government inspectors paid by the government.The situation that you have described is exactly what I'm talking about.