[Preechr]

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

Sorry, I'd like to give the thread some fair time, rather than rushed answers, but anyway.....

Maybe that would have been better... sorry for rushing you.

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

I see a pervasive trend in your comments regarding economics. Is it only poor people who smoke cigarettes, buy lotto, tickets, drink a 6-pack every night, and get addictions?

You seem to hold little pity for po' folk, because well, they're dumber than you are....clearly. I mean, anybody who makes a lot of money, has a successful job, owns instead of rents, why this person merely made all of the right decisions in life, right? Never got addicted to drugs, never got themselves into debt, never was stupid enough to choose to go to a bad public school when he/she was 4......I digress.

Maybe that trend is there in part because of some of my own personal experiences. I hold very little pity for my own past decisions when they've served me badly. Intelligence offers no protection whatsoever against self-indulgent or self-destructive decision making, of which I've made my fair share. I have been guilty of resenting unfairly those that are currently commiting the sins I've conditioned myself to avoid, similar to the reformed alcoholic that hates a drinker in a way only one that's "been there" can. That's just one more thing I've had to learn not to do.

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

If sales tax goes up on consumer goods, the people who will be most hurt by that are those people who make lots and lots of purchases all of the time. These are the Wal-Mart shoppers, these are the mcDonalds eaters, and these are the middle class. There's more of them, and they buy the shit. They buy the pools for their backyards, they buy the expensive lawnmowers that they don't need, they shop at outlet malls on the day after Thanksgiving (p.s. don't every put a sales tax higher than 3.5% between a mother and her on-sale khakis for Christmas).

I have seen economic data that says it both ways, so I'm left to reason out my own opinion on it.

Apparently you've not seen the economic data, i.e. studies of the bill itself, that says prices at the counter will not increase AND people rich and otherwise will take home their entire paycheck AND poor people will "get back" a disproportionate percentage of their taxed income BEFORE it's spent AND no matter how much money poor people waste on ill-considered purchases they'll never be taxed for more money than they have spent which is always gonna be less than what the Bill Gateses of the country spend even when everybody spends on a subsistence level.

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

I, contrary to what you may believe, think most wealthy people got there by being smart with their money, i.e. NOT SPENDING IT.

No, I was pretty sure you were a smart cookie already. No need to brag. Poor people are poor and rich people are rich because of their financial and economic habits.

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

I think a massive sales tax would hurt the middle class, and the lower classes, because it would hit those why rely on what's in their wallet and what amount their weekly check will be than it does the salaried, frugal, fiscally sound, non-smoking, non-sixer drinking smart rich person.

There are now over a million $million and up homes in this country. Poor people live in exactly none of those homes. I've already explained how a poor or middle class person can expect to, if not profit, then at least pay much less in taxes than those with more money to spend assuming those with money spend more to live than rich folks. To posit that rich folks spend quantatively less to live than poor folks is just silly, Kevin. There's just no way that's true.

I wasn't really prepared to change your opinion on the subject. I simply figured you'd see the advantages to the Fair Tax from the liberal side of the coin. I do. We can change the subject if you want...