I say a 3 at most.

They aren't even on the same page regarding tax policy, let alone capital markets. At the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday Geithner was quoted on China's proposal for a new global currency: "We’re actually quite open to that suggestion" he said.

Obama at his presser the very same evening said this: "there are no plans for moving forward in that direction".

And everyone wonders why the markets gyrate as they do? This administration HAS NO PLAN...

What if he's (it's) a sibling, or Mom or Dad.
Oh, the humanity!

What the Exalted One is proposing to do WRT charity and mortgage deductions is as stupid as everyything else this idiot's teleprompter has told him to do.

Here's a tidbit from an article (Will Anyone Admit That Taxes Have to Rise?) on RealClearPolitics today:
"...the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that Obama's change would reduce charitable contributions only marginally -- from $306 billion to $302 billion."

Hey charities of America- you're only going to collectively lose $4B - that's chump change to you all, right?

Let's see if we can try this one last time...

#1 If you read the book, you'd see the assumption here is states would follow suit, in order to be competitive with other states for businesses locating there to do business - to escape all tax consequences.

#2 Not sure where this is even coming from, seeing as how all taxes would be removed from this purchase on a resell. Even on new construction, the cost of building would be lowered by at least an equal amount of the current taxes paid, keeping prices where they are - including the 23%...that's right...23% sales tax.

#3 Simply not true. You can't calculate taxes one way for the current system and another way for the FairTax, to "bend" the numbers. The bill is written as a 23% sales tax...

#4 Again, distorting the bill... If there's not this massive "black market" now, with our 25-30% taxes embedded, than there wouldn't be with an inclusive 23%...again, 23% sales tax.

#5 It does eliminate these deductions...as YOU DON'T FILE ANY TAXES! Not sure how much more clear I can be. No withholdings...more money in your pocket.

#6 Don't need to repeat myself that prices would stay where they are, but people would have more purchasing power - take home pay.

#7 Agreed, you can't predict consumer spending too accurately. But I don't see that as the "deciding factor" to not try something with many more pros than cons.

#8 Sure there would be some "phase-in" period that would,at some point need to be addressed. I would see that as valid when/if the plan gets serious consideration...which it won't.

#9 True on home purchases of NEW homes, not used. Not sure on the others.

#10 Nope, it's not.

#11 Again... based on the bill, ALL the other taxes go away. Up to the poverty line, EVERYONE gets a pre-bate check to offset this cost. Naturally, wealthier people will spend more money, this paying their "fair-share" - I'm sure you wealth envy types can appreciate that.

Sorry to be so lengthy, but still, the only way I see to criticize this is to distort it as something it's not, then bash it. The only real downside is politicians lose their ability to pander to the wealth envy crowd.

Your bulletpoints of objects to the fairtax are ridiculous! You are repeating what you have heard or copying and pasting from someone else who is possibly even more ignorant than you!

ig·no·rant (ĭg'nər-ənt)
adj.
Lacking education or knowledge.
Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake.
Unaware or uninformed.

Why would anyone be upset if the fairtax did away with ANY deductions? The fairtax ELIMINATES federal income taxes. What would you need deductions for? What would you deduct anything from? With the Fairtax, you pay your taxes at the register. Who buys more stuff than anyone? RICH people! They have the money to spend!!! The LESS fortunate people can purchase used goods and COMPLETELY avoid paying taxes at all. The thing about the fairtax that you're not even thinking about is that it is only imposed on NEW goods and services. NEW only! If you want to buy a house that has EVER been owned by anyone else - you pay ZERO taxes on it. The same goes for buying a USED car. The only things that you would be forced to continue to pay taxes on are NEW products and services. Food, utilities, services - these things are still essentially tax free with the Fairtax though. Because each household will be provided a monthly pre-bate, the necessities of life (up to the poverty level)are un-taxed.

How will the Fairtax hurt anyone? I guess you're feeling sorry for the people who visit this country legally or not, or the people currently earning money that are able to avoid paying taxes - such as many of the current politicians. With the Fair tax, they will be contributing just like everyone else will. How is that un-fair?

How about we do something really fair now and see if we can order you a real (functioning) brain that does more than just tell your body to breathe and your heart to continue to pump blood.... or we could all pitch in and have your head removed from PrezBo's back end.

Don't waste your time Mr. Obama, John Linder and Neal Boortz took a great idea from( are you ready for this? )Harvard economists! They wrote a book about it. It's called the Fairtax. Inspite of what the folks on the left say, it would be much simpler. It doesn't fit into the modern day version of 'Mein Campf' the Democrats are touting, but it solves more problems than it creates. Can anyone say that about our current system? Anyone who isn't named 'Copyleft', that is? No offense Copy, but really, can't you do better than that? Too bad we have the same type of thinking in Congress...'well, it can't possibly work! What about the poor people?' Yawn.

I think it needs pointing out that the creators and proponents of the FairTax have been, and continue to be, unbiased with regards to the "politics" of the FairTax.

The FairTax, as I understand it, (yes - I've read both books) is NOT about politics, it's about WE THE PEOPLE paying for the operation of our great nation in the "fairest" manner possible regardless of one's political beliefs. This is the single biggest issue I feel the FairTax faces - that folks like to pigeon hole it as a political thing. WRONG!!! And for Copy and others to try and paint it as such just serves to identify them as narrow-minded.

It's my understanding that many, many folks had a chance to shoot holes in H.R.25 loooooong before it became the topic of a book. And those who took shots at it did so not from a "political beliefs" perspectives but from a perspective of seeing where it failed various income classes. Sadly, folks like Copy choose to ignore the findings of all those learned folks. I guess to Copy and others, those hundreds of folks are just damasses and Copy and his like are the all-knowing, all-seeing. Funny how I never see any of these websites or critics put forth any ideas of their own. My Dad often said to me, "Son...it takes absolutely no intelligence to criticize. Hell, a moron can criticize. The genius, son, is in the solution. Never come to the table to critize if you ain't got a solution."

As for ACORN involvement....that might not be such a bad idea. Once the folks in ACORN understand how it will benefit them even more than the present tax system, they just may come aboard. And if that were to just partly happen, the Prez would have to take notice. BUT......

WE NEED TO KEEP POLITICS OUT OF THE FAIRTX!!! It's the only way I see it succeeding. Additionally, the FairTax champion needs to also be politically neutral. Newt or Rush or Boortz, as much as I like and respect them, cannot be the faces the common American sees when they hear about the FairTax because, again, it detracts from the purpose of making taxes fair for everyone.

Hank,
We can't have the fairtax because the the poor spend beyond their means. Really?? So I have to suffer because someone else was irresponsible? I don't think so!
For copyleft:
No home mortagage deduction? Well if I'm not paying income taxes, what am I going to deduct it from? Same with charities; people only give to charity to get a tax deduction? I don't think so.
Manufactured goods costs will increase because the raw material will be taxed. Wrong, it is a retail sales tax on NEW products, wholesale business to business sales are not taxes. This is not a VAT tax.
Compliance issues, exactly what business man is going to risk their lively hood to engage in a tax fraud scheme with you? And the current code has such a wonderful record of complete compliance (tim geitner, charles rangle and a myriad of recent cabinet nominees who withdrew their names for tax reasons).
Last points, is the current code indexed for inflation? NO. What is the cost of the current system? $$$$$$$

Go back to bomb-throwing at the ajc(before they go under).

THE FAIR TAX VS THE CURRENT 600 MILLION ODD PAGES OF TAX CODE THAT NO ONE ALIVE HAS EVER READ LET ALONE COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND BECAUSE IT CHANGES EVERY &%@# YEAR AND WAS MADE UP AS IT WENT ALONG BY SELFSERVING POLITICANS AND LOBBIEST WHO HAVE I.Q.s MATCHING THEIR SHOE SIZES AND ONLY CARE ABOUT MONEY AND POWER IN THEIR OWN POCKETS SINCE MOST OF THESE SLEEZE-BALLS COULD NEVER MAKE IT IN THE REAL WORLD OUTSIDE OF POLITICS AND WERE TOO CHICKENSH*T TO JUST CHOOSE AN OUTRIGHT LIFE OF CRIME SO THEY SETTLED FOR A CAREER AS "PUBLIC SERVANTS"WHERE THEY COULD LEGALY STEAL AND SCREW HONEST PEOPLE AND PROFIT FROM THEIR LACK OF MORALS AND EHTICS AND HIDE THEIR SHORTCOMINGS LIKE THE LACK OF ABILITY TO DO HONEST WORK FOR AN HONEST LIVING! Whew!take a breath.summed up in one sentence.

Remember on the campaign trail... even when he was reminded that lowering taxes would INCREASE revenue, he claimed that we not the purpose of taxing, it was make everyone equal..

He is interested in a world ecomony where anyone with a car, house and running water would be rich. He will start at $250K but in the end I bet he moves to a much lower number.

here I stand in amazement.. the fair tax is nonsense that will never work but Obama knows better than the CBO what his budget will do to the deficit?

simply..... amazing..

copyleft I'm glad we have someone like you to present.. as all liberals do.. with your nose high in the air.. your typical "I'm just better than you" statements to point out the liberal mind.

Where would we be on the boortz commenting system if we all agreed?

Of course you can find links to biased against websites for anything, this you think would surprise me? And you Copy have never given us the impression you are capable of educating the masses.

Revenues would go up simply from taxing people who have never been taxed before from the criminal side of life. Even prostitutes and drug dealers have to spend money and they would be taxed. Illegal immigrants wouldn't qualify for the prebate so they would be taxed or go home (even better). Companies would have more money to invest/grow their business so hey, more jobs! More jobs=more revenue.

And there are TWO books out, the second is how to answer all the nay-sayers, go read it.

Copyleft.Unfortunately, with the Fairtax, it is obvious when someone has not read it and understands it.Please read it first before you argue it and you will see how far off base you are.This is one bill you can't do a snow job on if you are talking to people who have read it.

MR. BROKAW: But what do we have to give up to reach the cost of a trillion and a half to three trillion dollars? There's going to have to be some pain, some sacrifice on the part of the American taxpayer, isn't there?

VICE PRES. GORE: Well, I, I think we should have a shift in our tax system, and I think we should tax what we burn and not what we earn, ....

Really? Surely you’re not so isolated in your little talk-radio world that you’ve never even heard the flaws and problems with the UnfairTax proposal? Well, if I must educate the masses once again….

The UnfairTax does NOT reduce taxes for the middle class and the poor, whose incomes are disproportionately more affected by a consumption/sales tax. (All the “prebate” does is shift the current lowest-level tax burden onto—you guess it!—the middle class again.) It DOES, however, do a lot of favors for the wealthy, whose wealth is less affected by consumption taxes. All the UnfairTax does is cut taxes for the 12,000 richest households in the country (netting them $700 billion), and then “rearrange” everyone else’s taxes to pay for it.

http://www.balancedpolitics.org/national_sales_tax.htm

• The UnfairTax makes no mention of state and local deductions when it claims “You’ll keep 100% of your paycheck!” No, you won’t.

• It skims over the fact that the home-mortgage deduction would go away, and yet it claims home ownership would go UP, rather than down. Actually, home values would be likely to decline.

• It claims a 23% sales tax rate, when it would actually be at least 30%. The cost of manufactured goods would be even higher, since the cost of raw materials to make them is also taxed.

• The plan assumes full compliance and a trivial evasion rate, rather than the entirely predictable “black market” that would spring up to evade these new sales taxes. The 30%-sales-tax incentive to participate in an underground economy would, in turn, result in far less revenue than our current system.

• It eliminates deductions for charitable contributions, putting the poor and elderly (remember, they have no income any more and are living solely on consumer spending out of savings plans that have already been taxed) in a worse position.

• It overlooks that governmental expenditures will themselves by affected by the increased sales tax on federal purchases.

• The plan assumes that consumer spending will continue as before; as noted, this is unlikely, and we’ve already seen the effects of reduced spending in a consumer-driven economy such as ours. It’s called a “recession.”

• It makes no attempt to address the cost of the transition itself.

• It treats expenses such as household debt interest, home purchases, rent, medical bills, utilities and even stamps as “consumption” in order to assume a 100% tax base.

• The rate is not indexed for inflation.

• The UnfairTax claims to be “revenue neutral” and that it “exactly equals the cost of embedded taxes,” which is a contradiction. (To be revenue-neutral, it would have to equal embedded taxes PLUS current income taxes PLUS current estate taxes.)

I'm afraid Newt has too much personal baggage to be a legitimate candidate. Plus he'd have to give up his other efforts, American Solutions, etc. I can't think of any good candidate right now. Too soon.

back up your claim. Do you have any facts? Of course not. That would require effort and thinking. Liberals are incapable of either...

The only way this could be bad is that it takes away the weapon that you and your buddies are currently wielding against the American People. Prices of all goods would be lowered by this rate and more because it costs manufacturers, distributors and resellers big money just to keep up with the weekly, quarterly and annual reporting requirements. I know, cause that is what I do for a living!!! They no longer will have to pass those costs on to their customers. And yes, we'll be able to make sure that they do reduce their costs. It's called SMART SHOPPING!!! Costs of goods are expected to be reduced by way more than the tax! AND your non-tax paying welfare types like yourself won't have to worry about the tax on necessary items cause we ALL (hows that for fair) will get a pre-bate check to offset the tax on food and other necessities. How can you argue with that? Oh wait, I forgot who I'm talking to, so I'm sure you'll find something you don't like about it still. Come on, let's hear it.

I gave my copy to Gov. Bill Richardson, on the condition that he would read it, and he said he would. Probably ended up propping a door open somewhere. I really would love to see the Fair Tax enacted, it just makes too much sense to ignore.

Just went to whitehouse.gov/openforquestions to post a question about the President supporting the FairTax. After posting, I was curious, so I searched the questions for 'FairTax'. Nearly 400 questions came up, and after skimming through them, they were almost ALL reviewed very positively. Not that I think it has a snowball's chance in h$%% at getting through this house, senate, then white house, butu those who support the idea MUST have a louder voice than those who oppose it.

The only way this happens is if politicians believe they will lose their job for not supporting it. Email, write, make calls, butu don't let this rest...

This is a great opportunity to bring the FairTax to the nation's attention. We must find a way to get it on the panel's agenda. Perhaps we should demonstrate in front of Mr. Volcker's house until the panel reviews the FairTax. And if they reject it we should increase the demonstarations tenfold and include all panel members.
Perhaps we should hire ACORN to help us get the message out - lol.

I've sent messages to Congresswoman Shelley Capito here in West Virginia, written letters to the editor, all in support of FairTax. If more remains that I can do, say on.

Why is it that no one wants to hear it? Can I say The Fair Tax?
That would simplify the tax code to end it.

I was very proud to post the Fair Tax logo on my Facebook page.