JB Williams -- There is no such thing as a fair tax

JB Williams -- There is no such thing as a fair tax: "Ever heard the phrase – you can’t get blood from a turnip…? Sounds like a silly old analogy from days gone by, but it happens to remain true today. People who can’t pay taxes don’t pay taxes, and that’s why people, who can pay, will always pay for everyone. Fairness isn’t even part of the equation.

In his July 11 Part III of his Economic Vision statement, presidential candidate Herman Cain does his best to pitch the “Fair Tax” – a libertarian economic proposal that offers to replace the federal income tax with a national sales (consumption) tax.

The Fair Tax concept would replace a federal tax on gross income with a national sales tax on everything you purchase. The allure is the idea of no more withholdings from your paycheck and that idea is embraced by a lot of people who are sick and tired of working 1/3 of their job for the federal government and then watching the federal government waste their earnings and then some.

But the problems with a national sales tax are significant

• The tax rate would be at least 30% in order to deal with the insane level of federal spending
• A direct 30% tax on consumer activity will absolutely reduce consumer activity
• A consumer driven economy must have healthy consumer activity
• We would pay taxes"