Or perhaps you are drowning in debt and hoping for an easier way out?
No, My only is debt is 2 student loans and a car payment. The total sum currently owed is, about half my annual income, with out taxes, I would be completely out of debt by the end of year.
"I've heard conservative estimates for a national sales tax, and they have all been 20% or more. I'd assume it would rise closer to 35 or 40%, as politicians always underestimate the real costs of everything"
I still say a 12% flat tax, (at the point of sale works best for me). I know this is hard for most to understand, but when the government taxes anymore than about 12% they are costing themselves money, not making more of it. (Rose Friedman would argue that we should have only a 10% flat tax, because it is not the governments job to make as much money as possible, but to let the people be as free as possible)
Not to mention that it would encourage businesses and certain individuals to simply buy overseas, causing greater loss of American jobs. If 12% was all the tax anybody ever had to pay on anything, we would not have to worry about overseas competition. (the tax is already higher in almost every country)
And the wealthy get off, as they will spend a much smaller percentage of their income on taxes via their tendency to stock their money
It would be ashame to live in a "capitalistic" country with people who had "capital"