Last week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) reiterated his support for the fair tax, which he claimed lets consumers determine their tax rate based on their consumption levels. “The fair tax is what is says it is — it’s fair,” Chambliss said. But as Matt Yglesias notes, when former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee proposed a fair tax during the GOP primary, conservatives lashed out:
– David Frum: “Economists and tax experts virtually unanimously agree that the plan is beyond unworkable — that it is downright absurd.”
– Ross Douthat: “Huckabee’s Fair Tax zeal and Paul’s anti-Fed enthusiasm are genuinely foolish.”
– Rich Lowry: No, the former Arkansas governor has the distinction of advocating the most radical — and politically unsalable and substantively daft — proposal of any major presidential candidate of either party. … [T]he FairTax is a bedtime story for IRS-hating conservatives.
– John Podhoretz: The Fair tax is a “wild notion.”
“I look forward to the aforementioned conservative thought-leaders weighing in on Chambliss’ endorsement of fantasyland policymaking,” Yglesias writes.
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