George Will on the VAT and Repealing the 16th Amendment

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/16/AR2010041603993_pf.html

Money is time made tangible -- the time invested in the earning of it. Taxation is the confiscation of the earner's time. Although some taxation is necessary, all taxation diminishes freedom. Adding a VAT without subtracting the income tax would constrict Americans' freedom much more than the health-care legislation does. Because the 16th Amendment will not be repealed, adoption of a VAT would proclaim the impossibility of serious spending reductions and hence would be the obituary for the Founders' vision of limited government.

I agree with Peter Schiff's remarks that a consumption tax is preferrable to an income tax. Will makes the same points. The reality is that we will get both a consumption tax and an income tax. The government's appetite for the fruits of your labor is insatiable. It knows no end.

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