Yes Jake I've read a couple of the Fair Tax and Flat Tax books and both work on magic promises of you are paying less and getting more.  But there is a big difference between promised savings and reality.  I compare both flat and fair tax schemes to what happened here in Alaska over the period when the legislature reduced revenue sharing. Yes the State budget did get a decrease. Yet, municipalities had to increase mill rates to make up the lower state funding. Alaskan ended up paying more under the grand plan to save the state coffees.   I see the same scenario  coming again as the crew in Juneau decides to cut more things and put those items back on communities.