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There has never really been a compelling scheme for a flat tax that solves the problem inherent to it -- that a flat tax hurts those with a lower ability-to-pay.

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Not a negative income tax with a flat rate above/below a threshold. The tax that hurts the poor the most is obviously the sales tax.

> The tax that hurts the poor the most is obviously the sales tax.

Right, which is a flat, or proportional, tax.

It's not really proportional, which is why it hurts the most. Wealthy people (who don't buy extravagant things) have most of the same basic expenses as the poor, and the sales tax can really be seen as a regressive income tax that eats up a larger portion of the income of the poor.

And the flat tax proposal is the same.

A simple flat tax, yes -- not arguing with that. But your statement here is incorrect, because negative income tax variants certainly are not the same:

> There has never really been a compelling scheme for a flat tax that solves the problem inherent to it

> Right, which is a flat, or proportional, tax.

It's not a flat tax on income, since marginal spending declines with income.

Every tax can be construed as flat relative to some measure.

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