If we're looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity [and] ignorance.

Two things have been bothering me this weekend, and they both involve the willingness of most people to believe what the media tells them instead of doing their own research.

The first is the lies that are spread about the Fair Tax. I advised a friend of mine to do some research on it, and he came back to me with an article by someone who was either completely misinformed, or lying. According to the author, the Fair Tax spells doom: the supporters of the Fair Tax are falsely calculating the rate by calculating it as an inclusive tax, rich people wouldn't pay "their fair share," the government would have to raise the rate because it would also have to pay the tax on its purchases.

Goodness. Where to start? The author never addresses the impacted tax that adds an extra 22% or so to every item we buy anyway.... and how that would disappear if the Fair Tax were instituted. Nor does he mention that all income taxes are calculated inclusively: if you're in the 15% bracket, you pay $15 out of every $100; calcuated as an exclusive tax it's 18%. Most Americans pay 33 cents on every dollar in taxes; if that were calculated at an exclusive rate it would be a 48% tax. (Hmm... I wonder why we never hear that 48% exclusive rate quoted?)

As for the author's "fair share" argument: rich people buy a lot more things, so they would be taxed more. You don't see poor people buying million dollar yachts or homes. (But for the fans of income redistribution this would be bad news: they would no longer be able to encourage class warfare by arguing that taxes should be raised on the rich, for example.) Finally: the costs of everything the government buys now includes the imbedded taxes, as mentioned above. Under the Fair Tax this would be gone, replaced by a 23% consumption tax. There would be no substantial difference in prices.

So: if you want to learn more about the Fair Tax, don't believe ridiculous articles like the one my friend found, and don't even rely on me. Go to the Fair Tax website, or better yet buy the new book, Fair Tax: The Truth. I would say take it from the library, but if you buy it you can give it to a friend when you're done. If the media isn't going to be honest about the merits of the Fair Tax, it's going to have to be a grassroots effort. We all need to do our part to help combat stupidity and ignorance.

Since this ran longer than I expected, more on the second thing that annoyed me this weekend, tomorrow.

The title of today's post is a quote by P.J. O'Rourke.