Sales taxes are a really inefficient way of raising money. More specifically, you end up extracting most of your income from the poor and the middle-class, rath

Sales taxes are a really inefficient way of raising money. More specifically, you end up extracting most of your income from the poor and the middle-class, rather than the wealthy. We already have a fair way of levying a tax - it's the proportional income tax and it's done just fine in the past. You'd be amazed how those numbers change if you remove the Bush tax cuts from the budget (or, even more shocking, go back to Reagan-era income tax levels). I, for one, would rather raise taxes to their old levels than do away with government services that I value and that my friends and family depend on. My salary is pretty damn healthy - I would be "unfairly" taxed at a high bracket. That's the way it should be.