Laser, your comment seems to imply a lack of familiarity with the details of the legislation. I suggest you look more closely. There is an excellent book out by the original sponsor of the bill in the House which explains how it would work, what the impacts would likely be, and address the common criticisms. It also gives a rather illuminating history lesson about how we got the mess we call our "tax system" in the first place.
The Fair Tax Bill does not do away with revenue collection, but only changes how the collection is done. The short version is that taxes will be collected on purchases of new retail goods and services. It is revenue neutral in the sense that the percentage of purchases collected as taxes is based on maintaining the current budgetary requirement; it is not meant to create a windfall revenue for Congress to fritter away, nor is it meant to collect less than what is required. The assertion that the final cost paid for retail goods and services will remain essentially the same after the bill goes into effect is based on the fact that 18 to 25 percent of the cost of goods and services you buy under the current system is hidden taxes paid all the way from inception to delivery. When those costs go down with the abolishment of those taxes, market forces will drive the costs to consumers down by an amount roughly equal (on average) to the federal sales tax being added back in.
Admittedly, my response here is limited, since I don't want to hijack this thread. So I probably raised as many questions as I answered. Just trying to show that there is more to it than you seem to realize. If you wish to continue the discussion in another thread, feel free to start one. I will be happy to pursue the topic further.
