[andyfox]

I think we pretty much have a flat tax already. When you consider not just the income tax, but also state and local taxes, sales tax, excise tax, the payroll tax, etc., our overall tax system is a lot flatter than looking at just the income tax (which itself has been flattened considerably in recent years) would indicate.

A flat income strikes me as unfair. Steve Forbes can afford to pay not just an absolute dollar amount far in excess of someone with one-tenth of his income, but also a higher percentage. My suspicion is that most devotees of the flax tax in Congress are really using it as a way to lower the top rates and don't really care about flatness at all.