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Flat tax. Fair tax. Simple tax. None of those things can ever happen if the purpose of our tax system is redistribution of wealth.

Fair, simple, equitable taxation systems accept that the primary purpose of taxes is to fund government to do only those things "that the private sector can't do" – such was the organic argument as to the necessity of taxation.

If one simply wants to fund government to do its constitutional purposes then almost any kind of tax will do and it doesn't have to be a very large tax. The beautiful truth of markets is that there aren't many things that the private sector can't do.

But, no tax system is as ideal as the income tax, for redistributing wealth, which is as far away from Constitutional-intent as anything can get.

In fact, an income tax is absolutely essential, if "robbing Peter to pay Paul," is your goal. That is made startlingly clear in the recent PBS documentary by Ken Burns about Prohibition. Prohibition — against the use and sale of alcohol — was largely supported by Progressives — not so much because they had great angst about the evils of alcohol, but because the legislation included the income tax. Prior to that, the government was funded by a sales tax on alcohol. Making alcohol use illegal demanded a different tax system – the income tax! Progressives were all for that. They fully understood, even then, that their goals were wealth redistribution, and that they could never achieve them with a narrow sales tax.

Wealth redistribution, and the power necessary to pick winners and losers in such a system, requires a complicated and convoluted taxing mechanism that ensnares every citizen, so that the power brokers have the flexibility and means to manipulate the people and their lives, and for the shroud of confusion a complicated system creates to obfuscate the consequences of their actions.

From a political perspective it is important to understand all of this, so as to understand what will surely be vehement opposition to any kind of tax proposal that is truly "fair." Be assured the Progressives will never be so forthright as to explain the truth of their opposition. They will point to other things such as the poor being unable to afford a "fair" tax (which is not untrue if it is imposed at current levels). The politics of it all will require that they maintain an appearance of wanting a simple tax system, but to retain their power will require clinging tightly to the current system. They will never find a "fair" tax system that is acceptable.

Be assured, also, that advocating for a "fair" tax is not about simplifying bookkeeping; it is about regaining freedom – the antithesis of wealth redistribution, which requires having a strong, centralized all- controlling government.

At its crux, there is an internal contradiction in wanting a "fair" tax system and in wanting wealth redistribution. There is nothing "fair" about wealth redistribution; it is an act of legalized theft. Anyone who can buy into that is not concerned about what is fair, just, or even moral.

Many people won't see the contradiction (or admit it if they do) but be assured the power brokers will, and they will never acquiesce to any other kind of system.

For the power brokers – no matter who they are (and be assured they exist in both parties) – nothing poses a greater death knell to their power and big government than a "fair" tax.