I don't know why I haven't read Mr. Williams articles before this post. Much of what he relates, I totally agree with in my opinion. I read Mr. Bortz for the first time today too. He also makes much sense, however, I do not find his writing as easy to follow. His conclusions leap out at you without the logical thought progression necessary to completely understand his intent. One such is the Fair Tax idea. The quote in the Wall Steet Journal in opposition to the Fair Tax concept relates an example where a $77 dollar item cost, when sold would cost as much as $130 under the Fair Tax. Yet, it did not offset that amount by deducting the amortized Income tax that would have been paid from that total, as Mr. Bortz insinuates in agreement with the Fair Tax. Whether you pay 28% on gross wages or pay 28% per item, the calculations must be offset from one to the other. The Fair Tax does include taxation on purchases by those who would otherwise not pay taxes, such as drug money, tourism, company perks to executives, and many other areas not taxed now. This would substantially decrease the actual taxes per person, as more revenue incoming to the government would be spread among more people. The only thing problem with this approach is that with more revenue, government has the habit of spending all that it brings in. The only way the Fair Tax works is if government is limited in it's spending. Back to your post. I'm going to start reading more from these columnists. I generally get my news from Fox, CNN, and NewsMax, along with the major news networks on a casual basis, not actively researching the news for info.