I live near a border town with a no sales tax state. The comparable town on the no tax side of the line has seen increased growth for the 20 years I've been shopping here. The town on my side of the line just opened it's 18th empty storefront on the two main roads I town. It's not the sales tax that kills the town, it's the close neighbor without it.

Obviously it's not just sales tax. The real estate on my town is owned almost entirely by two people. One with a lucrative housing contract with the prisons re-integration program. A great idea but not when captured by cronyism.

Well, rich people may buy higher quality, but they don't buy proportionate to what average and lower classes spend. The rich invest in tax shelters and other vehicles to make more money.

So it ends up that tax hurts the poor a hell of a lot worse than the rich. And the fact that 7% of someone who is "poor" is a hell of a hit on the low wage they already get (and taxed on).

35% on labor tax, but only 18% on investments. I'm pretty sure Warren Buffet came out on that talking point a while back.

Yes, like a sales tax. That is an extremely regressive tax and should be removed.