From Income Tax to National Sales Tax

I live in Oregon, and for the past three decades or so I've been told by the politicians in power how wonderful a sales tax would be. Yep, I live in one of the few states that do not have a sales tax.

Well, if a state sales tax is so wonderful -- and believe me, Democrats have tried to push is at least as hard as Republicans (remember, this is Oregon), why would it suddenly become regressive when applied nationally?

My only problem -- and the reason I vote with majority of other Oregonians to defeat the sales tax every time -- is that politicians want it in addition to the current taxes, not instead of them. Most of us learned our lesson after we voted for a lottery -- the money was supposed to go to education but instead a huge chunk found its way into the general fund.

As for me, there are some good points to a national sales tax -- tax shelters for the rich are a bit less effective when their purchases are taxed (and they do like to buy things -- offshore investments don't do them any good until they actually spend the money), plus those in the "hidden economy" (illegal aliens, drug dealers, whatever) and those who cheat on their taxes still like to buy things. As long as all transactions are taxed (including income, which represents a sale of service) so there are no loopholes, I'm willing to at least consider the idea.