they got into the political realities, the thing fell part because they had to make exemptions, prebaits, another word for rebar rebates in advance and as soon as you go out on the campaign trail and say i'm proposing a 30i679% sales tax, you can talk all you want about the embedded taxes and all that kind of thing. it is a killer. just ask some of the candidates in 2010, colorado and elsewhere who got tagged with that fair tax. they went down to defeat. it is toxic. and in the real world, if you have a consumption tax, i guarantee as you see in most states notice this country and most countries around the world, you end up with both and you get crushed by both. >> so one way to turn income tax into a consumption tax is by allowing deductions for anything that you invest? >> full expensing of investment? >> yeah the flat tax is the easiest way to get simplicity without putting on a brand-new tax, ie a v.a.t. or a sales tax. >> jim, can i jump in? i worked on this in congress for gosh, i bet we did it a decade going at it different times in different ways just from a political reality of