I am inherently wary of any tax reform that includes a national sales tax without elimination of the income tax. Either one, but not both.

The advantage to a consumption tax instead of an income tax is that there is no paperwork for the taxpayer, and anyone who buys things will be paying it. The gains in privacy and reductions (billions!) in tax preparation costs make it very appealing.

Also, a consumption tax is very transparent. It's hard to sneak a tax increase in without everybody noticing.

Most tax proposals I've seen along those lines have a minimum income cutout to protect the poor.

Unfortunately, there is vast political power to be had in our current tax code with all of its little special deals. Favors can be easily dispensed to political friends, and punishments to political enemies. It will be a hard sell to strip that power away from our political class.