A VAT is the “ultimate grand bargain” in politics, getting both sides of the aisle on board.
Revuen Avi-Yonah 14, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, May-June 2014, “Taxation and Inequality: A Case for the VAT,” Challenge, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 97-104, https://doi.org/10.2753/0577-5132570305
Ultimately, the challenge in enacting a VAT is political. Representative Al Ullman (D-OR), who was chair of the House Ways and Means Committee in the 1970s, supposedly was defeated after proposing one. But this story is a myth, and good politicians like John Howard of Australia have managed to build a broad legislative coalition to enact a VAT even after promising not to do so and to win reelection decisively. A VAT serves the Right's need for fiscal balance and the Left's need to expand social outlays, so it represents the ultimate "grand bargain" in American politics. It is a fair and sensible way to address the inequality that threatens our future.