Why Are Conservatives Talking About a VAT?
VATs All the Fuss About?
How an unlikely tax became right-wing pundits’ latest fascination.
Have you heard about the value-added tax (VAT), a horrible new tariff Americans will soon have to shoulder? The alarm is sounding on the conservative Web site townhall.com, in the editorials of The Wall Street Journal, and on the opinion pages of The Washington Post (as well as in the pages of NEWSWEEK): consumers can expect to soon see the feared VAT sneaked into price tags nationwide.
Or, actually, no. No one in politics is seriously arguing for implementing a VAT, and there’s no evidence that anyone with real power in Washington plans to propose it. But the sudden burst in anti-VAT campaigning does offer a peephole into the weird echo chamber of political journalism.