What a shock…...not!  The federal government is considering a Value Added Tax (VAT), a-la-Europe, as a way to bridge its looming financial disaster.  Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman from the Carter and Reagan era, let that truth out of the bag - though the administration was fast to deny it.  Yeah, right.  This, the most spendthrift administration in history is disavowing a new way to raise taxes.  If you believe that this is not a new tax coming, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

For those of you who don't know what a VAT is, it is a tax on goods placed at the Wholesale level every time "value" is added to a product.  So, unlike a sales tax you won’t see it at the register, rather, the price of everything just jumps 10% or so (all at once) and the hope of the government is that after that - you will just forget about it.  Sneaky, huh?

So already cash strapped families who cannot make ends meet will find themselves even further behind the 8 ball, as this tax is on everyone, rich or poor.  So much for the president's pledge to not raise taxes on those earning $250,000 or less.  And let's not forget the taxes of the new Obamacare plan, along with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on the so-called wealthy, which will supposedly add to federal coffers.  Oh, and of course there are new taxes on capital gains and dividends.  All of this, in the midst of the recession, which on paper seems to be getting better but in reality is not.  Folks, in case you missed the news, taxing the rich is the same as taxing employers since that's what most rich folk are.  Taking away money from employers does not get more employees or better paid ones unless they work for the government!

All of this is just one more piece of evidence in case you needed it proving that this is a, yes I'll say it, socialist administration bent on income redistribution as opposed to real growth.  I think they fully understand that these are mutually exclusive things and have actively chosen redistribution as the more laudable goal.  Just one problem: every time this has ever been tried by any government anywhere and at any time it has ended in economic disaster.  This time will be no different.