Dick Armey, a former U.S. Representative from Texas, has proposed a new tax plan that he believes will eradicate the pain of the people. The plan is the flat tax. The flat tax will replace the current tax code with a single income tax that treats all Americans equally. All income will only be taxed once and at a single rate, regardless of your income. According to Armey, the flat tax will help reduce the paperwork nightmare to a simple one-page form. This seems fair enough and easy to digest, but compared to the Fair Tax there are notable differences. The flat tax remains a kind of income tax, while the Fair Tax is a consumption tax. There are many more consumers than employees in America. Taxing every consumer will generate more revenue for the United States than taxing only workers. Another advantage of the Fair Tax is that only the consumption of new goods and services is taxed and the consumer has the choice whether or not to spend money on a new product. Under the flat tax, the government only taxes those who legitimately earn a salary and therefore does not tax those who are here illegally or working for money to avoid paying.