Has Treasury Secretary John Snow ever endorsed or supported the idea
of raising most of the Federal taxes through some form of consumption
tax (Flat Tax, "Fair Tax", Value Added Tax, Sales Tax, etc.)? 
Citation needed. I am particularly interested in a direct quote
favoring a consumption tax.  It would be acceptable to have a reliable
news source stating that he favors a consumption tax.

Hello moosetail-ga,

Treasury Secretary nominee John Snow has endorsed a flat tax.  He was
a member of The National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform,
which in 1996 issued a report ("Unleashing America's Potential") that
recommended a single tax rate.  Among other things, the report noted
that "Under the current system, income that is used for consumption is
taxed once, while income that is saved is taxed again and again."  The
report stated that "The principles of fairness and neutrality require
that all income be taxed the same, whether it is used for consumption
or saving ...."

"Unleashing America's Potential: A New Tax System for the 21st Century
- Commission Recommendations"
EMPOWER.org
http://www.empower.org/kempcommission/recommendations.html

"Unleashing America's Potential: Biographies and Appreciation"
EMPOWER.org
http://www.empower.org/kempcommission/bios.html

According to Jack Kemp, the chairman of the commission, Snow "was a
strong voice on the Tax Reform Commission and is totally committed to
the commission's conclusion that it is time to replace the failed tax
system with a new simplified tax code that taxes income only once at a
much lower rate on both labor and capital."

"Picking a new economic team with the right stuff", by Jack Kemp
(December 12, 2002)
Town Hall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jackkemp/jk20021212.shtml

While a supporter of lower taxes in that report, Snow has also been a
supporter of balanced budgets, and stated in 1999: "'Well, tax cuts I
don't think are a particularly good idea.  But tax reform I think is a
splendid idea and I hope we’ll focus on tax reform, rather than tax
cuts.'"

"Treasury Nominee Snow Supports Lower Taxes", by Joseph A. D'Agostino
Human Events
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/articles/12-16-02/dagostino.htm

I did not see any specific instances where John Snow was quoted as
supporting a "consumption tax" in particular.  As indicated above, he
has supported a flat tax that treats income used for consumption the
same as income used for savings identically -- rather than taxing
income used for consumption less -- and if he has opposed tax cuts in
favor of tax reform.  Thus it appears that Snow, in effect, has
supported a policy that taxes on income used for consumption should be
a greater proportion and amount of federal tax revenue.

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


I used various combinations of the following search terms on Google:

"john snow"
"john w snow"
"consumption tax"
"flat tax"
"fair tax"
"sales tax"
"value added tax"
vat
tax
consumption
sales
"national commission on economic growth and tax reform"
"business roundtable"
"committee for a responsible federal budget"

Thanks for making a real effort on this one and for including your
sources. I'll have to get a full copy of the report by the National
Commission on Econommic Growth and Tax Reform to be absolutely sure I
can apply the proper label to Secretary-to-be John Snow.

Justaskscott answered this perfectly.  However, I was left with a
minor confusion perhaps due to my misunderstanding of the question.

The question seems to categorize a flat tax with a consumption tax. 
Typically, a flat tax is referred to in the context of an income tax
rather than a consumption tax.  And from Justaskscott's answer, it
appears that Snow is in favor of a simplified income tax system, such
as a flat tax.

A consumption tax would be like the others you identified, such as the
value added tax (VAT) or other types of sales or transaction taxes.

Just wanted to be sure that a flat income tax was not being confused
with a consumption tax.

TO Justasksscott: Re "The "Flat Tax" is not really a consumption tax. 
The Flat Tax as outlined by Forbes and many, many others is a European
Value Added Tax, with an income tax add-on.  In Europe, all "value
added" is taxed.  Under the American version, wage and salary costs
are not counted as value added.  Instead, they are handled separately.
 Thus, anyone can fill out a postcard showing his wages and or
salaries and pays a percentage on these receipts. These taxes on wage
and salary payments would have raised 42 of the total "Flat Tax
revenue, and the value added tax would have raised 58% of the revenue.
 Thus, the flat tax raises more than 50% of its revenue from a
consumption tax--the Value Added Tax.