In Good Company?

Republican leadership demonstrates once again their ignorance and how bankrupt their thinking is. Eric Cantor, one of the "young stars" of the Republican Party, rejected the idea of a VAT (value added tax) as being "too European." A VAT was one potential solution to the budget problems suggested by the deficit commission. Catherine Rampell provides a map of the 150+ countries around the world that currently use this device to fund their governments. The question is: would we rather be associated with European governments (and Canada, Australia, Japan, China and India) or the likes of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Angola and Myanmar?