I don't know anybody who thinks VAT is left-of-center except "socialism is when the government levies taxes; the more taxes the government levies, the socialister it is" mouth-breathers (which, to be fair, many Americans are). Taxes on consumption almost inevitably have a regressive effect.
Ah, this takes me back to my early days of following politics, when people called Stephen Harper's VAT cut regressive... and then my provincial NDP raised it. Good times.
I think it's basically a sure thing that the next Republican trifecta will do a VAT and lower income tax rates further to offset it.
That would be politically very difficult.
Trump and House Republicans already flirted with it, but the senate majority was too narrow and too traditional to consider it. That won't be the case for the next Republican president.
