As usual a great analysis.  But you need more pretty pictures like DoDo's diaries, I can't read more than a paragraph of text without a picture to break it up.

What do you think about the Australian carbon tax model?  (which I believe is revenue neutral)

On the bus recently a chap was telling all who would listen that he believed that the US was soon to do a false flag operation using a small nuclear device in a shipping container and blaming it on North Korea.  It sounds similar to what you are claiming, in his theory the government would generate the surplus demand through war destruction triggered by an Event.  He also explained that Americans understand 'only war' as a police because of NFL.

Do you see the hurricane having any effect on popular support for a CT?  I know a lot of people around here are already quite vocally against a CT (mind you, they appear to be against all taxes, and the roads and schools show it :).