Oh please, thou dost protest too much!
For decades, Republicans have railed against "big government" and opined in the papers about the virtues of a smaller federal government. Yet in the past 5 years of Republican control of the capital, they have failed to cut a dime of expenses. In fact, they have spent even more money than Democrats before them and run up historically large deficits to pay the bills. The only thing they actually have cut has been revenues.
The funny thing is that you dont hear much about the evils of "big government" from Republicans these days. Spending isnt the problem apparently, revenue (ie taxes) is.
Mr Forbes wants a flat tax. I actually see a lot of virtue in simplifying the tax code for many of the arguments he uses.
However, one has to ask how the tax code became such a mess in the first place. The answer is: special loopholes for wealthy individuals, powerful lobbies, and large corporations. Those forces have not gone away nor will they sit idly by while tax-reformers raise their taxes and eliminate their hard-won exceptions.
So will a flat tax reform succeed? Ask yourself whether this administration has shown itself as a force for cutting programs and defeating powerful political forces. If it's not "faith based" or a war, this particular Republican administration has been anything but steadfast on reforms. A Republican flat tax is just a distraction from their real efforts to continue Federal government bloat and get religion in schools.
One Simple Rate
August 15, 2005
A major domestic battle looms this fall, when tax reform -- a centerpiece of the president's bold domestic agenda -- will finally be on the table. The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is expected to release its findings by the end of September. After the political shellacking the White House took on Social Security, the administration will be strongly tempted to take a conciliatory path that supports only superficial reforms, essentially preserving the status quo of our hideous income tax code.
Such a course would have perilous consequences, economically and politically. In fact, the administration has an opportunity here to boldly retake the initiative, to recover lost political support and thrust an already decent economy into high gear and, at the same time, make America better able to meet intensifying competition from China, India and others. How? By junking the entire federal income tax code and starting over with a flat tax. A growing number of countries are doing this -- and so should we.
