Rewritten Tax Code

Today president Obama promised to rewrite the tax code to make it simpler. He has appointed a committee to "study the problem" and report back to him by the end of the year. Really??? Why should it take that long to make something "simple?" There are already 1000 good plans out there to simplify the tax code. So even if he does come up with a plan, all that will be accomplished is that there will be 1001. (Note to literalists: I use the number 1000 to make a point, not because there are exactly 1000 plans.)

Personally, I favor a flat tax with absolutely no deductions for anyone for any reason except a healthy personal exemption for each person. And I only agree with that so that the poor would pay no taxes, as was originally intended when the constitutional amendment was passed. And if you're going to give an exemption to one, you have to give it to all if you really believe in fairness.

So every person in the country would be entitled to a personal exemption of, say, $10,000-$15,000. But every nickel above that would be taxed, No Exceptions! I think 10% would be a fair number. I imagine, but can't prove, that if every penny above the personal exemption were taxed at 10%, the government would probably take in at least as much money as it does now with its myriad deductions.

Of course, we need to be fair. The current tax monster would need to be phased out gradually since so many people have planned their expenses around the current system. So eliminating things like the mortgage deduction would cause more problems than it would solve if done cold turkey. But if say the current system were phased out a portion at a time over the next 5-7 years while the new system is phased in, people would have time to readjust their lives if necessary so as not to be dependent on the deductions currently available.