You poor guys are laboring under the impression that the government will ever give up it's biggest source of power. Or that the millions upon millions of citizens who have become dependant on the continuation of the system will not join them in opposing it. You poor guys actually think that someone wants to do the right thing.
And that is the scenerio you should focus on.
Their biggest source of power is the votes that keep them in office. The tax code and the money spent are a power base only in how they affects those votes. If enough of the voters stand up and make their Congresscritters accountable on this, it will be done.
When President Bush is re-elected, and the GOP retains the House, we will see action on tax reform in the next Congress. It won't happen overnight, and there will be competing plans, but for the first time ever, a serious attempt (driven by no less than the Speaker of the House) will be made at overhauling the tax system. I'll freely admit the Senate will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table, but hey, without a challenge, what fun would it be?
If you've got what you think is a better idea than the NRST, get it put down on paper and get it on Congress' agenda for other alternatives to consider. Because tax reform is already a major legislative priority for the 2005-2006 Congress.