In law school I took a class on Federal Tax. One of our books consisted of the entire tax code. The thing is a monstrosity and weighs a ton (even in paperback). Even putting aside the size of the code, anyone who has ever tried to make sense of the different provisions and how they work together knows that this is an example of bureaucracy run amok. Scrap the entire thing and start over. Piecemeal mending won't solve the problem.
"In law school I took a class on Federal Tax. One of our books consisted of the entire tax code. The thing is a monstrosity and weighs a ton (even in paperback). Even putting aside the size of the code, anyone who has ever tried to make sense of the different provisions and how they work together knows that this is an example of bureaucracy run amok. Scrap the entire thing and start over. Piecemeal mending won't solve the problem."
Great point. I was talking to someone the other day about the FairTax. His background was in the software industry. He said that there are cases in which a piece of software has been modified so many times that the logic literally becomes impossible to follow. At that point, it is often better to scrap that software and start all over with something new. I thought that was a great analogy. We have been "band-aiding" our tax system for almost 90 years now. Any time we make a change to one area of the code, it has a ripple effect and creates problems in other areas. We are well beyond the point where it makes more sense to throw out the whole thing and start again with something simple and fair - like the FairTax.