Agree with you 100%.
Also agreed.
The sad thing is real reform like a fair or flat tax was possible here and this is what the GOP serves up.
Again, very true.
This was a squandered opportunity...
Now, here I beg to differ. While I hoped for a little more (in this bill), the possibility of true reform (or I'd call it drastic reform) toward a simple, fair Federal tax system reform -- personally I lean toward a national end-user sales tax -- is, at least in "a fell swoop" (or 2 or 3) essentially impossible partially because of taxpayers like YOU, Sky Pilot.
The pols were not dumb - as has been explained upthread: our tax system has been deliberately designed with high levels of taxation and then lots of loopholes / breaks. This makes it difficult to enact change and simplification, because people don't want to lose their breaks, and it only takes a few screaming to attract a lot of opposition. It becomes virtually impossible to make needed changes without either negatively affecting SOMEONE, or increasing the tax code complexity, which is already disastrous.
Further, it is just not realistic to expect the GOPe to push through "real reform" as described above. How many Senators or Reps have publicly announced since, say, 1/1/2016, that they clearly support such? About the best that can be done is give more taxpayers than not a little relief, simplify things a bit (personally, I'm really waiting to see if Schedule C and all it's related forms, worksheets, accounting, instructions, and so on, will see any simplification), maintain some political momentum so as to continue to drain the swamp (etc.), and generate some sustained economic growth. Hopefully these things will lead to a stronger hand for Trump, his supporters, and other tax reformers in Congress in the future.
This is where your argument falls apart:
“It becomes virtually impossible to make needed changes without either negatively affecting SOMEONE, or increasing the tax code complexity, which is already disastrous.”
The first statement is true; the second a complete lie. The tax code is complex because they (Congress) want it complicated so no one notices their corrupt machinations.
It is very easy to simplify it; in fact it’s much harder to maintain the current steaming pile of putrescence that now passes for “law.” Let’s see. A simple one line code based upon a reasonable function or 78,000 tangled pages of special-interest driven bureaucratic excrement that ensnares everyone in a intrusive police state that wastes billions or trillions of dollars each year on “simple” compliance?
Pols are not dumb; they are corrupt, cowardly, professional liars who are only interested in maintaining personal power at the expense of our nation. Every one of these spineless bastards is in office because, just like Charlie Brown on the football field, conservatives fall for the same lie again and again: “As soon as we have control of x, then we will really-truly truly-really change and pass some conservative reforms.”
Politics is just like any other area of life, if you wait for the perfect time to make a significant change, it will never happen. It takes strength of character to lead, and not one Republican is fit to lead a troop of Girl Scouts.