Regardless of the method proposed to replace/renovate/replace the tax system, I fear we are already half-way down the slippery slope.
Too many in our population are living off the government teat, and as long as there are the Gepharts and Dasch-holes and Kennedys in our government who take advantage of that fact - even encourage it as a power trip, income taxes will be defended mightily.
Alan preaches to the choir. The benificiaries of my overtaxation chuckle at his (our) protest as they reach for the Democrat lever in the voter's booth.
*sigh*
Exactly. The problem is people think government programs whether its reparations or whatnot are free largely since they never see how much they're actually paying for them. If income withholding didn't exist in this country that silently shrinks your paycheck when you begin working, the people would rebel against the existence of the income tax if they had to write out a check for what is owed to the government. The reason the income tax is a danger to liberty is not just that the government gets to find out about your personal spending and saving habits. Its a danger since there's no real limit on how much it can exact to play off one part of the American people against another and keep them all dependent upon it for their survival. In truth we're all little better than happy slaves. I think the Founders would be shocked today at how much we've gotten used to the loss of our liberty. "Reforming" the income tax won't restore our personal freedom or constrain the appetite of the government to take ever more control over our lives. The only way we can ensure we have the maximum personal freedom AND limited government originally envisaged as the enduring principles of our constitutional system of government is to get rid of the income tax altogether. This ought to be the sole focus of ALL conservative discussion about national fiscal policy for the rest of the century.