Simply looking at the status quo and suggesting that the tax code is sacrosanct and can never change, and that decisions made in the '80s and '90s can never change, is absurd.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The 1986 tax act is sort of the unsung hero of the very good economic times we had for a long time. Of course, politics gums it all up again and preferences get put in.
The Tax Code today is more complicated than ever, and the very people on the Republican side who denounce the Tax Code's complexity are the ones that put together what they now call a convoluted monstrosity. They put it into effect.
America's tax code is beyond repair. Tinkering with it won't work. The only hope is a bold tax-reform plan that will liberate our nation from the slow-growth status quo and jump-start a new era of American prosperity and growth.
The income tax is a twentieth-century socialist experiment that has failed. Before the income tax was imposed on us just 80 years ago, government had no claim to our income. Only sales, excise, and tariff taxes were allowed.
The problem with wanting the tax code to be 'simpler, fairer,' and 'pro-growth' is that it's impossible to achieve all three at the same time.
It is no secret that our tax code is drastically outdated and burdensome to all Americans. Fortunately, more and more people are aware daily of the inequities that arise from things such as the estate tax, and it has come to the forefront of Congress' agenda.
Tax reform is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Rather than passing a thousand pages of tax reform legislation and restarting the tax code manipulation process, we should change the paradigm. It is time to eliminate the IRS and repeal the 16th Amendment.
We can fight over what the taxation levels should be, but the tax system should be very, very simple and not distortionary.
Here's my thinking: Since tax reform only occurs once a generation, let's not tweak what we have and call it a day.