A Little Tax Talk

Interested in an article that's a month and a half old? No? Even if it's really good? Well, it may be over-the-hill in Internet years, and not your favorite topic, but I found it interesting, anyway, and better late than never. I was reading a TCS Daily article from today's edition, by Pejman Yousefzadeh, about the political wisdom of pushing for tax reform before the coming November election. Yousefzadeh (thank goodness for copy and paste) wasn't just saying that tax reform was good politically; he's for it on principle as well, but did think the timing could be auspicious as a Republican effort. (Personally, I think it could be meritorious coming from the Democratic camp as well. Tax simplification should know no political boundaries.) That article kept me intrigued enough to read it to the end, but the one that really caught my attention was the one Yousefzadeh linked to by Max Borders. Excerpt:

Eventually, if an idea is simple and elegant enough, it will triumph. Consider HR 25, the “FairTax” bill. Rarely, if ever, have the words “brilliant” and “bill” earned the right to appear together in a single sentence. But for once we have a policy option that a) doesn’t require voters learn complicated economics, b) genuinely benefits everyone, and c) should be able to get support from both parties.

The elevator pitch behind this idea comes in a series of questions: Would you like to stop paying income tax? Would you like to have the IRS off your back forever? Would you like to see people stop manipulating the tax system unfairly? Would you like to see the economy boosted and low-income families helped all at the same time? We all want these things. And that’s what the FairTax provides. Skeptical? Read on.

And that's what I shall leave you to do--Read on if you're skeptical, or interested, either one. I was a bit of both. I did like what I read, though.