Would You Switch?

Today I came across this startling column by Robert Novak. I don't always agree with him, but this column really set me thinking. What if the Internal Revenue Code were substantially changed, resulting in your giving up the deductions and credits of today for a much flatter tax and far less intrusive IRS? Would you switch? Would you switch, knowing that if every taxpayer did so, the government would lose $840B over 10 years from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which would be repealed. Would you switch, knowing that the loss of revenue would require stiff choices in what we spend the government's funds on, quite likely causing pain in some areas of society?

It's a daring idea and I think it needs to be considered. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin introduced it today. It hasn't arrived at at Thomas yet. There are those who will dismiss it out of hand as more Republican underhandedness. Apparently, if Novak is correct, there are Republicans who have dismissed it out of hand because of the loss of AMT revenue. So much for limited government while they are in charge. Dismissing it, dissing it, hoping it will go away are not options that will end the AMT mess (it's reach is widening across the landscape) or the kudzu vine labeled The Internal Revenue Code. Reform is needed, it needs to be simple, fair and easily understood. I think Ryan has started down the right track.