Comment: Greetings: I applaud President Bush for tackling the U.S. Tax Code. I hope the panel will be successful in changing the 43,000 page monster. If I were a betting man, however, I would bet that absolutely nothing will come from your findings. Politicians like the current tax code because it is power. In developing a new tax system, one should keep in mind that it should be a cost sharing situation and not a cost shifting situation. Most people should pay Federal income tax so they have a stake in our Republic. My first proposal would be to eliminate the estate tax. I realize the Congress is in the process of doing this, but I would not be surprised if the Senate balked. Having a relative die is tough enough, but then to deal with taxes at that time is just not right. Installing a National Sales Tax of 2 cents for example could bring to the Federal Government over $200 billion. I understand that a sales tax is regressive, but one could exclude food, clothing, and shelter. Moving to a flat tax would eliminate most of the deductions people take today which I think would be a good thing. People do not trust what they do not understand and 43,000 pages of tax code is impossible to understand. Paying the same percentage in tax on earned and unearned income should be included. Wealthy citizens should be taxed at a higher rate when it comes to entitlements. Entitlements will consume the entire Federal Budget by 2030. Lastly, Rep. Cox of California recently prodded the Treasury to finally get rid of the "luxury" tax on telephone service that was passed in 1898 to finance the Spanish-American War. He did not succeed. Good luck, Tom Reints reints@ncn.net |