Posted: Oct 19, 2005 By: Walter B. Vogdes

Subject: Tax Reform

Comment: As a law-abiding taxpayer and homeowner, I take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction and every other deduction to which I am entitled. Even so, I am enthusiastically in favor of sweeping tax reform, despite the possibility that I might wind up paying more. The current system of tax-advantaged incentives creates far too much opportunity for unfairness, while its complexity places an enormous annual burden on individuals when it is time to complete their tax return. Accountants, lobbyists, lawyers, tax advisors and who knows how many others make a living by keeping the current "system" afloat and by pursuing changes which will benefit their clients. As a result, the "system" is bloated, not capable of being policed or administered, and fatally out of balance. Tax reform, when enacted, must be accompanied by both firm resolve and legislation to prevent the "social engineers" from reverting to a different version of the same biased system which we have today.