Sure would be good for the country if we worked up the gumption to radically change our income tax system. By “gumption” I mean backbone. By “we” I mean you and me and our politicians and our vested interests.

Our system is horrible. We all know it is far too complicated. Fewer and fewer of us dare to file a tax return without help from a tax preparer. That should never be. No country should create a system that forces taxpayers to hire help like this. It is an abuse of our citizens, pure and simple.

We could simplify the whole system. We could adopt some sort of flat tax. Make this much and you pay this much tax. Make this much and you pay this much extra. Fill out your return on a post card.

One reason we don’t do this is the special interests among us. They are everywhere. And you are probably one of them as well. You like being able to deduct for the interest you pay on your mortgage? If we had a flat tax you probably would lose that.

As you know, there are a bunch of deductions. Every one has a lobby that wants to keep it intact. With a genuine flat tax most everybody would lose every deduction.

Then there are the folks who collect credits of all sorts. That is a code word for handouts. Nobody would want to see their handouts end. Like the guys who love deductions they would fight the idea of a flat tax. Which is a pity.

More is the pity that so few of our citizens end up paying an income tax any more. Nearly half of us pay no income tax. That is an insult to the other half. You live in a society, you should pay tax to keep its wheels greased. Even if it is a tiny tax because you have really low income. Everybody should pay something. We are all in this together.