When all is said and done, taxation boils down to personal philosphy. Fruits of one's labor vs. duty of a civil society. There are always going to be examples to support both sides.
While I believe the federal government is way too big, I am not against the income tax - which is a bit of a divergence from my "party". Generally, I support a fair tax rate - somewhere around 12% to 14%, but it really needs to be the number that allows a reasonably sized government to operate. It seems it would be rather easy to calculate: Federal budget as a percentage of the nation's gross earnings(I think I have that right).
That rate applies to everyone. I don't care how many kids you have, what you gave to charity, how much you paid in mortgage interest, etc. The tax form becomes:
1) What was your gross income last year?
2) Send 12% ( or whatever) in.
I'm certain many of you have reviewed the Fair Tax philosophy and have objections to it. I'd be curious to hear those. The only one that I can think of is that 12% to a person making $19,000 is $2280. That would be money they don't currently pay to the government in income tax - and it would be a tough pill. However, that very vocal objection would hold Washington in check for responsible budgeting.
Also, this makes the tax code incredibly easy for everyone and Washington can only fiddle with one number each year. I'm sure I'm missing something, though.
