“Sadists who were trying to be nice”
“Sadists who were trying to be nice”: that’s George Will’s characterization of the folks who devised the current tax system. “Every wrinkle in the code was put there to benefit this or that interest,” Will notes: that’s the “trying to be nice” part. But “since the 1986 tax simplification, the code has been recomplicated more than 14,000 times — more than once a day.” The result? A painful, byzantine code that puts the whole metabolism of taxation beyond the ken of laymen.
As a citizen, I feel I should be conversant with the rudiments of the tax system. But time is precious. I do not have scores of hours to devote to filling out tax forms. So I do what many people do. Every year, I repair to my accountant who produces an impressively thick document full of complicated depreciation schedules, etc. I haven’t the foggiest idea what it’s all about, but I reckon it must be valuable since after handing me this opus he also send me a hefty bill. Why should this be? Why not follow Will’s advice? Under his scheme, “Masochists would be permitted to continue paying income taxes under the current system.” I might go further an denominate all Democrats honorary masochists. But that is a detail. The meat of his proposal is this:
Others could use a radically simplified code, filing a form that fits on a postcard. It would have just two rates: 10 percent on incomes up to $100,000 for joint filers and $50,000 for single filers; 25 percent on higher incomes. There would be no deductions, credits or exclusions, other than the health care tax credit [“$2,300 for individuals, $5,700 for families”].
Will has a few other ideas. After simplifying the income tax code, he suggests we go on to
eliminate taxes on interest, capital gains, dividends and death. The corporate income tax, the world’s second highest, would be replaced by an 8.5 percent business consumption tax. Because this would be about half the average tax burden that other nations place on corporations, U.S. companies would instantly become more competitive — and more able and eager to hire.
What’s not to like? Well, how do you spell “vested interests”? What do you know about perpetuating dependency under a banner called “Compassion”?
This is where Will’s arresting notion of “sadists who were trying to be nice” comes in again. The sadists in question are not only the creatures who devised the tax code. They are also the liberals who believe they have a monopoly on virtue. The people look upon their fellow man as an opportunity for moral calisthenics. They are “trying to be nice.” They want to boost us all up to what they perceive as their own level of moral excellence on issues from race and education to international relations and “the environment.” (It is curious, isn’t it, how “the environment” has become a repository for moral aspiration. At what other period could Al Gore, apostle of global warming, have garnered serious attention?)
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