Tax reform is a major issue in the upcoming presidential election. The interest of the public was sparked by the campaign of former candidate Steve Forbes, whose rhetoric brought the concept of the flat tax to the forefront of political debate. Both Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican candidate Bob Dole have publicly voiced their support for a fairer, simpler tax system. Although media attention has centered on the flat tax, legislators have proposed a wide variety of measures aimed at overhauling the country's tax code.
The problem with America's current tax system is that it is complex, burdensome, and some insist, unfair. Taxation in the United States has a long history. Unfair taxation was the rallying cry that led to the American Revolution. After its successful resistance to British authority, the Founding Fathers vowed that the issue of "taxation without representation" would never resurface in America. Toward this end, the framers of the Constitution endowed the legislative branch with the power of taxation: "But because lawmakers are sensitive to the needs of their constituents, the tax code has become riddled with loopholes that often benefit the most powerful interest groups" (Reforms, 1996, p. 250). Consequently, legislators have been responsible for numerous tax breaks being put into effect. In the past forty years alone, about 30 major tax reforms have been enacted.
The American public has repeatedly voiced its dissatisfaction with the current tax system. A recent opinion poll ranked taxes third only to the economy and jobs on the list of issues that worry voters (Issues, 1996, p. 243). Although less than half of the respondents to this poll favored the flat tax, it is conceivable that a flat tax that retained deductions for home mortgages, charitable contributions and state and local taxes would win majority support.
Bob Dole was one of the first of the 1996 presidential candidates ...