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SENATOR BROWNBACK AND THE LITTLE GOOD BOOK

July 19, 2007

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback floats a tax proposal as part of his foredoomed presidential campaign. It will land with a thud like a dull axe.

The candidate starts by declaring his undying hatred for the tax law:

People often laugh when I say on the campaign trail that the tax code should be taken behind the barn and killed with a dull axe. In fact, one man in Iowa was so excited by this proposal that he presented me with an axe before I finished my remarks (fittingly, I was speaking in a barn).

He goes on to say that he reads a trimmed-down version of the Bible:

Today's tax code -- which is sixteen times longer than the Bible -- is unpredictable, manipulative and hinders the economic growth that generates more prosperity for all Americans.

Um, no, the Code is not. Like the Bible, it can fit in one volume, but like the good book, it is often broken in two for convenience. That can only mean that the Senator goes with the Readers Digest version of the scriptures.

The Senator didn't come to praise the tax code, but it turns out he doesn't plan to bury it either:

That is why I propose an optional flat tax that would exist alongside the current code. This approach does not gore any of the tax code's sacred cows and it could actually be enacted into law. An optional flat tax would generate economic growth and be vastly more transparent, simple and family -- friendly than the current code.

We already have that. It's called the alternative minimum tax. Unfortunately, it's not optional.

It's hard to picture a less promising approach to tax reform than to start a brand new tax law on top of the old one. In real life, it would mean everybody would do their tax two ways (or three, if you count AMT, which you should).

The tax law needs reform sure enough. The way to do it is to broaden the base by eliminating special interest loopholes and credits, and to lower the rates so people will have less incentive to carve new loopholes. Adding a new code to the old code isn't going to break Senator Brownback from the pack of also-rans.

A recent edition of the Internal Revenue Code. Sam Brownback's version of the Bible is 1/16 as big.

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