Tat flax

Michael Kinsley goes to work on the regurgitated flat tax idea.

IT'S TRUE THAT the Republicans are the party of ideas and the Democrats are the party of reaction. Republicans set the agenda, and Democrats try to talk the country out of it. But the Republican Party is hardly the Institute for Advanced Studies. The GOP uses ideas like seasonal sports equipment — taking them out when needed, then scraping the mud off and stuffing them back into the garage until they are needed again....

The nub of Forbes' proposal is this: Everybody would pay an income tax of 17%, with most deductions eliminated, but enough basic exemptions so a family of four would owe no income tax until it had income of more than $46,000. Of course, it would still pay the FICA Social Security tax. FICA, which starts at dollar-one, is already a bigger burden than the income tax for most people. But it tops out at incomes of $90,000 and doesn't apply to investment income at all. But that is just fairness talking.

Forbes figures that almost everybody would pay less under his proposal than under the current system. And just to make sure, he would let you opt to calculate your taxes under current rules, if you prefer. So everybody would pay less. That is swell. But it has nothing to do with the flatness or otherwise of the tax system. You could just as well combine a tax cut with a proposal to release all the animals from the National Zoo. People might like that too. A simpler tax system would be very nice. But find me some folks who would choose a flat tax over the current system even if it meant that they would pay more, not less. Then I'd be impressed.

And if everyone gets a tax cut, where does the money come from? Do you really have to ask? It seems that no amount of recent experience can put a dent in the wonderfully convenient belief that you can raise tax revenues by cutting taxes, because lower taxes inspire people to work longer and think harder, yadda yadda yadda.

Debate on this quickly becomes theological, so let's note only that tax rates were higher than they are now when Forbes had the inspiration to be born into a wealthy family, and higher still when his father, Malcolm, first built the family fortune.

Next idea, please. Or, heck, why don't we take the balanced budget amendment out for another spin? It's been a while.