Most eXtreme Tax-Simplification Challenge

I heard about this yesterday morning, but I didn't make a new post about it. Here's an excerpt from the speech that President Bush gave at the rally here in Rochester. (I was actually there, too, so I heard this first-hand.)

Speaking about taxes, this tax code of ours is full of special interest loopholes. It's a complicated mess. It's a million words long. The American people spend six billion hours a year on taxes. I think we need to do something about the tax code. In a new term I'm going to bring Republicans and Democrats together to make this tax code more simple and more fair for the American people.

The president is already fittin' to make good on this promise with a big ol' sweeping tax reform, and our own local representative, Gil Gutknecht is one of the guys leading the charge.

"Think of a world where there is no income tax, where you get to keep everything you earn and you pay the tax man when you buy stuff," Gutknecht, R-Minn., told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

Legislation co-sponsored by Gutknecht would scrap federal income taxes and replace them with a 23 percent federal sales tax (in addition to existing state taxes.)

Oh glorious day. Sure, 23 percent sounds steep, especially if it's in addition to state taxes, making our local tax 30 percent. But, think about it... You won't be getting money taken out of your paycheck, and you won't have to pay-in at the end of the year. Rich people buy more expensive things, and often more of them. They'll pay more. The poor will pay less. And if people save their money, they'll pay less than someone who makes the same, but spends it all. It also looks like big businesses will be losing their little loopholes they grew so fond of, and they're none too happy.

Business groups are voicing concern that President Bush’s proposed reform of the tax code will do some of them more harm than good.

[...]

Many industries have well-established preferences built into the tax code that a broad reform effort could jeopardize. The real-estate industry and nonprofit groups, for instance, have benefited from tax deductions for mortgage interest and for charitable donations.

But... I thought Bush only sided with big business. Guess maybe not. Now some could argue that this will be bad for charities, which is the first thing I thought of. But honestly, if all these celebrities really care about the charities they're handing their tax dollars over to, they can afford to keep giving, can't they? We'll just have to see which ones actually care about their charities, rather than look at them as a source of tax deductions.