By Steve McGourty

Mar. 28, 1996

It is curious that in three very convincing rebuttals to my "Flat Tax" letter there were three different conclusions as to how much tax would be owed, and this from a post-card size simple form. It seems we all might be capable of math errors.

I have to admit that the tax plan described in the two coherent letters, and in the one a little more rabid than mine, sounded great. If this amazing Armey plan as described gets put into law, I am all for it! Who could argue with cutting their taxes in half or more (depending on whose numbers you use). I do wonder who is going to make up the difference. Corporations? The rich? You have to admit that these are two constituencies Republicans have not historically looked to for more revenue.

When I wrote that letter there were nine Republican candidates for President and as many tax plans. I chose to look at one of those plans, you folks chose to look at a tenth. It is clear that no one knows what the final plan will look like, as your three different monetary conclusions so obviously displayed. If the final plan looks similar to what you folks described, I might be "as happy as a dung beetle in a diarrhea ward" (however scientifically inaccurate).

While this is counter to conservative correctness, I am not ashamed to admit I think that our government does society good, and I understand that in order for government to do its job well it must have the money to do it. Do any of you think you can get as much done with less money every year?

Mr. McLaughlin was right when he said there was more to Boeing's layoffs than I mentioned. I did not even bring up the pestiferous arms war Reagan ignited that sent this country into massive debt.

Believe me, it is not that I like the current IRS system. I simply hope when we reinvent the way our taxes are determined, that the method is finally fair for rich and poor alike. Maybe Senator Dole will push the miraculous Armey plan, and maybe it can be enacted as you folks so ideally describe it (any one of the three versions!), with no loop-holes for anyone or anything. I'd even be willing to give up the home mortgage interest deduction, to keep it really simple. I am just not optimistic that the millionaires club on the right side of the isle and their close corporate companions (and financiers) are so willing to pick up that much of the tab for us commoners, at least without a fight (even though they can well afford it). Common sense should tell you that if there is ever going to be a fair plan, it is more likely to come from a moderate Democratic majority than from a radically conservative Republican controlled Congress that finds compromise repulsive.

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