With nerd-glasses like those, how could he  not fix the defect?

Pierre ‘Pete’ DuPont IV, Dr. J.’s favorite 1988 presidential hopeful (sorry Poppy), reminds us why a simpler tax code is a better tax code in his WSJ column today:

The federal tax code has become a morass of different rates, deductions, credits, exemptions, exceptions and phase-outs, and it changes every year. The end result is that no one understands how it all works. The Government Accountability Office once presented 19 professional tax preparers with tax-return information, and not a single one generated a return that was correct. It has been estimated that Americans spend well more than six billion hours a year simply filing out tax forms—the equivalent of more than three million people working full-time all year.

While he says, in true trustafarian fashion, that the individual tax code is, ‘as it should be’ progressive, that is the only point with which Dr. J. disagrees.

Tax reform leaving a simpler, flatter progressive structure is fine with Dr. J. as well (indeed, Dr. J.’s called for 1% of the first $25,000 and 15% of everything above that. He’d even go with three brackets so long as the highest is 17% or less, Mr. President). Indeed he’d even give up every deduction for such a structure as he outlines.

This sort of tax plan would spur growth far stronger than the anemic and disappointing 2.5% we’ve seen in the last quarter.

But a flatter progressive tax code better because it is a step in the right direction, not because Dr. J. philosophically agrees with a progressive tax code. Pete should make that clear as well, but he doesn’t because he’s living off of tax-free muni bond interest, capital gains taxed interest and speech and column fees, and kinda gets a little forgetful of the common man, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Dr. J. still loves the guy though.

Trustafarian slip aside, it is still a worthwhile read.

Dr. J.