The beauty of the flat tax, its proponents say, is not just that it will speed up and simplify the whole process, but that it will protect taxpayers against arbitrary interpretations of the tax code by an army of Internal Revenue Service auditors. In other words, it would help secure taxpayers against a trampling of their rights. Right now, the tax laws are so complex and uncertain that they constitute a threat to taxpayers' rights, critics say.
Political observers contend that tax disillusionment translates into political disillusionment.
Polls show that Americans would rather pay down the national debt than enjoy a tax cut. The reason may be that cuts alone are seen as more fiddling, more confusion and more intrusions. The whole mess could be cleared up by adopting a flat tax.