And as you might expect, when the federal government took control, the overall tax burden went up dramatically. But I predict that nothing is going to come of it unless we first shift the authority and responsibility to tax back to the state and local levels. As long as the primary taxing authority is in the hands of the federal government, we will never have anything more than the pretense of state and local authority. Let me give an example. There's been a lot of discussion of the flat rate tax.
Many people support it, but there is a problem.
Let me explain why. That way, people will stop making economic decisions on the basis of where they can get the biggest tax break, and will start making economic decisions on where they produce the most wealth. That's the advantage of the flat rate tax. I like that, but now the problem. The flat rate tax, by closing the loopholes, makes it easier for government to get more of our money.