But until lawmakers tackle serious tax reform, such grand gestures won't amount to much. Reasons for junking the current tax code have never been more obvious. Most Americans think they finished paying their taxes on April 15. In fact, the average citizen didn't start working for himself until May 10. The two hours and 50 minutes of every eight-hour workday spent paying for government dwarfs the burden of other expenses.
Taxes cost more than housing, food and clothes combined.
Yet millionaire Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin denies that Americans are overtaxed. And his boss, who promised Americans a middle-class tax cut, has sharply increased the tax burden since he took office. Tax Freedom Day fell on April 30 in '93, the year Bill Clinton took office. Tax cuts are necessary even if deficits result. Lower spending and reduced taxes even with red ink are better than higher spending and bigger taxes with black ink.