I have long held that our current system of taxation is a bad one.  It’s oppressive, is changed too often, and encourages cheating.  Further, the more complicated the tax code, the more likely you are to have to spend more time, and in many cases money, sorting out what you do and don’t owe.  It’s onerous and I hate the current system.  I want to hack it.

With that out of the way, it was with some interest that I was reading this article about the multitude of tax programs which are being enacted to help students get out of debt post school.  When thinking about any program, I view it in the same lens as I would a product that I would take to market.  First is who is my customer, but second is how do they become aware of the product.  For the average person, staying on top of all of these government programs is challenging at best.  In times like these, I prefer to opt for simplicity.  With that, let me propose some assertions, and then a potential solution:

1) As a country, we should aspire to have a more educated work force

2) The cost of college, university, and graduate education is rising faster than the rate of inflation, making it more un-affordable with each passing year

3) With the current tax system, a higher paid, and more productive, work force should, ceteris paribus, generate more tax revenues

If we can all agree on those assertions, then I propose this simple tax plan:

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From Politico.com:

Treasury’s initial plan was about three pages long. The House version, which failed, stretched to 110. The Senate substitute now runs over 450 pages.

I will, for the most part, stay away from political issues on this blog.  No need to incesnse half my audience, one way or the other.  That said, I find this demonstration of our government at work too difficult to let go.

That’s my emphasis above.  Somehow the bill managed to go from a pamphlet to a novel.  Never mind the fact that the cost of this thing has swelled over 20% from the original ask.  If you have an opinion one way or the other on this thing, I suggest you let your congress  person and/or senator know what you think.  You don’t get to complain if you don’t vote, whether by way of your actual vote in November, or your proverbial vote with a phone call to your representatives.