Bill Bennett: “today is tax day, the day when most of us file for an extension so we can have another 3 months or so to work through…”

“today is tax day, the day when most of us file for an extension so we can have another 3 months or so to work through the problems connected with our taxes. I wish to review the history of our tax system and the groundwork for an attempt to try to solve some of its serious problems. One of the reasons we file for an extension is because the Tax Code itself is impenetrable. There are few--or I would say if any--who understand it. I remember when I was a very junior Senator here on the floor talking about health care, when President Clinton's administration was pursuing that, and making the point on the floor that the law was absolutely beyond comprehension. I quoted James Madison, who said that the laws should be understandable, and that was part of his justification for the writing of the Constitution. Senator Moynihan, the Senator from New York, corrected me; that is, he disagreed with me. He stood up and said: Senator, we have long since passed the point where the laws are understandable. Look at the Tax Code; there is not a soul on the Earth who understands that, so do not make the fact that the health care bill is incomprehensible a justification for defeating it.”