Today we are just a tad below 18.4%/GDP.

Now here's a quick math lesson. If we throw out the military, homeland defense, transportation, commerce, EPA, interior, and FDA - effectively getting rid of everything but federal entitlement program spending, we need to raise the tax rates to approximately 20.4% of GDP and sustain them for the next 50 years to float the proverbial ship of state.

That's right. The income-tax revenue generation model is no longer workable (from a purely mathematical viewpoint - unfortunately for the pinhead politicans inside the Beltway, 2+2=4, not 109).

I wonder how much of our money and our future they are going to continue to waste before they admit this revenue model doesn't work and we go on to something that will work - like an investment-income revenue generation model.

This reminds me of that old Fram oil filter commercial - sooner or later, you're going to come and see me.

Simplify means quicker, easier, less error prone and more satisifactory. Better design means to achieve a function result with clarity, logical process and non-confusing verification.

In Canada, one may make a tax return by telephone if earnings and deductions are fairly straight forward. The process is a matter of listing the key figures, providing security answers and noting a reference number that verifies a return has been filed.

The phone filing method is great because it saves time, paper and postage and mutiple handling.

I wish designers would aim for more simplicity in cell phones and consumer electronics. Two inch thick documentation for software usually means the designer was a compiler of features and had no idea of good design. To simplify and streamline is demanding but very worthwhile.

A program like Print Master has wide popularity because it is a pleasure to use for making a variety of greetings and business cards. Children can use it with satisfying results. This is one measure of good design.
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Line 1: What is your gross income?
Line 2: Multiply Line 1 by 0.7 and remit.

Simple. :>