If you had a magic wand, and could make everyone in America today read one book, what would it be?
If you conducted a poll on it, I imagine a lot of people would choose The Bible. The more politically minded might choose the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence. I'm sure there are some who would choose an allegorical morality tale like The Giving Tree or a universal how-to like All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. And I bet some people would pick a novel such as Grapes of Wrath. I loved Grapes of Wrath; that's one of the great American novels.
But if I had the magic wand, I'd pick something more current and policy-oriented. I would pick Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else, by David Cay Johnston. I read this book recently on a long plane trip, and it really made me mad about how the IRS and the government have virtually stopped enforcing tax collection on what Johnston calls "the political donor class." After reading this book, I concluded that a lot of people who make $500,000 or more a year are just not paying their fair share of taxes, because of either exemptions in the tax policy or lack of enforcement of existing tax law. This is particularly true of people who make most of their money through investments or deferred compensation plans.
I know the tax issue seems as dry as it can be, but if you are remotely interested in this topic, I would urge you to read this book. Johnston, a New York Times business reporter, is a good writer, and he keeps the book moving along fairly well.
Hopefully the problems this book raises will be resolved one day, and then I could pick something like Grapes of Wrath.
What book would you pick for the country's required reading?
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I'm simplifying here, but Johnston's take on the flat tax is that it is not as pain-free as it sounds. It's unlikely the IRS would disappear. The mortgage interest deduction would, though, which would upset a lot of people. As well, people with lots of assets could potentially live the rest of their lives paying little or no taxes. Finally, using the tax code to promote all kinds of public policy goals is just too irresistable to lawmakers and the public.
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