LONGTIME TAX BREAKS may be booted by the government: “An analysis by the accounting firm WeiserMazars shows what a profound economic importance these benefits have to working-class families. If you were to strip away all common tax benefits, an average family of four with a median household income of $61,000 in suburban Maryland would have a federal income tax bill more than six times higher — $5,954 vs. $774, the analysis shows.” This suggests to me that we need a flat-rate tax with few, if any, deductions. Think of what we’d save in compliance costs, too.