What If We All Had to Cut a Check for Our Total Tax Bill to the IRS Today?

My hunch is that if we paid our tax bill like we paid every other bill, our tax bills--and our government--would be at least 30% smaller. And that level of government would be perfectly acceptable to us.

The tangible pain of shipping off over a third of our annual earnings to a distant government would have kept the government in check. By seizing our money from our employer before it even gets into our account, the government makes most of paying taxes invisible.

This single reform--a change of mechanism, not policy--would bring about a radical revolution in our government.

Of course, it will never happen. Why? Because everyone knows it would make collecting taxes almost impossible. But what does that simple fact tell us? Americans wouldn't think they were getting their money's worth, if they truly understood what they were paying.