Charley's Stupid Suggestion No. 1

This is the first in what I hope will be a list of conversation-starting suggestions. I'm interested in what people might say about topics that I am interested in.

This suggestion applies to whatever collection of persons in the U.S. wants to "simplify" the tax code.

For individuals, have a gross income tax of 10 percent that applies to every person earning income in the U.S. For those that have employers, the employer should withhold and transmit the tax to the government. For those without employers, there would be on some sort of "honor" system as there is now.

For corporations, have an income tax of 15 percent of gross income minus reported payments to employees as confirmed by transmitted individual income taxes withheld..

No other deductions. No favors for individual groups. Just a relatively flat tax for everyone. No capital gains tax and no death tax.

If the govenrment cannot live on the income produced this way let it stop doing some of its less useful activities, reduce or eliminate some segments. After all, the Federal Government really needs to only provide an Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, some means of governing imigration and ingress and egress to and from the country, control of interstate commerce, and a few other things that I can't think of now.