My Dad is going to Washington!

Since time immemorial my father has tortured us family members with his theories and ideas. He has a system for everything. I couldn't peel an orange, banana or mango without being told I was doing it the wrong way. Sometimes he reminded me of the efficiency expert father in the book Cheaper By the Dozen. Most of the time his ideas are completely out there, and he inevitably becomes the butt of all our jokes. But he gamely plays along, and has never stopped re-inventing the proverbial mouse-trap.

For the last few years he had been playing around with a new tax system to replace the cumbersome tax code we currently have in America (and most every country, come to think of it). And he finally published it...just in time too:

Federal Tax Reform

On January 7, 2005, President Bush announced the establishment of a bipartisan panel to advise on options to reform the tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth to benefit all Americans.

The Advisory Panel will submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a report containing revenue neutral policy options for reforming the Federal Internal Revenue Code as soon as practicable, but not later than July 31, 2005.

Everyone and anyone was invited to submit their ideas for reforming the tax code. And my father submitted his. And now he is off to Washington to attend The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform's eighth meeting, to be held in downtown Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 11th and Thursday, May 12th, where they will discuss the submitted proposals.

I am pessimistic, or perhaps realistic, and personally don't think they plan on changing anything radically in the near future, and my father's proposal is radical. However, I think this is a step in the right direction, and it is very exciting that my father will be able to witness and, to some extent, take part in this.