After all, taxes have been around since Biblical times. But the Good Book, in all its wisdom, only devotes a few lines to taxes. The U.S. government, on the other hand, saw fit to spend three times as many words on its Internal Revenue Code as are in the entire King James Bible. Now, I'm no theologian, but it seems like we might do better to follow the Lord's lead on this one rather than the IRS.

It was, after all, our Creator who endowed us with the rights to life, liberty, and property. But to me, at least, sorting through the tax code each year is about the furthest you can get from any other of those things.

Paying taxes shouldn't be this way. Nor does it have to be. When I served as U.S. House Majority Leader, I introduced a Flat Tax plan to take all those thousands of pages of tax code and scrap them. In its place would be a simple, easy, fair tax form that could fit on an index card. You'd spend a few minutes on it once a year, and then you'd forget about it—just as it should be. See for yourself-- you can do your own taxes in seconds with this online Flat Tax Calculator.

People in Washington get ornery when you try to talk about tax reform. They'll call you crazy, irresponsible, or worse. But that's just their fear and anxiety talking. For many politicians, the tax code is a source of power, allowing them an easy way to dole out money to their favorite constituents—conveniently funded by you, the taxpayer.

Will Rogers said that the difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. For once, it would be nice if our government could prove him wrong. Tax reform is important not only to fiscal conservatives, but to anyone who stumbles through schedules and charts every April, or pays someone to do it for them.

If limited government conservatives are going to recapture Congress and the White House, they will need a broad national vision that appeals beyond the traditional base to also win the support of independent voters and moderate Democrats. A common sense and honest flat tax plan might be just the corner stone to that vision.