During the 1972 presidential campaign, federal income tax reformcame unexpectedly to the foreground as a political issuein the Democratic primaries and promised for a few weeks to play animportant role in the election itself. It was soon elbowed aside by theprospect of peace in Viet Nam, charges of political espionage andcorruption, and attacks on the personal attributes of the two candidates,but for a short time it actually succeeded in crowding schoolbussing off the front pages. To the cynic, this might in retrospectseem to be the principal accomplishment, if not the purpose, of thevivid charges that the Internal Revenue Code is riddled with loopholesand that millionaires sometimes pay less in taxes than bluecollarworkers. I am inclined, rather, to believe that these grievancescontinued to smoulder below the surface, like the issue of schoolbussing, even after President Nixon and Senator McGovern turnedtheir attention to other questions.
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