Congressman James Sensenbrenner: It's Too Taxing to Do Taxes?

Last week I received my W-2 in the mail – a not-so-friendly reminder that my taxes will soon be due. Despite most Americans displeasure at turning over hard earned money and dealing with complex tax codes; the majority of us honor the responsibility of paying our taxes – and paying them on time.

Yet, in the past few weeks we've learned more about Representative Charles Rangel, Chairman of the Congressional Ways and Means Committee – the committee that writes the nation's tax codes – failing to pay federal taxes on his Dominican Republic rental property for the past five years. We've seen Tom Daschle withdraw his nomination as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and also Nancy Killefer withdraw her name to be the chief performance officer for the federal government because of unpaid taxes. And we've watched Timothy Geithner be confirmed as Treasury Secretary, despite not paying his back taxes until after he was asked to serve in the Obama Administration.

I don't doubt the qualifications of these individuals, but I do find it ironic that "Tax-Evader Timmy" couldn't figure out how to pay his taxes, but as Secretary of the Treasury, he will oversee the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Even more ironically, he'll be a part of the likely tax increases we'll see under this administration. It's now become crystal clear to me why the Democrats always want to raise taxes – they are not paying them.

President Obama ran his campaign based on the promise of cleaning up Washington and bringing about change, yet, we've only just begun and we're already seeing more of the same.

I understand that tax codes are complicated and that anyone can make an honest mistake, however, we cannot ask the average American taxpayer to diligently pay their taxes, when our own leaders believe they follow a different set of rules than the rest of us.

While the tax money that Daschle, Killefer and Geithner are finally paying will help in reducing the hundreds of billions of dollars that have not been paid to the IRS, the reality is that it is time to simplify the tax code. As it stands, the federal tax code is too complicated, taxes are too high and the IRS is too powerful.

Not that anyone who has done their taxes needs further proof, but a National Taxpayers Union report based on Internal Revenue Service figures showed that the average taxpayer spent more than a day and approximately $200 in out-of-pocket costs to complete their taxes. Now $200 is a good chunk of any possible tax refund and way too much money for people who are struggling to put food on the table during these tough economic times.

We must make the tax cuts we've made in the past permanent. The marginal income tax rate reductions, child tax credit expansion, marriage penalty relief, and pro-business tax provisions have increased fairness in the tax code and allowed families and small businesses to keep more of their earnings, and as a result, better help the economy recover. Repealing them or allowing them to expire would only counteract the positive economic effects they have had – setting us back even further. Maybe Democrats who avoid paying their taxes wouldn't notice, but the rest of us most certainly would feel – and pay for – the effect.