Our tax system is clearly "broken" because it does not account for the corruption of mankind.  Whenever a person or group of people together have unlimited power, they will undoubtedly abuse that power.  Our tax system gives Congress the unlimited power to tax the citizens as they see fit.  It is written in the Federalist Papers why the founders did this and the main concern was the binding the hands of the government in taxation may keep our hands tied from defending ourselves in a time of war.  As they felt the government may need a unforeseen amount of money at any given time, they should also have an #ff0000 amount of power for the taxation of the citizenry.  However valid that reason may be, it does not account for the fact of giving the government unlimited power during all other times where the increased taxation of the citizens is unneeded and burdensome.  The tax code is now so complicated and confusing that even those that write it cannot understand its entirety.  Along with that comes the problem of the people not realizing how much they are actually taxed and/or where that money goes.  If our tax code was simple enough for everyone to see exactly how they are taking our money, they may have a bone to pick against Congress.  If the taxation bound the hands of Congress by not giving them a general fund, but forcing each taxation to have a specific purpose beforehand, the people may also see where the money is going and have a greater voice of opinion on the matter of taxation.  This is where my ideas stem.  The amount of taxation is really void to the point of informing the people of what the government is doing with the money they are taking.  It is true that the government may need an unforeseen power in taxation, yet why can they not have the power, but be hamstrung on how to spend the money?  Or perhaps forcing them to tax the people as a blanket would cover...only once they would tax everything instead of layering taxes to hide how much the actual tax rates affect commerce.

Idea #1:
Keep the tax code similar, but change how Congress can spend the money.  All money gained by oil taxation must go to building and maintaining roads.  All portions of taxation must be accompanied with where the money is to be spent.  Income taxes, for example, may only be spent on defense at a national level and police at the state level.  Or perhaps sales tax can only be spent on the education system.  They also cannot simply add a reason to an existing tax, which would create another confusing mess.  For them to create a tunnel for turtles to cross the road, they must inform the people that their income tax will be raised for this project.  They cannot simply add to the existing reasons for the income tax rate that this project will be added.  This will keep things separated, though they will still pile up over time.  Even though it may get confusing, the point is that there is no more general fund.  They cannot simply tax and spend the money as they please.  This removes quite a lot of power from them without handcuffing them in times of need.  

I would also like to add that though the past taxes may be confusing, any increases in taxation would be accompanied with a reason that would be easy for people to decipher.  They couldn't say they are raising taxes for the children for education and spend it on saving the trees instead.  This would allow people to keep tabs on the changes occurring without too much of a hassle, which would give them more power when confronting Congressmen and probably lead to a higher turnover rate in Congress.


Idea #2:
The idea that a single tax is the only tax.  The states and the Federal government would have difference places for taxation, but they would only have one each.  Even the local level can have their own without complicating this tax code.  The federal government can choose to tax only once, whether its a sales tax, an income tax or a sort of business tax, only once.  The state and local governments can do much the same.  By this we simplify the tax code incredibly allowing for people to easily see how much the government is taking from them.  Not very much needs to be said for this idea as it is that simple.  A couple thoughts though on some tweaks.  If one should choose an income tax, they cannot remove it from you before you have the money in your hands.  Automatic removal of funds would no longer occur, which would force people to send the money into the government, and by that act would see and feel the loss of that money.  This would of course cause the problem of people overspending and not having the money to send, but this could be remedied I'm sure.  Perhaps the amount of money is given to you, yet kept separate and though you have it you cannot spend it but on sending it to the government.  

Obvious ideas #3 & #4:
The flat and fair tax are obvious choices as well.  The flat tax is great because it removes the power to pit one person against another with the tax code.  When taxes are raised, everyone feels the pain and there is no class warfare as the democrats are constantly advocating.  Personally the flat tax is my favorite, but I like thinking of other ideas as well.  The fair tax is good too because, again it hits everyone the same and in this case it just happens on the consuming end.  The downside to this is that they can layer taxes through the production process of goods and possibly hide the amount of tax being laid.

A mixture of the ideas would work too, but I would rather not complicate this any more than it needs to be.  Getting the ball rolling on a change of the tax code is the most important aspect of any movement away from our current tax code.  By getting ideas out there we have alternatives to choose from which would encourage people that a new system would be better.