Business: WHY TAX REFORM IS SO URGENT AND SO UNLIKELY

THE art of taxation," observed Jean Baptiste Colbert, France's controller general of finance under Louis XIV, "consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least amount of hissing." Three centuries after Colbert's cynical appraisal, the contemporary American taxpayer feels thoroughly plucked—and he is hissing louder than ever. Now the ides of April are approaching—the deadline for filing is the 15th of this month—and the resentment of taxpayers points increasingly toward a ballot-box revolt. In a spontaneous outpouring of popular indignation, citizens by the thousands...