The Internal Revenue Code is 2,052 pages long. To create it took decades of late-night horse trading, millions of pages of expert testimony and billions of dollars in political contributions, often pledged after (taxdeductible) three-martini lunches. To understand it requires the services of a well- paid lawyer. To reform it demands a monumental effort of political will.
For Ronald Reagan, the consummate salesman, tax reform promises to be the hardest sell of his presidency. This week he will launch a ballyhooed campaign to convince Congress that political salvation lies in rebuffing the swarms of special interests whose loopholes now ventilate the...