All of the proposals I have listed are adjustments or

incremental to the current system. Even a VAT or national sales tax or Carbon tax was proposed as an addition to what we have right now.

We both went through the Reagan Reform which I think was the best piece of tax legislation in my lifetime. And under Reagan we also made the last material changes to Social Security and Medicare revenue. But even those were done while maintaining the overall structural and approach we have (taxing income). I welcome more radical alternatives, but I think we will not be able to address them - either at all (due to the complexity and Congressional makeup) or in time to address the next 10-15 years when we face the greatest fiscal challenge. Plus, making significant but incremental changes are much easier to predict in terms of revenue raised. Radical changes will inherently be less predictable. I worry about under-putting and making things worse.