Knowns and unknowns, as a former Secretary of Defense was known to say:

Dear Sir or Madame,

I have sent in our federal income tax and gift tax returns for 2013. As in prior years, it is important for you to know that I have absolutely no idea whether our tax returns and our tax payments are accurate. I say that despite the fact that I am a college graduate and I try hard to make sure our returns are accurate.

The tax code is so complex and the forms are so complicated, that I know I cannot have any confidence that I know what is being requested, and therefore I cannot and do not know, and I suspect a great many Americans cannot know, whether or not their tax returns are accurate. As in past years, I have spent more money than I wanted to spend to hire an accounting firm to prepare our tax returns and I believe they are well qualified.

Enjoy the whole thing, which Rumsfeld posted to his Facebook page earlier today.

Complexity is a subsidy for those who can afford an awesome accountant. That’s not usually the middle class. The ridiculously complex nature of the tax code means GE and Accenture avoid tax liability while they’re canoodling with the White House and getting giant government contracts while the rest of us end up paying our fair share, as they call it.

Reason polled a simpler tax plan. Hmmm:

Strong support for a flat tax extends across income groups (62 percent) among those making less than $30,000 a year and 73 percent among those making more than $110,000 a year. Similarly across education groups and age groups, six in 10 say they support the flat tax.

Support for a flat tax extends beyond partisanship, with 66 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independents, and 52 percent of Democrats in support. Nevertheless, Democrats are more likely to oppose the flat tax (43 percent) compared to Republicans (29 percent) and independents (29 percent).

Americans who say the less government the better and that the free market can better solve problems than a strong government, favor a flat tax by a margin of nearly 50 points (roughly 72 to 25 percent). However, those who think government should be doing more and that we need a strong government to solve problems favor a flat tax by only 8 points (roughly 51 to 45 percent).

Under such a plan, the effective flat tax rate for the wealthy would be more than 8 percent, right? Because that’s what class warrior Mayor Bill deBlasio paid.
Fair share.