As long as we’re on the subject of tax reform….

How about a couple of other tax changes to promote the welfare of the country:

1) A carbon tax on fossil fuels, based on the amount of carbon dioxide they emit when burned. This would encourage alternative (non-global-warming) fuels in general, and also encourage the use of natural gas over coal (coal being essentially pure carbon, and therefore the worst when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions). The equivalent of about $0.25/gallon of gas should be about right to encourage the use of different energy sources.

2) A special tax on fossil fuels which are primarily imported (specifically, oil). The purpose of this is to help reduce our dependence on oil, a substance which seems to get us in trouble all over the place. A tax which amounts to $0.25/gallon of gas (in addition to the carbon tax) should do the trick.

The goal of these two taxes is to make other energy sources--biodiesel, hydrogen from wind farms, etc.--economically more competitive against fossil fuels. At some point, it becomes cheaper to use renewable energy (and we're close to that point with biodiesel). When we reach that point, we both become less dependent on foreign energy, but the price of fuel stabilizes as well.