The squabble between the Democrats and Republicans over taxes leaves me puzzled as to whether I am ahead or behind. There is little detail in the debate and lots of hot air, misrepresentations and outright lies.

I don't know how any proposed tax change affects me or others. I lack the facts to say whether I support one proposal over another. The IRS has those facts so I propose that we adopt the principle of no taxation without transparency.

For any change in the tax code, positive or negative, the IRS has to generate a county-by-county list of who wins or loses based on last year's tax returns and by how much. That list has to be published in the journal of record for every county in the United States. Statewide listings have to be posted electronically along with a national listing.

We fought a revolution over taxation without representation. We are being taxed and asked to support tax policies with no effective representation now.
How can you have effective representation if you don't know what tax changes mean to you? What do you say to your senator or representative? How can you tell them what tax changes to support or oppose?

I may not mind paying a little extra in taxes if General Electric is going to be paying more in taxes as well.
But if General Electric isn't going to be paying taxes at all, I may feel quite differently changes in my proposed tax bill.

The IRS has the data and the computers necessary to generate answers.

Covington resident Patrick Durusau's column appears on Fridays.