Change In Direction

I decided to change my research topic several days ago, so I thought I should post what my new topic is.  I am going to argue for a flat tax rate.  Because this year has been the first that I have ever had to think about paying taxes, I do not have a lot of experience in this.  However, in the little time I have had to enjoy taxes, I have come to realize that they are a horrible mess of complicated and unnecessary codes and breaks and loopholes.  I believe that our current tax code is designed to punish the general public for doing better economically, yet it is full of loopholes that lobbyists and special interest groups take advantage of to avoid paying their share.
A flat tax rate could make it so you could do all of your taxes in a matter of minutes on a postcard size forum.  It would not punish people for making more money by taxing them more, businesses and such couldn't worm out of paying what they should, and it would abolish those ridiculous double taxes like the death tax which used to be 65% of all your assets!
There would still be breaks for the poorest groups though (like a family of four below the poverty line would not pay any taxes on their first $45k of income).  Honkong and dozens of other countries in Asia and Central/Eastern Europe have implemented versions of this idea, and they have all seen growths in their private sectors, and in their government revenues in many cases.  Hong Kong is a great example, it has something for Republicans---a low tax rate for the wealty (17%)---for Democrats, the poorest 40--60% of the population pays 0% of the taxes, and the wealthiest 20% or so pays over 50%.  For both parties, private economic growth has doubled in the past 4 years, and government revenues have increased dramatically.
The only question I have is why we are not doing this now.

This view probably stems from my general view of politics.  I won't bore you with the details, but the short version is that I hate government.  I wouldn't say I am an anarchist, but government always seems to overstep its boundaries and takes away too much of the people's liberties.  I believe the ONLY things the federal government should be in charge of is military to defend the nation from external threats, enforcing contracts (making sure the grocery store isn't selling spoiled meat, or that the honda dealer isn't making unsafe vehicles etc...), a court system and law enforcement for crimes that are on the federal level or across state lines, and a simple flat tax system to fund it.  State government should provide a fire and police force, make sure all the roads connect between cities, have local courts etc...
This is getting too long, there are some more details, but I'll spare you =-D