1977, January, Pg. 86. From the Wool-Sack.

Authorby Christopher R. Brauchli

6 Colo.Law. 86

Colorado Lawyer

1977.

1977, January, Pg. 86.

From the Wool-Sack

86Vol. 6, No. 1, Pg. 86From the Wool-Sackby Christopher R. BrauchliOh! Teach the orphan boy to read,Or teach the orphan girl to sew.Tennyson, Lady Clara Vere de Vere(no relation to La Vere)Last month we examined the La Vere Redfield Estate Tax Relief Act which became the 1976 Tax Reform Act solely because Congress could not resist tinkering with the entire Code, having initially decided to make one very small change for a very small special interest group (if one person can be called a group irrespective of her life style), the late La Vere Redfield. Aside from a myriad of changes in the Code one can learn about, if not understand, by reading the Act, two important points about legislation in general and this Act in particular become obvious to the reader.

The first is that the more complex a piece of legislation or set of rules is, the more its authors are tempted to describe it as a "simplification" of that which formerly existed.(fn1) The reasons for this penchant are not hard to find. Neither rule-makers nor legislative draftsmen enjoy receiving criticism. It is their hope that by describing as "simple" something complex, those not understanding it will consider their lack of comprehension a personal failure and rather than display their ignorance to their fellow lawyers, be still. Since the author pretends to little expertise in tax matters and is not wont to be still, he can, without embarrassment state unequivocally that the more the Internal Revenue Code is simplified, the more difficulty he has in understanding it. Furthermore, the more reformers demand that the code be simplified by eliminating from it sections which make it unnecessarily complex and affect almost no one, the more Congress thumbs, at them, its legislative nose by adding additional such sections. It is Congress' propensity for this that brings us to the second observation.

The socially aware know that of the approximately 213.1 million people living in this country who are affected by the Internal Revenue Code approximately 81,666 persons or .1 percent of the total population are what demographers call "full orphans."(fn2) This term describes children 21 and under who have lost both parents. A further breakdown of this figure shows that approximately...

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