The U.S. Tax Code has not been fully reformed since 1986. It is an overgrown mess.  Today, there is a serious divergence, on both the right and the left, between the size of the government we want, and what we are willing to pay for. Adding to the confusion, people have little sense of who pays what, how much, and when. Tax reform will be a major issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. Voters will expect major party candidates to lay out plans that confront budget deficits and account for the expiration of various tax cuts. But practical and reasonable assessments of how we might better match our fiscal realities to our ideal future are rarely forthcoming. The Benefit and the Burden frames the tax reform debate and explores the advantages and costs of the various proposals and ideas that will come to dominate America's political conversation in the years ahead. It is essential reading for every voting American.