Wow, I only want to shut down three of them.

Here’s Ted Cruz explaining his plan in National Review.

Tax plan:

At the last Republican presidential debate, I presented the Simple Flat Tax — which, for a family of four, exempts the first $36,000 from all income tax, and above that amount collects one low rate of 10 percent for all Americans. It eliminates the death tax, the payroll tax, the corporate income tax, and the Obamacare taxes; ends the corporate carve-outs and loopholes; and requires every business to pay the same simple business flat tax of 16 percent. That plan will unleash unprecedented growth, create millions of new jobs, raise after-tax incomes for all income levels by double-digit percentages — and abolish the IRS as we know it.

[…]First, to begin the process of reducing the scope and cost of government, I have identified the Five for Freedom: During my first year as president, I will fight to abolish the IRS, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. To do that, I will press Congress relentlessly. And I will appoint heads of each of those agencies whose central charge will be to lead the effort to wind them down and determine whether any of their programs need to be preserved elsewhere because they fall within the proper purview of the federal government. I do not anticipate the lists to be long.

The IRS and these cabinet agencies are unnecessary and will be shuttered for the following reasons:

Internal Revenue Service – to dramatically simplify the tax code and enable everyone to fill out their taxes on a postcard or smartphone app.

Department of Education – to return education to those who know our students best: parents, teachers, local communities, and states. And to block-grant education funding to the states.

Department of Energy – to cut off the Washington cartel, stop picking winners and losers, and unleash the energy renaissance.

Department of Commerce – to close the “congressional cookie jar” and promote free enterprise and free trade for every business.

Department of Housing and Urban Development – to offer real solutions that lift people out of hardship, rather than trapping families in a cycle of poverty, and to empower hurting Americans by reforming most of the remaining programs, such as Section 8 housing.

Second, besides these unnecessary cabinet agencies and the IRS, we will sharply reduce the agencies, bureaus, commissions, and other programs that are harming American households and businesses — including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Together with the four departments and the IRS, our conservative estimate of the effects of these eliminations and reductions is a savings of over $500 billion over ten years. And that’s just a start. The true savings — of scaling down the scope of the federal government, of restoring to the states their rightful authority, and of unleashing the people’s ingenuity — cannot be measured by a number. We are uprooting the centralized power that we have lived under for far too long.

Even if he just pared them down, that would still be great. And he’ll do it, too. I don’t doubt that.

My list is just the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service. I guess I would be fine with getting rid of the Department of Energy, as well, a lot of good they do for economic growth. It’s important to understand that America is a federalist system. We have layers of government. When something ceases to be the responsibility of the federal government, it doesn’t just disappear, it gets pressed down to the state level, and perhaps even the local level. You can see how much sense that makes with something like environmental protection, energy and education. And for the IRS, we just need to simplify. They have to go, because they abused their power to go after conservatives. We should shut them down, and cancel the pensions and benefits of everyone above the level of resource manager.

One thing is for sure – if you eliminate 5 federal departments, then yes, you can afford to run a much lower flat tax rate. I don’t think he can get down to 10%, but 15% is doable. We really do have too much government, and taxes really are too high. We need to let families and workers and businesses keep their own money. Really not sure why so many young people want to keep borrowing, spending, and making government bigger and bigger. Doesn’t government help you as much as private businesses? How about your employer… does government help you as much as your paycheck? Really don’t understand young people. I suspect they don’t even understand their own madness.