Oklahoma Congressman Talks Tax Reform At Town Hall In Tulsa

There was so much interest in a town hall meeting on tax reform hosted by Jim Bridenstine Tuesday, it was moved to a bigger venue: the Spirit Bank Event Center.

About 1,500 people gathered to hear how lawmakers plan to reform the tax code.

There are a lot of plans on the table right now that would change the way we pay federal taxes. Those ideas being thrown out right now. One of them is a flat tax and another is a fair tax, which could mean abolishing the Internal Revenue Service altogether.

Lawmakers in Green Country have been all over their districts holding several town hall meetings this summer.

Congressman Jim Bridenstine focused Tuesday night's town hall on the future of tax reform.

Jeremy Delgado said he tried and failed to keep his small business running. He said the current tax code hurt his bottom line and a flat tax could allow small business to thrive.

8/16/2013 Related Story: Jim Bridenstine, Neal Boortz To Hold Tax Reform Town Hall In Broken Arrow

"New businesses don't have to worry about getting hammered, its straight across," Jeremy said.

"We saw that we paid a lot in taxes and it was hard to survive as a new business and we didn't make it. We would like to see that be fair for new businesses," Carla Delgado said.

Some taxpayers say the Internal Revenue Service is the problem.

"I think the IRS should be totally done away with and a fair tax, a consumer tax would be more fair than anything," said Suzanne Wilson.

One taxpayer said the political system in Washington is really the problem.

"I still think the basic problem is the politicians, or the fact that we can't term limit these guys and what's happened with the IRS is a real good example of what can happen," Geb Blum said.

"If they were to limit themselves just to those powers, then there would be no need to fund our government with such things as a fair tax or a flat tax or an income tax," Joanna Francisco said.

People wishing to have their voices heard during the town hall meeting had to submit their questions ahead of time, rather than stepping up to a microphone.

Lawmakers will return to Washington in September, where tax reform will be one of the many highly debated issues.