Huh? But you said:

> [their] complaint is primarily that if a system is too simple, it's much easier to raise taxes.

which sounds pretty hypothetical to me! In fact this whole discussion is hypothetical!

> The reason? CA has a lot more deductions for people of my income or lower. CA can get you in all kinds of other taxes, but not income tax

To me, this sounds like a pretty good justification for a simpler tax system ...