(CNSNews.com) - At a press conference Tuesday called by Grover Norquist and his conservative anti-tax organization, Americans for Tax Reform, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) displayed a piece of stationary he said ought to be the future of how Americans pay their taxes.

"The flat tax," said Specter. "You will fill this postcard out in just 15 minutes, and we will save billions of dollars in expenses. But this is going to require a taxpayer's revolt."

Republican congressmen and conservative activists gathered on tax deadline day Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and used the occasion to lament the burden of taxes and the tax-filing system and to try to raise awareness to swing votes in the upcoming presidential election in November towards GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"I have cheerful and un-cheerful news," Norquist said. "The cheerful news is that in the 15 years since 1993 there has been no tax increase passed at a national level. That is the longest period in history going back to George Washington. In the last 8 years there have been two tax cuts.

"The bad news is that we still have a 'spend too much' and a 'tax too much' problem," Norquist added.

Norquist told Cybercast News Service that if he and other anti-tax groups can build awareness among Americans of the real burden of taxes, the election could swing in McCain's favor.

Norquist views McCain as the candidate least hostile to taxpayers when compared to Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas), who spoke at the press conference, said that taxpayers ought to be celebrating April 23, which she called "tax freedom day" - the first day of the year in which American workers have, theoretically, earned enough to pay for the federal government and can now start working for themselves.

The "Tax Freedom Day" is calculated each year by the conservative Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based tax research group. "It's very interesting," said Hutchinson, "Americans work 113 days to pay the federal government taxes and only 108 days for food and lodging."

Norquist told Cybercast News Service that if Americans realized how much they really pay to the federal government, it could help McCain in November.

"This election is all about taxes," he said. "If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, there will be a $2 trillion tax increase over 10 years. We need to find a way to make this number real, and to make it resonate with Americans."

Citing President George H.W. Bush in the 1988 election, Norquist said that when Americans pay attention, taxes are very important to them.

"Bush said 'no new taxes' and got elected," Norquist told Cybercast News Service. "He then raised them and was beaten by a nobody from Arkansas as a consequence. When Republicans do raise taxes, they compromise the brand. It's a powerful issue among Republicans."

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that if the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts are not extended (which neither Clinton nor Obama have pledged to do), the country could be facing historically high taxes.

"Right now we are possibly going into a recession, and the last thing America needs is a tax increase looming on the horizon," said Ryan. "The problem in Washington is this notion that there is no limit on how much we can tax people and bring their money up to Washington to spend. That doctrine has got to end."

Citing the cost to the economy of approximately $7 billion a year to administer taxes, Pete Sepp, vice president of policy and communications for the National Taxpayers Union, warned that the problem goes beyond the burden of extracted tax revenue itself.

"The burden of filing taxes has become a huge problem itself," said Sepp. "The IRS is telling us we have the most efficient tax-collecting system in the world, but they have shifted the burden of compliance onto the private sector. It's very cheap for the government, but that doesn't mean it is cheap for the economy.

"Even when they cut taxes, they can impose other kind burdens on our society. Tax payers pay attention to how we tax, not just how much," he added.

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