Last Minute Tax Filers Cram Post Offices : Deadline: Hundreds with April 15 blues protest. Ex-Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn headlines ‘flat tax’ conference.

While last-minute tax filers crammed local post offices on Tax Day, hundreds of others vented their frustrations at a protest and sought an alternative tax system at a conference.

More than 200 people Thursday attended a one-day “flat tax” conference in Irvine, headlined by conservative Bruce Herschensohn, who lost to Democrat Barbara Boxer in their recent U.S. Senate race.

Another 50 protesters, including elected officials, took to the streets in front of the Santa Ana main post office later in the afternoon to oppose President Clinton’s proposed tax increases.

While music blared in the background, the protesters waved dozens of U.S. flags and picket signs to attract the attention of people who were rushing to the post office to meet the midnight tax deadline.

Dorothy Weinberg of Tustin, who participated in the demonstration organized by the Republican Party of Orange County, said many people were worried and angry about proposed tax increases.

“It makes me ill; I’m deeply concerned,” Weinberg said.

At the conference, Herschensohn and other speakers called for a flat tax as an alternative to the current system, which they called unjust and too complex.

“A democracy doesn’t work unless people understand the tax codes or budget process,” Herschensohn said. “My primary concern more than anything else is the simplicity. Everyone from the homeless to the billionaire can understand” the flat tax.

Herschensohn said the flat tax would levy a uniform 19% rate on all taxpayers and would phase out deductions including mortgage interest. It also would end taxes on capital gains, interest income, dividends and inheritances.

Brian Kennedy, vice president of Claremont Institute, which sponsored the event, said, “We want to direct attention to the dramatic complexity and unfairness of the current tax system and to demonstrate that there is a more equitable way.”

But opponents such as Boxer have assailed that proposal and claimed that it would sharply increase taxes on middle-income Americans.

While some came to vent their anger over current taxes, many came just to get information about the flat tax.

“I’m been interested in a flat tax for the past 25 years,” said Buddy Brannen, a Mission Viejo resident. “I would like to have seen it move along a lot quicker than it has.”