Sure, drawing from recent history in the US I'd say that 1986 tax reforms[1] the 1996 welfare reforms[2]. I don't think that they happen often enough that they should be relied on, though, and I'd say that they're pretty much impossible in the current US political climate. On the other hand, countries that aren't the US might have better luck, since most are smaller and more homogeneous, and have parliamentary systems with less veto points. But then again, smaller countries are by their very nature less able to take on the rest of the world in the resulting trade disputes, and the EU countries I believe have the EU itself dictating aspects of patent law.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Reform_Act_of_1986 Sometimes called "The Second Reagan tax cut", but it ended up raising overall revenue so that's something of a misnomer. It eliminated a lot of loopholes and lowered the base rates. [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_and_Wor...