Happy Tax Day!
Posted by: Jubal | 04/15/2008 9:02 AM
Happy Tax Day! It's April 15, a time to reflect on the 16th Amendment to the Constitution and the assurances of its proponents that the income tax would only affect the very rich.
But as is generally the case with promises that a particular government initiative will remain limited in scope and cost, that assurance has proven false. For example, income tax withholding was a temporary World War II -- it's never gone away because (to paraphrase David Brinkley) the government discovered what every appliance salesman already knew: people will pay more if you take it from them a little bit at a time.
So as you render unto Caesar, pause and think of those fine enlightened Progressives who gave us the graduated income tax that has become, in the words of a sage, a "scaffolding for plunder."
I'll leave with with this thought from historian Charles Adams:
But as is generally the case with promises that a particular government initiative will remain limited in scope and cost, that assurance has proven false. For example, income tax withholding was a temporary World War II -- it's never gone away because (to paraphrase David Brinkley) the government discovered what every appliance salesman already knew: people will pay more if you take it from them a little bit at a time.
So as you render unto Caesar, pause and think of those fine enlightened Progressives who gave us the graduated income tax that has become, in the words of a sage, a "scaffolding for plunder."
I'll leave with with this thought from historian Charles Adams:
The working principle of a democratic society is that a law, to be just, must give equal treatment to all. That's what the founders had in mind when they required taxes to be 'uniform.' When the tax makers are let loose to discriminate in taxation and abandon rules of uniformity and apportionment, the door is open to extortion.
CATEGORY:
Liberty
Len: Let sleeping dogs lie. What is the point of this post?...
Jubal,
I want to add one detail to your excellent history of the income tax:
Most of us who pay taxes today are "very rich" as seen by 1913 voter.
The average income in 1913 was $750/ yr about $16,000 /yr in current dollars. Thus the typical worker of 1913 would be near the current poverty line, qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and get money back from Uncle Sam today.
Those politicians of yore did keep their promise[*]!
[*] despite their best efforts to gum-up the free market engine that made all these income gains possible