The U.S. Constitution and Tax History
Most people reading this have heard it said that "we are in a Constitutional crisis" or "our Constitution is under assault". That is to say that our elected representatives, for the most part, are not abiding by the United States Constitution. They are making laws in direct conflict of the Constitution.
It is fair to say that not very many people have spent the little time needed to read the Constitution or read what the framers, our founding fathers, said about it. Many of their comments have been recorded in documents named the "Federalist Papers".
Above all, our founding fathers created the Constitution to protect individual liberty and establish our freedoms. Beyond that, they instituted a structure of government that gave power to the states to grant the federal government certain limited authority.
The Constitution says that "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in the Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken." This means that no head-tax or pole-tax is to be levied which taxes people without their consent. People don't have the freedom to engage in or refrain from such taxes. The income tax is a direct tax.
The FairTax embodies what the founding fathers prescribed. The FairTax is a consumption tax paid when a person chooses to purchase goods or services. It's simple and transparent. Nothing hidden.
In 1913 the states ratified the 16th amendment allowing income to be taxed. The federal government then imposed a 1% tax rate on personal income under $20,000. Within five years the lowest marginal rate was 5% and the top rate increased to 77%, then briefly dropped to about 25% before going back up above 70% for many years. The top corporate tax rates have gone from 2% in 1913 to 45% in 1918. Currently, the lowest marginal tax rate is 10% for individuals earning less than$15,000 and the highest tax rate is 35% for individuals earning about $350,000.
There are now over 9,000 sections to the tax code which has been amended over 4,000 times in the last ten years. It's no wonder why over half of the lobbyists try to influence tax law.
Tax History - Complexity - The Original Sin of the Income Tax
It is fair to say that not very many people have spent the little time needed to read the Constitution or read what the framers, our founding fathers, said about it. Many of their comments have been recorded in documents named the "Federalist Papers".
Above all, our founding fathers created the Constitution to protect individual liberty and establish our freedoms. Beyond that, they instituted a structure of government that gave power to the states to grant the federal government certain limited authority.
The Constitution says that "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in the Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken." This means that no head-tax or pole-tax is to be levied which taxes people without their consent. People don't have the freedom to engage in or refrain from such taxes. The income tax is a direct tax.
The FairTax embodies what the founding fathers prescribed. The FairTax is a consumption tax paid when a person chooses to purchase goods or services. It's simple and transparent. Nothing hidden.
In 1913 the states ratified the 16th amendment allowing income to be taxed. The federal government then imposed a 1% tax rate on personal income under $20,000. Within five years the lowest marginal rate was 5% and the top rate increased to 77%, then briefly dropped to about 25% before going back up above 70% for many years. The top corporate tax rates have gone from 2% in 1913 to 45% in 1918. Currently, the lowest marginal tax rate is 10% for individuals earning less than$15,000 and the highest tax rate is 35% for individuals earning about $350,000.
There are now over 9,000 sections to the tax code which has been amended over 4,000 times in the last ten years. It's no wonder why over half of the lobbyists try to influence tax law.
Tax History - Complexity - The Original Sin of the Income Tax
Resources for Further Study
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Click on these links. |
History of the 16th Amendment, by W. Cleon Skousen
The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights The Federalist Papers Online Courses at Hillsdale College The Founders’ View vs. the Progressive Income Tax Would Thomas Jefferson think we are free?, By Steven L. Hayes and Charles Adams All income and VAT taxes ultimately tax consumption and are not transparent |
What did our founding fathers say?
This is a collection of quotes from our founding fathers. These comments give us insight into their position on issues addressed by the U. S. Constitution.
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That the most productive system of
finance will always be the least burdensome.
James Madison, 1788
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. John Adams But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams , July 17, 1775 Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. John Adams, Defense of the Constitutions, 1787 Each individual of the society has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property, according to standing laws. He is obliged, consequently, to contribute his share to the expense of this protection; and to give his personal service, or an equivalent, when necessary. But no part of the property of any individual can, with justice, be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people. In fine, the people of this commonwealth are not controllable by any other laws than those to which their constitutional representative body have given their consent. John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776 We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams, Address to the Military, October 11, 1798 I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. Benjamin Franklin There is no part of the administration of government that requires extensive information and a thorough knowledge of the principles of political economy, so much as the business of taxation. The man who understands those principles best will be least likely to resort to oppressive expedients, or sacrifice any particular class of citizens to the procurement of revenue. It might be demonstrated that the most productive system of finance will always be the least burdensome. There can be no doubt that in order to a judicious exercise of the power of taxation, it is necessary that the person in whose hands it should be acquainted with the general genius, habits, and modes of thinking of the people at large, and with the resources of the country. And this is all that can be reasonably meant by a knowledge of the interests and feelings of the people. In any other sense the proposition has either no meaning, or an absurd one. And in that sense let every considerate citizen judge for himself where the requisite qualification is most likely to be found. Alexander Hamilton, For the Independent Journal, Federalist No. 35 (1788) |
Information and Opinion
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The Progressive Income Tax: A Tale of Three Brothers
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What creates wealth? The FairTax is a recent innovation that changes taxing so that people that spend less are taxed proportionately less without prejudice to anyone. The FairTax provides incentive for employers to hire more people. People that want to retain the current income tax system are fighting change like someone would want to keep the 8-track tape instead of new innovations that followed.
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Why does government "help" often hurt the economy? Crony capitalism. John Stossel interviews George Mason University economist Don Boudreaux who weighs in on the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the U.S. economy.
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