In 1909,
the 16th Amendment proposed to be added to the US
Constitution:
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on income, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
It
passed Congress in 1913 with the required two-thirds majority vote.
It was signed by President William
H. Taft
and processed for ratification by the State governments. The
amendment was ratified by 42 states at a time when there were 48
states in the Union. The income tax was nothing new. The use of
income tax was passed as the Revenue
Act of 1861 in order to fund the Civil War on income exceeding
$800 that was subject to a 3% flat tax.
The Wilson-Gorman
Tariff Act was passed in 1894 that mandated that “any
or all income exceeding $4,000 would be liable to undergo a 2% tax.”
It
was an act of government that began the process towards controlling
the People with increasingly varied degrees. First it was control of
income, which that control began to increase during the 1930s when
the income tax law was used to incarcerate the infamous gangster Al
Capone
in 1931. Those operating our government so the value of such power being controlled by federal government and used not just to indict organized crime leaders.
Then FDR instituted and signed the Social
Security Act
that created a program under the “New
Deal” that further controlled the people, first by income and
then a retirement program that was supposed to be set up as a “trust”
fund. It was the beginning of social welfare movement that was
initiated by the Great
Depression and approved by desperate Americans. Just as the
income tax, the Social Security Act and other “New Deal” social
programs were considered unconstitutional and beyond government's
prescribed limitations. Among those contested and struck down
programs within the New Deal was the Railroad
Retirement Act
by the US Supreme Court.
The
latest Marxist social program to be added to the list of things that
continues in the control of the populace is the infamous “Obamacare”
legislation passed as the Affordable
Care Act
in 2009. Having already controlled the public education system and
influence of college and university administrations, the agenda of
American Marxists has neared its fulfillment of replacing the
constitutional republic that was created by the Founders of the
United States of America.
“The FairTax is a proposal to reform the federal tax code of the United States. It would replace all federal income taxes, payroll taxes, gift taxes, and estate taxes with a single broad national consumption tax on retail sales. The Fair Tax Act would apply a tax, once, at the point of purchase on all new goods and services for personal consumption.” [Wikipedia]
The
Fair Tax Act was first introduced by congressman John
Linder
in 1999. It has languished in Congress ever since and was again
introduced as H.R.
25 in 2017. It is the most controversial
bill probably in entire history of Congress, but also is
important because it would relieve employers of the burden [and cost]
of being a tax collector for federal government and those states who
impose an additional income tax upon its citizens. It would also make
the infamous IRS merely a smaller accounting agency instead of the
unconstitutional power it holds today. The bill
of 2017 sets the flat consumption tax rate at 23%; however that
was originally conceived to be 21% and gradually reduced to 15% flat
rate over a specified period of time. There are pros and cons
concerning this bill proposed to be an amendment to replace 16th
Amendment, but it is clear that there will be a far less of a chance
for tax evasion than the present system, it would be less
complicated, would require less paperwork and expensive preparation
to meet the tax code, and a more fair system. There would still be
tax breaks in the form of scheduled refunds for some citizens and the
wealthier citizens would automatically pay more because with
increased wealth there is increase in spending.
An
organization by the name FairTax
has been established to promote and educate the populace towards a
better solution of government taxation that benefits both government
and the People. It has been an issue for the Tea
Party
movement dominate in the recent national elections.
For
those states that have income tax [combined with a sales tax], cases
have appeared in Supreme Court regarding this as “double
taxation”
in which both federal and state government is taxing same money
twice.
In
an era where too many people are concerned about destroying/removing
monuments and rewriting history, We the People should be more concerned about pressing
issues such as the overbearing, intrusive and unfair tax system
established by federal government and some state governments.
Fair
Tax Act and the elimination of income tax can only occur if there are
enough voices heard by those elected officials in Congress and state
governments.
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