Dear Editor:
Did you know Congress enacted the nations' first income tax laws in 1862 in order to pay for the Civil War. The average taxpayer in those days paid a rate of 3 percent of their earnings in the form of income taxes. In 1866 the Internal Revenue collection amounted to about $310 million. Bitter disputes occurred in Congress about what should be taxed. By 1872 the income tax had pretty much been eliminated. The U.S. Supreme Court, in 1895, ruled that the income tax was unconstitutional. The greedy politicians of the time would not let the issue go away. Therefore, the Constitution had to be changed.
In 1915 the 16th Amendment was passed. Through all of the congressional maneuvering, bluffs made and called, the bill was passed during the Christmas break. The Speaker of the House let everyone go home for the break then called Congress back into session to deal with the issue of the income tax.
Wily politicians had figured out that folks who reside outside the DC area are a little more particular how the government collects and spends the peoples' money. Remember, in 1913, the peoples' representatives could not rush back Washington in a few hours. At any rate, the bill became law.
The income tax is a politicians' dream come true. First, you force the citizenry to hand over a portion of their money so that you can use it to create programs for special interest groups and entitlement programs to be used to buy yourself votes to keep you in office for as long as you wish. Then, you force employers to withhold the amount of taxes from the citizens' paychecks so that they have no choice but to pay. Then the Congress can decide to approve the size of their own salary, the size of their staff, amount of money they will receive in retirement, and quality of health insurance they will receive for life.
The IRS is powerful, uncaring, and abusive. The IRS uses its might to suppress individuals and groups it deems undesirable or harmful to a particular agenda.
I know we need to fund our government. I'm not arguing that point. But, there is a better way. It is called the Fair Tax. Learn about it online at Fair Tax.org. Or better yet, buy the book "The Fair Tax" and study it like a textbook.
Abolish the income tax.