Friday, January 08th, 2010 | Author: markross
“The present assault upon capital is but the beginning. It will be but the stepping-stone to others, larger and more sweeping, till our political contests will become a war of the poor against the rich; a war constantly growing in intensity and bitterness.” - Justice Stephen Field Pollock v. Farmers Loan and Trust Co. (Income Tax Case-1895)
Friday, 8. January 2010
In 1895, the court was very divided over The Pollock v. Farmers Loan and Trust Co. case. In his concurring opinion, Justice Field gave the above warning…
Constitutionally, the court majority was correct… income tax was unconstitutional, as it was a direct tax that was not apportioned equally among (the census) the states.
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Please also see:
Should income tax in The United States be illegal?
Saturday, 9. January 2010
So here we are, in 2010, and these same arguments are still being argued… even after nearly one hundred years of “progressive” taxation, and it’s redistributive nature, I would not be surprised if the tide starts turning, and the ones who are incessantly being targeted just because they have been successful in business, or have worked very hard in life, start rebelling, and withholding their income tax from a government that clearly does not seem to respect the most productive of people, that are the engine behind our economy.
I have said this many times, but it is worth repeating: “I have never been offered a job from a poor person.” I am totally sympathetic to the poorest among us; however, commonsense dictates, the more the government tries to extort from the general population, the less charitable the general population will become.
Perhaps, instead of discouraging people from getting wealthy, which clearly is not working out so well, the government should try incentivizing “more people” to become more wealthy, by allowing for more economic freedom, and encouraging more charity, instead of continuing to blame all economic problems on the (most inventive and industrious) ones who have “truly” created the most opportunities in this country.
The obtainment of wealth was never guaranteed by our founders; however, the path for the general citizenry to become wealthy, come not have been much better.