Americans have recently witnessed the Supreme Court upholding a legislative act passed by congress that is one of the most oppressive measures in our Nation's history.The Founders' formula for individual freedom not only excluded this kind of taxation, but the Constitution they wrote specifically forbade Congress from doing the very thing the Supreme Court said they could do.
It is another powerful example of what has happened as we have ceased studying the Founders' freedom formula and have let powerful, anti-American philosophies enter into our thinking and transform our great Nation before our very eyes. Here is how it happened.
The Founder's Fear of the Power to Tax
One of the driving forces motivating the Founders to declare independence 236 years ago was the oppressive nature of King George's taxes. The Founders knew governments had to have financial means to survive. But their study of history proved that it is the nature of almost all men who come to power, to abuse the people by taking more and more from them through government taxation. It was for this reason that the first government of the Unites States of America (the Articles of Confederation) contained no power in the national government to levy any kind of tax. If taxes were to be levied they would be by the states, and the national government would then request each state to voluntarily give its fair share to the National government.
It was not long after the Revolutionary War began that the Founders realized this system was too weak. General Washington was in the field seeing his men starve, freeze, and die. His pleadings to Congress for more help were answered mostly by an apologetic excuse that the states had been requisitioned and it was up to them to send Washington the needed provisions. Some did and some didn't. No one knew the desperate need for more energy or power in the federal government than George Washington. Nevertheless, it would be many years before he would see that happen. Meanwhile, he had a war to fight and the inability of Congress to raise the necessary funds was one reason we almost lost the war for independence.
The Founders' lessons about taxation
As a result of many years of trial and error, the Founders learned some powerful lessons about taxes:
1. Just taxing the states is impractical, since the only way to enforce such taxation is to send in an army.
2. There is a difference between direct and indirect taxes. Direct taxes are levied on a person or his property and must be paid by the individual. Indirect taxes are levied on things and are paid indirectly by those collecting the taxes on goods sold. Direct taxes are harsher and sometimes involve force to collect. Indirect taxes are more discretionary.
3. It was felt that the federal government's limited roles would be supported entirely by tariffs on imports. The Founders did not anticipate the government needing to reach inward to the people for support in ordinary times.
4. It was recognized, however, that in an emergency such as war, there would be less imports on which to collect tariffs. At the same time the demands for money would necessarily increase. It was for this reason that the Founders provided a way to tax the people directly in dire emergencies.
5. In these very limited situations where taxes would need to be collected from the people or the states, the allocation would be on one basis and one basis only - population. It would be done according to census or enumeration. Taxes would not be based on any other premise - not on income, not on wealth, not on inheritance, not on those who chose to buy a certain product or not buy a certain product - only on counting people. It would be as simple and unobtrusive as counting heads!
Constitutional limitations on the power to tax
The Founders felt so strongly about the need to control government officials in their desire to get more money that they put the following restrictions on the taxing power right into the Constitution:
Article I, Section 2:
"Direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states ... according to their respective numbers."
Article I, Section 9:
"No capitation [tax of so much per person regardless of circumstances] or other direct tax shall be laid except in proportion to the census or other enumeration herein before directed to be taken."
With these limitations in mind, the Founders felt confident that future generations would be spared the heavy-handed oppression of tax collectors who would invade one's privacy and confiscate large portions of a person's property.
The Sixteenth Amendment destroys
Constitutional Safeguards against abusive taxation
The very wording of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution shows how the restrictions on the power to tax have been completely eliminated:
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. "
CONTINUED: http://www.nccs.net/newsletter/jul12nl.html
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