"Constitutional Observations"©

April’s 2 Questions: (1) Did you know the income tax laws, as administered today, were not a part of the original Constitution? (2) Then, when did the income tax laws, as we know them today begin?

The Constitution, as initially drafted had no income tax provisions, only the power to collect taxes, [from] duties, imposts, and excises. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution reads: Title of section: "Powers Delegated to Congress - 1-17: Enumerated powers. 1. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;...." Only 44 words. And, with the exception of a limited time during the Civil War, to pay for that war, no income taxes were collected until the passage of the 16^th Amendment on February 12, 1913 following ratification by the states, within a period of only 4 years. It was passed to tax only the ‘rich,’ and then only one percent on their first $20,000 of income, with a maximum of 7%.

Amendment 16 reads: Title: Federal Income Tax.. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever sources derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." Only 31 words, but the ‘barn doors’ were opened. And paying this tax was on the honor system. However, in 1943, to pay for World War II, President Roosevelt asked Congress for authority collect taxes through ‘payroll deductions.’ The tax doors were opened wide, never to be closed again.

How did this happen when both Republicans and Democrats were opposed to income taxes. The Republicans were in power, the Democrats were anxious to regain power. It happened this way: [From Skousen’s book "The Making of America - page 738"] "In April 1909, Senator Joseph W. Bailey, a conservative southern Democrat who was also opposed to income taxes, decided to further embarrass the Republicans by forcing them to openly oppose an income tax bill similar to those which had been introduced in the past. He therefore introduced his bill expecting it to get the usual opposition. Teddy Roosevelt and a growing element of liberals in the Republican party came out in favor of the bill, and it looked like it would pass [congress]." Unable to defeat the bill, congressional leaders introduced a ‘constitutional amendment,’ feeling it would be defeated by the states. But supporters of the Amendment adopted a powerful slogan,"Soak the Rich," which the people rallied behind, and the states ratified, in a brief four years. This theme, "Soak the Rich," has been applied to all American Tax Policy since the passage of the 16^th Amendment, with the effect that it virtually nullified the 4^th Amendment "against unreasonable searches and seizures’ of one’s home and property? Amendment 4 reads, in part: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated;......." Amendment 16 has virtually destroyed the 4^th Amendment.

The intense political debates over taxation policy for the past 200 years have been over funding projects defined for the "general welfare." The writing’s of the Founding Fathers make it clear their intentions were narrow, limiting funding to only those items enumerated in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution.