Sunday, June 07, 2009

looking back fondly on the 16th amendment...


Some Constitutional amendments are glamorous, recognizable by a mere number...the 19th (women's suffrage), the 13th (abolished slavery), etc.

Others will never, ever have their moment in the sun, partly because they refuse to reveal their meaning even under a microscope (25: Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.) BLECH.

And some that seem innocuous, like the 16th, or income tax, amendment, actually become the Great Walls of American history, creating a complete and vast separation of the past and future. We don't even give income tax a second thought nowadays, but imagine what it was like before it existed. Individuals were allowed to pursue their personal financial goals without the knowledge of the government.

Your wage and earnings, legal or not, were yours alone. The government had no need to pursue involvement in a person's business or private affairs. A huge inheritance, left to two children, was just that...no estate tax, no paperwork. So that's why all those heroines in old novels are so romantically taken care of.

It almost makes one want to be Republican. But, then again, it's too late for such drastic measures.

1 comment:

John Hanson said...

The birth of personal income taxation occurred 100 years ago on July 12th 1909 when Congress passed to the States for ratification the 16th amendment. This year we are declaring the Centennial of this dastardly deed, July 12th, 2009, as a NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING. It is part of making our sleeping citizens aware of how Congress took that first giant step on a 180 degree turn away from the government given to us by the Constitution established by our founding fathers. We've come a long way since then...the WRONG way! And we're all paying for it with the erosion of our freedoms and of our economy. The 16th amendment puts in the hands of our Congress the power to eventually take from its citizens their right to private property ownership and put it under the control of the State. In incremental small steps, they already have taken enough of our property to dictate to us rather than represent us. Whether we call Congress "King George" or "Politboro" they have become our rulers and made freedom an illusion. Beware of "blaming" either party. They are all riding the same "gravy train" around the DC beltway and laughing at us for thinking that they have any intention of allowing the government to return to being one of we the people. Nearly 100% of the 535 members of Congress are owned by big money interests. This would not be possible without the 16th amendment which gives Congress something to sell, viz., the power to control the money supply and the personal wealth of its citizens. So, to get right down to it, big money is ruling us through the greed of Congress under the illusion that Congress is representing us. What a "revolting development this is!" On that day of infamy, July 12th, 1909, our founding fathers must have been spinning in their graves seeing happen what they had predicted would spell the beginning of the end of our Republic.

Go to http://www.repealincometax.com/DOM/?T=0607-gajth and sign the 2nd Declaration of Independence! This is an information site set up for all groups to use to promote the July 12th memorial. When you sign the Declaration you will see the chained and weeping American Eagle set free!