representation and taxation

october 25th, 2005:
i'd like to thank the congress for their
22 seconds of silence on the occasion
of the 2000th american casualty in the
iraq war, and for the expressions of regret on
the part of those among our representatives
who voted to allow the war.

1817-1862 federal government income exclusively
derived from tariffs on imported goods.
1862 income tax established to fund civil war
1895 supreme court rules income tax unconstitutional
1913 16th amendment passed by congress to legalize
income tax
1918 $1billion collected on income
1920 $5.4 billion collected
1945 $43 billion collected
1985 $450 billion collected

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."
-Thomas Jefferson

"America was born in the midst of a great revolution sparked by oppressive taxation. There was something about the American character—open, hard-working, and honest—that rebelled at the very thought of taxes that were not only heavy but unfair. Today the proud American character remains unchanged. But slowly and subtly, surrendering first to this political pressure and then to that, our system of taxation has turned into something completely foreign to our nature—something complicated, unfair, and, in a fundamental sense, un-American. Well, my friends, the time has come for a second American revolution."
-Ronald Reagan