We have been covering the US Constitution line by line. When Republicans wave their paper props and parrot their vile machinations, we will be prepared to expose the lies. We have finished the main body of the Constitution. Now we continue with the Amendments. You can find the last article on the main body of the Constitution here. It has links to all the others. The text comes from The US Constitution. Previous articles in the Amendment series:
Article I
Articles II and III
Article IV
Article V
Article VI
Article VII
Article VIII
Articles IX and X
Articles XI and XII
Article XIII
Article XIV
Article XIV
Article XVI
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.
The Sixteenth Amendment allows the collection of income tax. It allows a single day of true bipartisanship each year. On April 15, both Republican and Democratic voters feel the same pain between the nether cheeks.
There are some areas of controversy. Republicans want to roll back the biggest middle class tax cut in history, passed in the stimulus, despite the fact that it was paid for in the budget, They also want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich, at a ten year cost of $768 billion, despite the fact that it was never paid for in the budget.
Another area of some controversy is that some believe that the Sixteenth was never properly ratified. I have researched this, and the evidence points to proper ratification, but I found no conclusive proof for that. Nevertheless, the matter has been litigated more times than a DINO’s GOP flea count, and no tax protester has ever won on these grounds. So only those so stupid that they give credence to the absurd, like Obama was born in Kenya, have an excuse for believing they are going to get out of paying taxes this way.
Republicans prefer a flat tax, because it favors the rich. They argue that the current code is bloated. On that, they are correct. I’m 62 years old, and I read at a pretty good clip. Had I started reading the tax code at age 18, and read sixteen hours daily without breaks, I would not live long enough to finish. However, because an income tax can be progressive, that is the best solution. The bloat comes from loopholes for the rich and corporate welfare. We can eliminate them to simplify the code.
I shall try to put up a new article in this series almost every day. It will take some time to cover it all, but when we’re done, we shall be immune to the lies with which Republicans seek to undermine our freedoms.
8 Responses to “Constitutional Amendments: Article XVI”
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TC
I’m starting to feel like SuperProgressive. I’m hoping Congress starts feeling this way too.
Time to do Battle against lies. That’s it! They need a Pep talk. Good work TC.
Tim, that would be fantastic, but I’d be happy of the Senate Dems would just wake up and say, “OOOOO! I have a pair!”, females included.
Obviously a government needs funds, but it’s simply amazing what our tax code has turned into. Even if we went to a flat tax the politicians will “fudge, or fix” the flat rate and add exemptions.
The U.S. tax code is a nightmare that needs to be ended.
Tom, a flat tax would be a terrible choice. Incone tax is fine, but there should be deductions and/or credits for medical care, child care, interest, charity, green energy and little else.
TC – excellent analysis. Remember that some teabaggers are now campaigning on eliminating the IRS – how WILL they fund their wars then? Exemptions for the rich and corporations are ridiculous – that’s where most of the tax code paperwork comes from – if they ended all the tax cuts, deductions, credits, etc., the tax code would be about 40 pages long. And eliminating the deduction for credit card interest REALLY pissed me off and I supposed other middle and lower income people as well. How do they get by without credit cards – the rich can pay them off monthly – so they don’t HAVE credit card interest. Not to mention all the BS small ‘tax credits’ that they deemed to give us – that most middle income people DON’T EVEN QUALIFY FOR BECAUSE THEIR INCOME IS TOO HIGH (elimination begins at $60,000K for a married couple). Oh, and when you buy a new home under Obama’s tax credit scam – you get the refund on your taxes NEXT YEAR. How about letting people use that money for their down or extra savings in case they LOSE THEIR JOBS – which is very possible in this current economic crisis – it’s clear from the new apps for unemployment that people are STILL losing their jobs at a rapid clip.
I do people’s taxes every year, so I know the personal income tax return, and when I was an auditor, I reviewed corporate taxes as well – so I know how screwed the middle and lower income taxpayers are and how much corporate income taxes they get to deduct and I didn’t even work in the oil, gas, agriculture or other subsidized industries, and their tax returns are about 50 pages long with deductions – and we middle and lower taxpayers are getting SCREWED.
I’ll stop now because I get even more pissed off. Also, if anyone needs a good tax accountant, I’m available. 🙂
Lisa, you rant any time you feel the need. When you do, we all become better informed.
I wish I needed one. 🙁
I saw a study done a few months ago that showed how much tax dollars were gained or lost from different government expenditures.
Paying for education produced the greatest return, over $1.50 for every $1 spent.
Guess which expenditure produced the greatest negative return? Tax breaks for the rich.
For every $1 spent, less than fifty cents was returned. If you look at a chart of the deficit over the past 30 years along with the dollar amount of tax cuts for the rich, you can see a direct correlation between the two.
Welcome Kevin. Thanks for the good info, and I agree with it completely.
With no offense intended, there are many recent articles here where if fits, but it does not relate to the Sixteenth Amendment. Please try to comment on topic, OK? 🙂