Posted on 06/23/2006 2:02:37 PM PDT by pigdog
"The exorbitant power of the prince, and the extreme depression of the people, require that there should not be even a possibility of the least mistake between them. The taxes ought to be so easy to collect, and so clearly settled, as to leave no opportunity for the collectors to increase or diminish them. A portion of the fruits of the earth, a capitation, a duty of so much per cent on merchandise, are the only taxes suitable to that government."
(Excerpt) Read more at constitution.org ...
One such writing is The Spirit of Laws by Charles Montesquieu a well-known and widely regarded author of considerable esteem on the subject of government. The founders of our country held his work in great regard and used from it a good bit in forming this country.
The above quotation reflects his views on taxation - which seem to have been largely forgotten b the present day government bodies,
Montesquieu pointed the way with his writings ... sounds like he'd view the FairTax with great approbation were he alive today (and be aghast at the tax system we actually have).
thread = threat
Any form of income tax, including that contained in the 16th amendment, is in direct violation of the original U.S. Constitution. When the 16th amendment was approved, the legislature made no effort to resolve the violation, except by omitting to include the provision that paying the income tax is mandatory. That's the ground on which some people have successfully avoided paying it. However, all you need is a judge who either doesn't know or doesn't care about this issue, and you'll get ordered to pay even though it's not required, and fined and penalized to boot.
I absolutely agree. We should insitute a consumption tax and repeal the 16th amendment.
"The natural tax of moderate governments is the duty laid on merchandise. As this is really paid by the consumer, though advanced by the merchant, it is a loan which the latter has already made to the former. Hence the merchant must be considered on the one side as the general debtor of the state, and on the other as the creditor of every individual. He advances to the state the duty which the consumer will sometime or other refund: and he has paid for the consumer the duty which he has advanced for the merchandise. It is therefore obvious that in proportion to the moderation of the government, to the prevalence of the spirit of liberty, and to the security of private fortunes, a merchant has it in his power to advance money to the state, and to pay considerable duties for individuals. "
That's truly a description of what we today know as the FairTax ... and it's time we bring it into being as the law of the land.
Yes. A really, really LOW consumption tax. Like about 5%.
To fix these revenues in a proper manner, regard should be had both to the necessities of the state and to those of the subject. The real wants of the people ought never to give way to the imaginary wants of the state. Imaginary wants are those which flow from the passions and the weakness of the governors, from the vain conceit of some extraordinary project, from the inordinate desire of glory, and from a certain impotence of mind incapable of withstanding the impulse of fancy. Often have ministers of a restless disposition imagined that the wants of their own mean and ignoble souls were those of the state. Nothing requires more wisdom and prudence than the regulation of that portion of which the subject is deprived, and that which he is suffered to retain. The public revenues should not be measured by the people's abilities to give, but by what they ought to give; and if they are measured by their abilities to give, it should be considered what they are able to give for a constancy.""The public revenues are a portion that each subject gives of his property, in order to secure or enjoy the remainder.
I somehow think he would be even embarrassed to converse with those who try to retain the present system of income-based taxation in any form (as some do) since he'd realize how folly-filled their pronouncements really are.
It sounds to me as though he was talking about the rent-seeking of the K-Street crowd as we know them today and all of the "special things for special people" that the present tax system allows (or encourages, really) - and that is largely hidden from the populace.
A Taxreform ping for you all.
If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all federal income, SS/Medicare payroll, and gift/estate taxes outright replacing them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.Refer for additional information:
[Montesquieu wrote in Spirit of the Laws, XIII,c.14:]
- "A capitation is more natural to slavery; a duty on merchandise is more natural to liberty, by reason it has not so direct a relation to the person."
--Thomas Jefferson: copied into his Commonplace Book.
- "the oppression arising from taxation, is not from the amount but, from the mode -- a thorough acquaintance with the condition of the people, is necessary to a just distribution of taxes. The whole wisdom of the science of Government, with respect to taxation, consists in selecting the mode of collection which will best accommodate to the convenience of the people."
The Spirit of Laws ^ | 1752 | Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
But but, that's more than a decade old. Out of date, no longer useful. Surely you could come up with something more current. </sarc>
A perfect rendition of the moral squalor into which our government has settled. There are no limits to the demands of the state.
Taxation merely seeks to fill the insatiable belly of so-called public officials. They seek more and greater embellishments to their grandiose schemes to magnify their authority.
Fully half of the wealth of this nation is squandered annually by a limitless orgy of government spending.
Changing the tax structure will not alter the plundering of the citizenry by our rapacious government.
The beast can not be satisfied. Our style of government is society's greatest enemy. If "That government governs best which governs least" then ours is a criminal cabal of titanic proportions.
It must be beaten into submission, caged and starved to within a pound of its life.
You sound like some guys I know ...
Here's one that's a couple of years more recent:
"Ask any citizen on any day if taxes are too high, if government spends too much, and if he would like to have a say about government's right to confiscate his earnings. The answer would be, "hell yes!" - Governor Ronald Reagan, Speech, Sept. 7, 1973."
Some people squawk about things like that even if it was only 10 minutes ago. It's more reasonable to consider the content I think.
Changing the tax structure will not alter the plundering of the citizenry by our rapacious government.
When you have a tax system that encourages half the electorate to believe they pay little or nothing to that rapacious government, you have a tax system that is at the core of how that government perpetuates itself.
Change the mode of taxation such that all perceive a participation in the payment of the piper, you change the dynamic that maintains the status quo and ever growing government.
The Honorable James DeMint (R-SC)
United States House of Representatives
APRIL 5, 2001
- "There has been a shift in the relationship between individuals and government, he argues, such that fewer and fewer are paying taxes at the same time that more and more are receiving increasingly generous benefits. If it becomes the case that most voters do not bear a financial burden for this largess, then there will be little to restrain--and significant political incentives to encourage--the continued growth of government.
Walter Williams nails it in his own quaint but apt characterisation of the problem:
"So many Americans paying little or no federal taxes makes for a natural spending constituency. It's like me in the restaurant: What do I care about extravagance if you're footing the bill?"
To remove perception of the tax burdens of the individual, is to remove the goad which assures accountability of government to the electorate. Federal tax rates are high and government grows ever larger because a majority of the electorate do not perceive proportionately the burden their demand for largesse imposes on the minority of citizens.
The siren call for representation without taxation is the formula that got us where we are at today. The ability to hide or disguise taxation from the view of large sectors of the electorate allows the Congress to get away with the creation of the evergrowing monster that it fosters.
Liberty and freedom have a price, responsibility. If the perception of burden laid by government is interfered with or avoided there are no brakes on the growth of government, the ultimate result is the end of freedom through creeping socialism.
Right now the bottom 60% perceive little to no "Individual Income Tax" burden,(in many cases even a handout) and 70% of the voting public clamor for more from government looking for the top 40% of income earners/producers to foot the bill. That perception continues to grow ever stronger by eliminating even more participants from the Federal Individual Income Tax rolls as proposed in the tax reduction proposals through changes in personal exemption limits and other mechanisms such as the EITC.
Bush touts relief as tax day looms
Another 3.9 million Americans will have their income tax liability completely eliminated, officials said.
That's 3.9 million Americans more added to the spending constituency of 70% of the public clamoring for more from government, figuring someone else foots the bill.
With the political animal, reelection is Job One. Anything that puts that in jeopardy is taken very seriously indeed. We are progressing toward that point and the FairTax is a bit step in getting us there. With their attention thus grabbed, voters demanding spending reduction to reasonable levels will be listened to and responded to.
Trying to correct spending before having control of the tax machinery, though, hasn't worked for almost 100 years now so it's long overdue.
It's time for the FairTax!!!
"bit step" = "big step"
I agree! And changing the method of revenue collection is the first step required to recover our republic!
Right on! Well said Charles Montesquieu!
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