[ProgressingAmerica]

It also needs to be remembered that the republican party was the progressive party before the democrat party was the party of progressives.

TR, Herbert Croly, Jane Addams, Hiram Johnson, Gifford Pinchot, Alf Landon...... these and many more, they were all registered republicans. Active and in many cases elected progressive republicans.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Ping.....

[Wuli]

In sum, the progressive duopoly is old, and if they don’t convince you with a “Liberal” argument they’ll switch and try to convince you with a more conservative argument. Both sides are for big government, Congressional abdication of legislative authority to the permanent regulatory state and expansion of that permanent regulatory state to some eventual point where all Congress will have to do is meet to approve (rubber stamp) the federal state’s budget and then go home. Most all Conservatives see this but RINOS and Democrat progressives in Congress do not, because the permanent regulatory state is enshrined and tasked with the power they gave it and want it to have.

[iowamark]

The early income tax only applied to a very small percentage of Americans, the very highest income people. So, it was easy to get the majority of voters to support it. The same class warfare that we see to this day.

[Wuli]

Good of you to remind Freepers of that history. Thanks.

TR is not high on current Conservatives history recall, except to point to McPain’s similarities with him.

[philman_36]

It is said that 42 states ratified the 16th amendment...

The Law That Never Was

[x]

Some conspiracy theorists will tell you that the amendment was never properly ratified (but you still have to pay taxes anyway).

You do have a valid point. I thought that maybe those last states only ratified because Wilson Democrats won the state legislatures or because Roosevelt split the Republicans, but it looks like they amendment was headed for ratification.

If all four candidates for president support something, though, odds are it's probably something people want (however misguided they may be). The "spirit of the age" was progressive. Also, people didn't realize that they'd be taxing themselves.

Roosevelt got caught up in that spirit of the age himself.

[nicollo]

Taft pushed for the Constitutional Amendment because he worried that there would be attempts to enact a direct tax without constitutional authority. His logic was that if the tax was coming, and he felt it was(the tariff was very unpopular at that point), it ought to be enacted legally.