And your making the unfounded claim you did certainly illustrates nothing productive.Unfounded? Please. This info is very easy to find.
Federal Tax Receipts as a Percentage of GDP
source: Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2006
Year Receipts 1944 20.90% 1945 20.40% 1946 17.60% 1947 16.50% 1948 16.20% 1949 14.50% 1950 14.40% 1951 16.10% 1952 19.00% 1953 18.70% 1954 18.50% 1955 16.60% 1956 17.50% 1957 17.80% 1958 17.30% 1959 16.10% 1960 17.90% 1961 17.80% 1962 17.60% 1963 17.80% 1964 17.60% 1965 17.00% 1966 17.40% 1967 18.30% 1968 17.70% 1969 19.70% 1970 19.00% 1971 17.30% 1972 17.60% 1973 17.70% 1974 18.30% 1975 17.90% 1976 17.20% TQ 17.80% 1977 18.00% 1978 18.00% 1979 18.50% 1980 19.00% 1981 19.60% 1982 19.10% 1983 17.50% 1984 17.40% 1985 17.70% 1986 17.40% 1987 18.40% 1988 18.20% 1989 18.40% 1990 18.00% 1991 17.80% 1992 17.50% 1993 17.60% 1994 18.10% 1995 18.50% 1996 18.90% 1997 19.30% 1998 20.00% 1999 20.00% 2000 20.90% 2001 19.80% 2002 17.80% 2003 16.40% 2004 16.30%
What this posting really illustrates is not at all what you intend. What it really shows is the growth of the government beginning in about the WWII years and continuing since then right up until the present time and also - with the present economic decline - the way that tax revenues vary greatly due to the use on income as a tax base. It somethimes floats above 20% and sometimes under.
With such a variation, the percentages shift around and tend to be lower during economic ills as at present. That certainly means nothing about the continuation of any long term percentage trend ... except that government is way too large and has been since the WWII era.
Pretending that such a set of figures is particularly meaningful is notoriously dishonest since, should the economy improve in the next few years (and the income tax remain - which is doubtful), then these percentages will climb right back up to the 20% and above range. It's no "trend" at all, but just historical data showing how government has ballooned (and how entitlements have done likewise).
In short, your posting which you no doubt gave as a defense of the income tax as being a kinder, gentler tax with such low rates (your belief on a percentage basis) really doesn't need fixing at all ... that's it's everyone else who is out of step tax-wise.
LOL, indeed.