The constitution had an amendment added to it that gave the federal government free reign to take all the income it desires, no limit. They promised it would be tiny it order to pass it but it has been like a cancerous growth on this great nation and we got a taste of just how bad that tumor is November 4th. Time to cure the cancer , not just elect another smiling face.
Yep, and the backers of the 16th Amendment also said at the time that it would only affect "rich people". Taxes are certainly a necessary evil to provide funding for the gubmint. However, the cancer started when the gubmint started using the tax system to control behavior. It really got bad when they convinced a majority that taxing corporations and the movement of capital was a good idea in a Capitalist system. It's beyond out of control now. People can argue income tax rates until they are blue in the face, but when you add up all the other taxes, FICA, Medicare, property taxes, tangible taxes, telephone taxes, etc., as I have done, my real tax rate is more like 56% of my gross income.
It's really sad when a "former" Communist country like Russia has a flat tax and we here in a "free" country have a "progressive" tax system exactly as it is laid out in the Communist Manifesto....again, I fault the gubmint skools and a complete and utter lack of historical perspective amongst the majority of the populace. We need only look as far as last Tuesday to see the depths of the ignorance......