- Moderator
- #61
Nope. Wilson and the Congress did not amend the constitution.Really? Then how do they manage to continue to be in effect?
Are you laughing at your own ignorance of history?
The Social Security Act and the Minimum Wage Act were both declared unconstitutional by a 5-4 decision of the SCOTUS. When this happened FDR was furious and attempted to pull a Hugo Chavez and expand the size of the SCOTUS so he could stack it with like minded judges who would push through his unconstitutional New Deal programs. This did not sit well with people and he experienced a backlash from his own party in Congress who refused to go along with it. It became a very contentious issue between the Congress and the court and president and due to the underlying pressure and intimidation that followed, the fifth justice changed his ruling and permitted the programs to be implemented, which paved the way for the rest of the welfare state that we can't pay for today. So as you see, the "Constitutionality" of those programs were wrought through intimidation, coercion, and bullying by the Executive Branch.
Regarding the progressive income tax, it was struck down three times by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. In order to make it legal the Congress and the Wilson administration had to amend the Constitution (the 16th Amendment).
The 61st Congress, with both houses controlled by Republicans passed the 16th amendment in 1909. The Republican William Taft was president when the bill passed. It was then ratified by 3/4 of the states. So we have the Republican party to thank for our federal income tax. I bet you won't hear Republicans listing the 16th amendment as one of their great accomplishments.
Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
61st United States Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I was incorrect in stating that the Wilson administration passed the amendment, however, it was the Wilson administration that actually passed the progressive income tax, so I wasn't entirely wrong. From your own link
The presidential election of 1912 was contested between three advocates of an income tax.[24] On February 25, 1913, Secretary of State Philander Knox proclaimed that the amendment had been ratified by the necessary three-fourths of the states, and thus had become part of the Constitution.[25] Shortly thereafter, the Revenue Act of 1913 was enacted.