JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
- 16,776
- 2,220
- Thread starter
- #41
Do you really think that our federal government could run the programs it has without an income tax?
The programs it has? No, but then SO many of the programs it has it should not be running and others it spends WAY too much on.
What programs would you end to be able to drop federal income taxes?
Every single one that is not directly related to the enumerated powers granted to the federal government in the Constitution. The fact Progressives have broadly interpreted these provisions it the reason we have the crippling debt, taxes, spending, and burdensome meddling we do.
The government can collect revenues without imposing an income tax sufficient to defend against invasions. I know this because that's exactly what we did from 1780 until 1913.
Why do you think paying a single cent in taxes is to be a slave?
Because forcing some men to labor on the behalf of others is the very essence of slavery.
I am talking about REAL practical slavery that is not official but that has reduced the population to total dependence on the government to be able to simply exist. THAT is without doubt slavery in all practical terms, but to say that the Duke of York was a slave is just absurd.
If the Duke of York was subject to the kind of taxes that existed in America before the 16th amendment, which were indirect taxes, then those were voluntary and therefore not akin to slavery. When federal revenues came not from labor, but from usury fees and taxes on goods, tariffs on imported products, or excise taxes on certain items like alcohol and tobacco, people could chose not to pay any and all federal taxes by choosing not to buy the goods. That is VOLUNTARY, which makes all the difference in the world.
If the good Duke, or anyone else, was subject to an income tax, well that is not voluntary. Everyone must labor to survive. A government that forces some men, but not all, to direct some of their labor towards others they don't even know, as I said, that is the essence of slavery. Call it 'economic slavery' if you like, taxing a man's labor is immoral.
The people of England were subject to taxes of all kinds, even taxing them for how many windows they had on their cottages, to include the Duke. Taxes have NEVER been completely voluntary, so therefore according to your logic EVERYONE has ALWAYS been a slave throughout human history except for the one dude at the top of the pyramid; the emporer, absolute monarch, dictator, etc.
You effectively are trying to make the word slave meaningless.