233 Years and We Haven't Learned a Thing

Less the 3%. Less than 3% sales tax actually. That started a revolution. Our founding fathers revolted over a sales tax that was less than 3%. I understand that a majority of their bickering came from the taxation without representation but overwhelming principle is still the same. Our early leaders hated taxation. Just read the Articles of Confederation we can see that or Ben Franklin’s remark’s on the subject. Although the articles failed mainly due to a lack of taxation on the federal level, they were still skeptical when they wrote no direct tax into the Constitution. A little more than 100 years after the Constitution was signed Americans still resisted direct taxes. In 1896, the Supreme Court overruled a state income tax. However, the 16th Amendment acted like steroids to our federal government. More federal taxes equals a larger federal government.

Now our country is bombarded with a number of taxes: income, estate, death, capital gains, death, sin, alternative minimum, and soon energy and health insurance. What would our founding fathers think? Jefferson would have called for a revolution a long time ago. And I believe most would start to jump on his band wagon.

Although a complete revolution may be too much to ask, I propose the FairTax. A tax revolution that would… well, revolutionize our country. It would put a damper on the federal government and bring the responsibility the founders intended. We need the FairTax and we need it now. www.fairtax.org