Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

[woodsmoke]

I found this quite interesting and present it without comment:


A brief history of U.S. income tax and how it became what it is today.


woodsmoke

[notabug]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

Interesting article woodsmoke. Thanks.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

you are quite welcome!

woodsmoke

[Detonate]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

I consider this forum as "continuing education".

What do you think of Herman Cain's 999 plan?

[dibl]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

I consider this forum as "continuing education".

What do you think of Herman Cain's 999 plan?

Right -- you can learn a lot here (after you fix your Linux box).

I like Herman Cain's 999 plan. I like the FAIR tax too -- at least I like it better than the current arrangements. Actually, if I were king, I would eliminate the tax on personal earnings from wages and salaries, up to some high figure like $250,000. I have no problem with taxing business income, but I've never liked the tax on people's earnings.

Being such a materialistic society, I would be happy to make up the difference with a VAT on everything except fresh (raw) food. I'm not persuaded by the "regressive" arguments against a VAT. Poor people benefit from national defense, FDA, CDC, and regulation of interstate commerce just as much as rich people do. Contrarily, rich people spend bigger bucks on purchases than poor people, so they would in fact be paying more through the VAT.

[Detonate]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

No income tax would end my volunteer job as the technology coordinator for the AARP Tax Aide program. And put a lot of people out of business, such as H&R Block. For most Americans, not only do they have to pay the tax, but it is so complicated they have to pay someone to prepare their taxes. That's just plain wrong.

Most Americans do not understand the difference between a VAT and a national sales tax.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

....
What do you think of Herman Cain's 999 plan?

I like it. For those who haven't read what it is, you can get a PDF of it here.

I discount the professional politicians like Perry and Romney. IMO, Palin destroyed her opportunities when she resigned her governorship half way through her first term. Her journalism major and cheer-leading experience gives her no more qualifications for the Presidency than Obama's "Neighborhood Organizer" experience gave him. Had she finished her term we would have a better idea of her leadership ability.

She doesn't "appear" to be running, I believe, as a ruse to keep the MNM from continually throwing unfounded charges at her, and will probably wait until just before the Republican convention in order to minimize media attacks and gain the nomination during a wave of Palin hysteria. If that is her plan, it will fail for reasons given below.

While the media makes a lot anti-Palin hay about the charges in Joe McGinniss's new book, "Going Rouge", they pay scant or no attention to the explosive email he wrote, desperately searching for proof for ANY of the many charges leveled by the media against Palin, and endlessly repeated:

From: Joe McGinniss
To: Jesse Griffin
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 6:15 PM
Subject: I have to ask you for help

Jesse–

Legal review of my manuscript is underway and here’s my problem: no one has ever offered documentation of any of the lurid stories about the Palins. Shailey Tripp is the latest example.

APD and Sarah have denied that Todd had any involvement with her. To my knowledge, no one has provided any evidence that he did. TheEnquirer cites AlaskaWTF, which in turn cites the Enquirer: what good is that? I’m also told that the Enquirer is preparing to back off this story and save face by denouncing Ms. Tripp as an unreliable source who promised documentation she couldn’t provide.

She may be mentally unstable and prone to fabrication, delusion, or both. Her joint may be called Blue Hands Massage (brrrrr!), but she’s no Monica Lewinsky with a blue dress with a semen stain, that’s for sure.

Do you believe that Todd paid her for sex? If so, why do you believe that, other than that you wish it were true?

A lurid, sensational, defamatory story about Todd, based only on the account of a woman charged with prostitution, who is no doubt desperate for money, and who sold her story to the Enquirer, is a gift from heaven for Sarah.

Jesse, you can ridicule Sarah for calling in to the execrable Bob & Mark, but the fact is that as far as this story goes, there’s no there there. And rumors about what might come in weeks ahead are not facts. In fact, they’re garbage.

I’ve neither seen nor heard anything that indicates that Ms. Tripp’s story has any basis in fact. None of the endless crap Patrick posted about her before getting the boot from palingates.com offers any substantiation.

And even you write frequently that you know things you can’t yet post, but that soon “all will be revealed.” This has been going on since I first became aware of your blog, but as far as I know you haven’t substantiated a single claim or provided verification for a single rumor that you’ve posted about Sarah’s personal life, or the personal lives of any Palin family members. Thus, she gets to denounce what she calls “lies.”

Neither from you, the Enquirer, AlaskaWTF, palingates.com or anyone else, have I seen a credible, identified source backing any of the salacious stories about the Palin family.

Thus–as Random House lawyers are already pointing out to me–nothing I can cite other than my own reporting rises above the level of tawdry gossip. The proof is always just around the corner, but that’s a corner nobody has been able to turn. Maybe Jeff Dunn has, in which case I’ll be the first to congratulate him. But frankly, at this point, I’m tired of it, and I’ve run out of time.

No one has ever provided factual evidence that:

a) Todd had sex with a hooker, or with anyone else outside his marriage.

b) Sarah had an affair with Brad Hanson, or anyone else.

c) Track was a druggie who enlisted in the army to avoid a jail term. Or that he vandalized Wasilla school buses.

d) Willow was involved in the vandalism of the empty house in Meadow Lakes. Or that Sarah rushed back from Hawaii to put the lid on that.

e) Trig is not Sarah’s natural born child.

f) Bristol was promiscuous as a high schooler and drank and used drugs, or became pregnant again after Tripp’s birth.

Jesse, you were going on and on about Bristol being pregnant while doing Dancing With The Stars. And, if I recall correctly, at the time of her brief glossy-magazine-payday “reunion” with Levi, you surmised that she was pregnant by Ben Barber, or at least by someone who wasn’t Levi. You’ve recently suggested she’s had an abortion, publishing photographs that show her chubby then and thin now. But doesn’t that seem a little “thin” to you, based on nothing besides magazine pictures?

So much has bubbled at the salacious rumor stage for more than two years, but no one has been able to take even one story further.

Jesse, if you can put me in touch with people who are willing and able to substantiate any of the above, now is the time to do so. Otherwise, I hope you won’t complain that there are no startling new revelations in my book. My publisher and I think it’s damning enough without airing the family’s dirty laundry, but because Sarah’s hypocrisy about her family is one of the things that galls me most, I’d like to be able to publish facts in regard to a) through f) above, but I emphasize facts.

Not malicious speculation or third-hand rumors relayed by those who hold a grudge.

For any or all of those who’ve told you they’ll speak out, but not yet, now is the time. My book represents the last best chance to put the truth about Sarah in front of the American people in a documented, verifiable way. But I need facts that I can rely on. I didn’t live this long and work this hard over so many decades to wind up as AlaskaWTF between hard covers.

as always, and looking forward to seeing you in spring or summer,
Joe

I don't see any other Republican matching Cain's background, experience or charisma. But, alas, I believe that Obama will win a second term exactly the same way Clinton won his. Obama, even after a bitter convention battle, will win the Democrat Party's nomination for a second term. Not needing to vote for anyone in their primaries, many Democrats will vote in Republican primaries to vote for the most vulnerable Republican candidate. When that candidate wins the nomination, it will outrage a large section of the Republican party unwilling to compromise in the least, who will immediately put up an "Independent" conservative, just as Ross Perot. Clinton got only 41% of the vote, but it was enough to win. Obama can win with the same strategy.

[dibl]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

No income tax would end my volunteer job as the technology coordinator for the AARP Tax Aide program. And put a lot of people out of business, such as H&R Block. For most Americans, not only do they have to pay the tax, but it is so complicated they have to pay someone to prepare their taxes.

Yes, my proposition would cause a large "displacement" -- which is why I'll never live to see anything like it. Too much political pressure to maintain the (stinking) status quo.

[ardvark71]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

Hi all...

I would like to see a system where the the private individual (and corporation) is not even brought into the tax collection process. All taxes would be collected by government officials and in a way that eliminates any filing or reporting requirements. Probably a small two or three percent national sales tax that could not be raised without a national vote of the people (and eliminate all income and self employment taxes) would probably be able to fit in this criteria. FICA could be taken care of by this tax as well, eliminating the current system.

Regards...

[woodsmoke]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

LOL
If one turns 999 upside down it is 666....lol ....just kidding!

I have advocated the thing for some time now in callin talk shows and actually went to my state Rep and he said in no uncertain terms that it was "too complicated" to explain to "the people" and it would never be enacted!

The state legislators floated a "fair tax" but it had some loopholes in it that actually would drive people "out of state" to buy a lot of things because it would increase taxes on some things while increasing them MORE on other things...and it died a slow death.

I actually like Cain's 999 because it is a) a catchy title and b) easy to explain in a few short sentences.

wooodsmoke

[bsniadajewski]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

@dibl

Now that's really a progressive tax, though I'd knock the minimum up to a million (a nice round number). I'd also do something similar for businesses/corporations, where SMB's pay a smaller or no tax but Big Corps (like Apple, MS, etc.) would pay a larger tax, say 50% (another nice round number). Too bad you or I couldn't be a king here in the U. S. A.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

bsn

I now hereby with all the titles and appurtenances herto bestowed on me and the guilfoils appointed to moi.......

do bestow upon thoust....

kind of like joust......

the title of......KING OF WHATEVER!!!! 8) 8) 8)

woodbestowerofnothinginparticularsmoke!!!!

[bsniadajewski]

Re: Brief history of U.S. "income tax" sans comment

You're good, woodsmoke