Kill the Income Tax

For most of its history, the federal government had all the money necessary to perform its constitutionally-limited role.

Since 1942 we have had a steadily growing corporate (which is ultimately paid by the consumer) and personal income tax. Why, if the nation did fine with no income tax during most of its history, do we need an income tax now? It is not because our constitutionally-limited government needs the money. It is because, as Meyer Jacobstein, of the Brookings Institution, testified to a Senate subcommittee, “it is necessary to mop up the excess purchasing power of the community...because of its effect on the price situation....” In other words, it is to ensure that the successful don't have too much money and to redistribute their surplus to government bureaucrats and to the non-productive.

If the income tax were terminated altogether, the central (federal) government would only need to be reduced to its size of about 10 years ago -- still a far-too-large-and-powerful government.

The only truly fair tax I can think of would be a 100% tax on all forms of income, perks and benefits in excess of $200,000 from any source received by members of Congress. This tax on members of Congress must not be indexed, must continue after the Congressman leaves office, and must not be altered without the concurrence of 75% of registered voters. Failing that, Congress must end the income tax or immediately replace the entire present multi-layered conglomeration of corporate and personal taxes with a single, easy-to-understand tax that is fully transparent and visible and which applies to everyone -- including loafers on the dole.