Debt & Taxes

Debt & Taxes
"It's time we reduced the federal budget and left the family budget alone." - Ronald Reagan

Debt & Taxes At A Glance


I propose the Federal government:

  • Dramatically cut federal spending immediately, including abolishing the Department of Education.
  • Effectively abolish the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture. Any Constitutionally appropriate functions may be moved to the DOJ or DOI.
  • Abolish capital gains taxes
  • Drastically cut, with an eye toward ending, the income tax
  • Unwind and end both wars within 6-12 months
  • Federal budgets must have a surplus

The premise of an income tax, that government has a right to the fruits of your labor, is antithetical to a free society. An income tax implies that a government owns you and allows you to keep a portion of what you make.

No judge would ever challenge the constitutionality of a $1+ trillion revenue source. But the constitutionality of the 16th Amendment is clearly questionable, if for no other reason than it is not an apportioned tax (Article 1 Section 2) . Even if an income tax is constitutional, certainly a progressive tax cannot be. Article I Section 9 states "No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken."

The 16th Amendment was originally billed as a minor imposition on only the wealthiest Americans. But like many government taxes and programs, once established the income tax slowly but inexorably expanded. In its first year Federal income taxes derived half its revenue from John D. Rockefeller and only a few Americans paid it. By 1939, 26 years after its passage, 5% of Americans were required to file an income tax return. Today over 80% are required to file.



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