236 Years of Hating Taxes
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236 Years of Hating Taxes
How we've created and resisted taxation since the nation was born.
By Natalie Matthews and Sara Behunek
Posted Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - 10:01am
As we gnash our teeth, fumble with forms, and curse the IRS, it's instructive to remember that hating and cheating the tax man have rich histories in America. From the Boston Tea Party to Tom Daschle's conspicuous 1040 omissions, here's a look back at how we've been almost as creative in resisting taxes as governments have been in establishing them.
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PHOTO CREDITS:
Painting of Americans throwing the cargo of the tea ships into the river at Bofton by W.D. Cooper in the "History of North America" / Wikipedia. / Photographs of Al Capone mug shots by United States Department of Justice /Wikipedia. / Proposition 13 Electoral results by county by Kurykh / Wikipedia. / Painting of George washington and his troops before their march to surpress the Whiskey Rebellion by Unknown, attributed to Frederick Kemmelmeyer / Wikipedia. / Painting of John Adams by Charles Willson Pearle courtesy of Independence National Historical Park / Wikipedia. / Photograph of Abe Lincoln by Alexander Gardner / Library of Congress / Wikipedia. / Internal Revenue Service logo by unknown author / Wikipedia. / Photograph of IRS seal by U.S. Government / Wikipedia. / Photograph of the IRS Building by Wallstreethotrod / Wikipedia. / Photograph of the 16th Admendment by NARA / Wikipedia. / Photograph of Woodrow Wilson courtesy of the Library of Congress / Wikipedia. /Photo of Detroit police inspecting equipment courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration / Wikipedia. / Photograph at Elk Lake by C. H. J. Snider fonds / Wikipedia. / Photograph of the Social Security Act being signed by President Roosevelt courtesy of the Library of Congress / Wikipedia. / Photograph of an advertisement against marihuana by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics / Wikipedia. / Photograph of Tom Dashel and Barack Obama Obama-Biden Transistion project from Flickr / Wikipedia. / Photograph of President Ronald Nancy Reagan courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library / Wikipedia. / Photographs of Harry Truman signing documents from National Archives / Wikipedia. / Photographs of Willie Nelson Dwight McCann and Robbiework / Wikipedia. / Photograph of Lakers and Bulls in Chicago by Jonathan Daniel / Allsport / Getty Images. / Photographs of the Great Depression / Wikipedia.
("The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor" by Nathaniel Currier)
Comments
We'd hate taxes even MORE if,
We'd hate taxes even MORE if, instead of having our Income Taxes deducted from our paychecks every pay period, we actually had to write Uncle Sam a check for the taxes. When taxes just come out automatically, we get used to the amount AFTER taxes. When we have to actively PAY the taxes, they seem to hurt a lot more. And yes, the government takes TOO much money.
Funny
Nicely done time-line. I found several of the entries quite funny, like the Margarine tax (and the repeal thereof!), the Willie Nelson songs, and the jock tax. What will our government not tax?? And since we are the government, why do we do this to ourselves? Some taxation is necessary for our cohesiveness as a well-functioning state, roads, police, standing armies, etc. But how has our tax code become so bloated and unmanageable? Why is the tax burden so high yet we have so little change in public services to show for? We need more of the California-style tax ceilings that can't be opposed because they would be like, as in the time-line, "running for student council and opposing the prom"!
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Karen
Tax Abuse
We are hate tax - the fundamental problem is we hate those waste our money.
In the U.S.A taxes are reckoned from Jan. l. That means the whole year we are paying for those idiots to kill people in other land, to digg up our earth!Just want to be responsible, not selfish.(Hermes Birkin Bag) Leo
To A Certain Degree
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Although I do agree that taxes do some kind of injustice as many people get their dirty hands on our money paying taxes also helps us with roads, medicine and the list goes on and on... I wish it would be possible to reduce the taxes!
(Credit Score Range)
Insanity.
I wouldn`t mind avoiding tax as well. Yes, some of the money is well spent, but should we just sit by and watch as the government waste our money on pointless wars and stuff like that? Really, when we pay tax it should be possible to earmark the money, so that we could rest assured that our tax money is actually spent on schools and hospitals, not bombs, guns & ammo. Furthermore, I think we pay WAY too much!
I want my money back!
I am making it a priority this year to avoid paying taxes. I have no problem living in a community where we share the costs, but not in an enviroment where money is recklously spent by the government with no intention for it to ever be paid back.
And I wish CNBC would stop calling the american dollar the green back. Aren't you guys on CNBC suppose to be educated in economics? The green back was a real currency, unlike the american dollar they keep referring to.
I am a Canadian and our taxes are even higher here.
Between a 30%+ income tax, a 13% sales tax and high property tax rates I am left with 50% of the money I make? That is absurd.
Lawrence Kobescak
Ontario Mortgage Broker
Taxes are taxing
After paying Govt its monthly salary from my pocket in the name of taxes, I don't have much left. If becomes frustrating at times!
The famous book by Adam Smith, titled The Wealth of Nations, is a must read in this context (ref: Webliterature). The govt has a history of becoming rich at the expense of its citizens is almost legendary.
Do you remember the statement that had fuelled the French Revolution by the then-queen? "If they don't have bread, why don't they eat cake?" This is the level of ignorance in much of the Governing Bodies about the wealth of people.
Things should improve, but things have never improved since the starting of the human civilization. Unfortunately. Period.
-- Mark (Infrared sauna)
Taxation
One of the biggest issues with paying taxes is not the paying of taxes. It is the fact that taxpayers have no control over what their tax is spent on. To force any American to subsidise through taxation acts in which he or she deplores is an act of socialism at its' pinacle.
We'd hate taxes even MORE if,
We'd hate taxes even MORE if, instead of having our Income Taxes deducted from our paychecks every pay period, we actually had to write Uncle Sam a check for the taxes. When taxes just come out automatically, we get used to the amount AFTER taxes. When we have to actively PAY the taxes, they seem to hurt a lot more. And yes, the government takes TOO much money.
White Marjarine
I remember when I was a child back in the 1940s, my Mother would buy white marjarine and it came with a package of yellow dye. She would sprinkle it on the marjarine and throughly mix it until it looked like butter. I often wondered why that was necessary, but never asked. Now that I see in the time line that there was a yellow marjarine tax back in those days, it makes sense. The manufacturers were getting around the tax by allowing the consumer to dye the marjarine themselves. This savings was obviously passed on to the consumer and made the product price competitive with real butter. Very interesting article.