Yes, fellow students, it’s that time of year to either pay the piper or get your measly return back from the International Revenue Service. It’s time that most of us have paid our taxes, but wait – haven’t we been paying them already all year long? Why must some of us pay even now?Many of you might not know it, but there used to be no income tax, or property tax, no Social Security tax, sales tax, gas tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains tax. Need I say more? Here’s some little known tax history for you:When the United States became a country, no governing body was given the power to tax, and the military was paid in new U.S. currency. In 1800, Jefferson abolished all taxes (except tariffs for overseas trade), yet federal revenues soared from $3 million in 1801 to $14 million in 1808. In the war of 1812, taxes were debated for financing the war. The government chose not to tax, but to double tariffs (again only on trade overseas.) The following year, revenues from the tariff dropped 50 percent.The first national income tax (three percent of only the most wealthy and willing-to-pay individuals) came in 1862. It was used to finance the Civil War and then left to expire in 1872, just a few years after the war ended.Only in the 20th century did the United States actually begin these excessive taxes. Many times in the past, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that income taxes were unconstitutional. This begs the question: Why do we have so high income tax rates now if, before, they were none?Simple, the New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt fame. The government started social programs like Social Security, Medicare, welfare, etc. Originally, these programs were created strictly to help the poor simply survive the age of the Great Depression.Throughout the last three decades, however, the federal government expanded them, and the social spending has increased to frightening levels. The average American now loses over 40 percent of his or her paycheck to the government, compared with two percent just before the New Deal.The average Social Security tax rate has risen from three percent in 1950 to over 15 percent today, and is expected to double in less than three decades with the aging “baby boomer” generation. This federal spending has taken it’s toll on the backs of the American family. From 1970 to 1997, the median family income (in 1993 dollars) has risen from $37,000 to $39,500 per year (a whopping 7 percent over nearly three decades, or 0.24 percent increase per year, well below inflation rates!), even despite the fact that, in nearly the same time, the percentage of women (with children under seven years old) working has jumped from approximately 20 percent to 65 percent. Also, family median incomes were greatly decreased by the tax hikes of 1990 and 1993 (see Census Bureau). Our government no longer balances it’s own checkbook like we do for it. In 1929, there was basically no national debt. From 1946 to 1973, the average national debt was (in today’s figures) about $2500 per person. In the last full report (1998), it was $20,870 per person and rising, even with a supposed budget surplus and a fast-growing population. It will not take long for all of us to “feel the pain” in our collective wallets. We should act now to prevent the future generation from having to pay 80 percent tax rates, while working two full-time jobs, and forcing our children into government-controlled child-rearing facilities as Social Security and the federal government go bankrupt.The government should immediately begin paying down on the national debt, and should cut social programs further in favor of tax cuts for everyone, especially families. In fact, all those who make poverty wages should be declared tax exempt, and not be subject to any income tax whatsoever. Even when the poor receive their meager returns, the government has earned interest on their backs while they struggle to pay the bills. It is inconceivable to me why those who can barely afford low-budget rent have to send anything to the fat cats of Washington.I encourage everyone to check the web (I used America OnLine, Microsoft News, and Yahoo) and see the facts for yourself by searching under tax history.”The power to tax is the power to destroy” – Daniel Webster.
John Camm is a senior electrical engineering major.