How do you feel about the 16th Amendment, which gave Congress the power to tax at will.?

Question

"The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

Answer 1

Sounds like a blank check. If you saw "The
Patriot" you might remember when he(can't
remember the patriot's name) asked at a town
hall meeting "why should I trade a tyrant
three thousand miles away for three thousand
tyrants one mile away". Congress is only
a handful of people, but it takes thousands of
public servants to enforce all those taxation
laws. And any of them could freely leave
those jobs, if they were willing to part with
the money. Then the system would fall apart,
unless the FBI got involved.

Answer 2

The Constitution clearly states that Congress may not levy taxes on a persons wages, and in the 16th amendment it is not defined as to what is considered to be wages in the first place . Secondly the 16th amendment was created and passed at the insistence of the Federal Reserve to insure repayment of Government Debt. Its a scam.

Answer 3

It was in the constitution.

Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States

I do not agree with the income tax, there are too many loopholes. Prefer the idea of a sales tax.

Answer 4

The idea is that taxation covers expenses for the common good. If governments and legislators keep that in mind taxation is a good thing. Isn't it nice, for instance, to go on a long road-trip and have all the advantages of the interstate road network? That is a good example, I think, of pooling our resources for the common good. Given the long-term nature of such projects, it makes sense to have an orderly system of taxation, rather than sending bills to each individual as specific costs arise.

The problem comes with spending that belongs with the states - the pork-barrel projects which Congressmen use to get re-elected.

In summary, the concept of the 16th Amendment is, in my view, good. The tax code could do with tidying up quite a bit, but that is another question entirely.

Kittenbrower, if you repeal the 16th Amendment, the Federal Government loses the right to implement any income tax, including the so-called fair tax.

Answer 5

Taxing is poor idea to fund government spending. We have created a social engineering mechanism that allows empowers congress for kick backs and earmark projects at the people's expense. People should learn to depend less of the government and the government should ease the tax burden on the people.

Answer 6

I think it should be repealed and replaced with the fair tax. The 16th amendment is the only amendment (besides the ban on alcohol) that takes powers away from the states.

Answer 7

That amendment was never really ratified.

Answer 8

I'll be on YA HEARD ???.com