On Tue, Jul 17, 2001 at 12:54:10AM -0500, Jim Wildman wrote:
> Making the assumption that the Supreme Court has ruled on the 16th
> amendment in the favorable vein...then it IS legitimate by our
> Constitution. We can disagree with the interpretation, but it is the
> law of the land...or we have no law.
>
> I believe the first income tax was used during the Civil War by the
> Republicans who were using the power of the Federal government to
> enforce Federal power against the Democrats who believed in states'
> rights to set their own property laws (ie, slavery). Interesting
> how views change...
The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v Wade and Brown v Board of Education.
Supreme Court rulings aren't necessarily a resounding endorsement that
something is constitutional. However, at this point, the 16th's
constitutionality is rather moot. "De facto" is the word I'd use.
Yep, wars are expensive. Up until the 16th amendment, income tax was
unconstitutional. But that didn't stop the federal government from using
it to finance wars, as you mentioned.
Paul
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