Today marks the largest step since 1913 to take the Federal taxing power further into your wallet. The income tax amendment passed nearly a century ago allowed the government to directly tax without apportionment among the several states. That language was used in the healthcare decision today when the individual mandate was upheld as a tax. This website has warned against the dangers of an expansionary government. We have examined the use of the 16th Amendment as a tool used specifically to strengthen the role of government in our everyday lives. We have also, more importantly, found a way to stop such a practice. This ruling could not have been allowed without the ambiguous and broad language of the 16th Amendment. We have experienced today the 28th of June 2012 the exact same government expansion seen by Americans on February 3rd 1913. In their case they watched as the ratification of a Constitutional Amendment overturned a Supreme Court decision. Today we saw a Supreme Court decision solidify our greatest fears about the heretofore unseen powers of that same Amendment. The FairTax movement is the only national tax reform organization that has consistently warned about the danger inherent in this Amendment. Many of us are still surprised at its use today. Regular readers will know about the steady pace of government growth since the 1913 ratification. Many more today will realize that there is literally no constraint on government power when it is allowed to directly tax income “from whatever source derived.” Those words echo louder today than at any other time. Let us hope they fall on attentive ears. There is strong support to repeal the death tax. It was temporarily brought down to 0%. If only temporarily. There is discussion of reducing the rates of the capital gains and income tax. Please recognize that these are temporary measures. A majority of Americans have desired the repeal of the Affordable Care Act since its passage. Today’s decision renders such repeal moot. While the removal of this law’s devastating effects will please many, the Supreme Court’s actions have already allowed for such regulatory control. Whether 2, 10, or 50 years down the line, the Congress will still have the blessing of the Court to take this action again or more. So let us change the rules. To ensure the future of our economy let us remove the oppressive burden of government regulation in the form of tax laws. To bring jobs back to our land of opportunity let us rip away the highest corporate tax in the industrialized world. To incentivize legal immigration pass a law that rewards following the law and simply ceases to reward breaking it. To curb the rise of centralized government power, pass a law that returns such power to the hands of the American people. To end the threat of reinterpretation of the word tax, repeal the Amendment that permits such unlimited reinterpretation. Repealing this Amendment today is the only safeguard now against future actions such as today’s ruling. Our cause was not hurt today; we now have an attentive audience. Our liberty was harmed though, and while it is cause for alarm it also proves the need for immediate action. Our freedoms were to be protected with a system of checks and balances. The trump card of course is the consent of the governed. No matter what bill are passed, what laws are signed, what decisions are made, we hold the key to the future of this country. For the FairTax that means our future has never been brighter because it rests with you. We have heard the Supreme Court’s response now it is time to hear yours.
