"When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice,
that an old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians
have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had only one before."
by:
H. L. Mencken
(1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic
Rating:
Categories:
 
Bookmark and Share  
Reader comments about this quote:
Be forewarned. If indeed a national sales tax could replace the income tax, make damn sure that the sales tax is not implemented before the income tax is repealed -- that's what Canada did, now they have 15% sales tax AND 40% income tax!! (And they can't get rid of either now...)
 -- E Archer, NYC     
  • 1
  •  
    It is not the politicians, it is us, when we let people like King George W give away money in the trilions to corporate interests and the military industrial complex, then there is no choice. Stop KIng George W and the problem goes away. Clinton had us well on the way to a repaired economy until the radical religious right sold us all out.
     -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US     
  • 1
  •  
    Reston, you're an idiot. You want the government to take money from your pocket, and find more ways to take even more money from your pocket.
     -- Joe, Rochester, MI     
  • 2
  •  
    This quote is oh so true. But, our income tax is the most byzantine convolute mess ever devised to keep politicians in power; and second in immorality only to property taxes which are built on the premise that you may never truly own property in this country, you must rent it from the government. HR25 (The FairTax) contains the abolishment of the Income tax and defunds the IRS. All cosponsors acknowledge they will not vote for it unless does that. It is revenue neutral, removes a tremendous economic burden on our economy, top to bottom, and most importantly, it gets the government out of our personal business (you know that secure in their persons, houses, papers thing; i.e. privacy) which the flat tax does not. It is the most heavily researched tax bill in history and supported by low income through the gamut of individuals, small business and big business. Read the Boortz and Linder book or go to Fairtax.org for more comprehensive information. And as usual idiotic Anonymous Reston remains a clueless socialist. He can’t even come to grips with the fact that corporations are merely groups of people who pool their resources. Clinton fixed the economy, what a sick joke. The minor recession had ended before Bush 1 left office. Clinton balanced the budget on the backs of DoD, check the numbers, his peace dividend gave us the War on Islamic Fascism and a military that is too miniscule too keep 200K men deployed for a few years. And Bill Gates had more to do with the Nineties economy then Bill Clinton did in his wettest dream.
     -- helorat, Milton     
  • 1
  •  
    Helorat, unless you repeal the ability to tax income by constitutional amendment it is too easy to bring back by statute. I'm afraid it is like a zombie that will not die. And Reston, in case you hadn't noticed, we a in a booming economy with unemployment numbers lower and personal income higher than any time in the Klinton administration.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
  • 1
  •  
    Reston this is for you and the rest of the liberals.. "What luck for the rulers that men do not think." Adolf Hitler
     -- Rock Ape, Pensacola, FL     
  • 1
  •  
    Stats mostly from IRS in first part, and large study by the tax foundation in the second part taxfoundation.org
     -- helorat, Milton     
  •  
    The quote holds true as, like all corporate entity's, government is a sociopathic eating machine with the force of law to implement it's own mental disorder. It knows no boundaries that "We The People" ourselves haven't enforced.
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
  • 1
  •  
    Hmmm? Is "Reston" Pres. Obama's AKA?
     -- Mary-MI     
  •  
    Texas has no state income tax, thank goodness. Every so often some nut case will write a letter to the editor saying that if we had an income tax the property tax could be less. The Mencken quote above explais the idiocy of that notion.
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
  • 1
  •  
    Whether it is King George or the Obamanation, the government always expands its powers and always spends more than it takes in, thus always adding more debt upon the nation. This is because of the banking system and the unlimited credit line the Federal Reserve gives us -- the taxes go to the Fed directly -- the principal is unpayable because we are using the IOU's as 'money' -- no debt, no more money for anyone.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
  • 1
  •  
     -- Ken, Spokane      
     -- Mike, Norwalk      
    Another Old saying, The whore has more helpers than you can count !
     -- Ronw13, Logsden     
  •  
    "Same old same old." It's hard enough to find an individual who'll settle for no, or small, increments to keep up with COL, but when it comes to organizations, particularly governments, there ain't no such thing as "enough" or "patience."
     -- Bobble, No. Ferrisburgh, VT     
  • 2
  •  
     
    Rate this quote!
    How many stars?
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5

     
    What do YOU think?
    Your name:
    Your town:
        CLICK JUST ONCE!

    More Quotations
    Get a Quote-A-Day! Free!
    Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box.
    RSS Subscribe
    Quotes & Quotations - Send This Quote to a Friend

    © 1998-2024 Liberty-Tree.ca