Constitutional Taxation

[Keith Broaders]

Only 55 of the 70 delegates invited to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelpha in the Summer of 1787  actually showed up.

Their assignment was not to create a new form of govevernment, bu to amend their existing Constitution.

Under the Articles of Confederation, which was the the Constitution at the time coud not be lawfully amended without the unanimous consent of all of the 13 states.

Because, Rhode Island failed to send any delegates, it was impossible for any changes to  the Articles of Confederation to be made.

Of the 56 men who signed the Dec;aration of Independnece only six of them attended the Constitutional Convention.

Many of the most prominent Founding Fathers believed that strengthening the power of the central governemnt  would rcause the people to become subjects rather than sovereigns.

Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Paine, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry all opposed the ratification of the newly proposed Constitution.

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were serving as ambassadors in Europe  and were unaavailabel to attend.

Tho sentiments of those who refised to attend were summed up in the words of Patrick Henry.

The delegates were assigned the task of exploring what could and should be done to create a more perfect Union,.

One of the powers that Patrick Henry feared was the power of the government to tax the people. Henry believed that among our rights was the right to own and dispose of of their property without governmental interference. 

The states did not grant to the National Government the power to  tax the people directly

Rrepresntation and taxation would be apportioned to the states based on their respective populations..  

A state with twice the population of another would have twice the number representatives and twice the tax burden,

In 1895 th Supreme Courtruled  that the imposition of a Federal Income Tax was unconstitutional, because the court believed that the income tax was a direct unapportioned tax which was expressly prohitied.

When progressive legislators around the turn of the 20th Century wanted to expamd their power they proposed the 16th and 17th Amendments.

Both of these amendments fundamentally  turned our government gigantic crime syndiate.

A person has an inherent right to life, liberty and property. In 1895 the Supreme Court ruled against the progressives declaring  that an individuals wages were property and all Federal Taxes must be equally apportioned among the states.

Up Until the fraudulent ratification of the 17th in 1913 the U.S. Senators represented their states and were chosen by  the legislators that they were responssible to serve.

In order to protect the right of the state's legislators to be represented in Congress a provision in Artcle V declared that no state shall be denied their equal suffrage in the Senate without their consent.

The 17th Amendment has forced Florida and six other states to allow the people in their states to participate in  the direct democatic election of their U.S. Senators.

This Amendment has turned our bicameral legislature into a unicaeral legislatire with two house reprenting corrupt politicians  and Wall Street Corporations.

The decision of the delegates in Philadlephia to have the states choose the senators gave the small states the capacity to block the House of Representatives from the democratic rule of the majority.

With the ratification of thr 17th Amendment  the people living in the large stateswere able to turn our bicameral legislature into a republic into a h unicameral legislature with two Houses representing just one constituency.