Faire inkomensbelasting als progressief speerpunt

De verborgen progressieve geschiedenis van de inkomensbelasting
Door Erik Loomis, Alternet, 7 september 2012

The income tax was the most popular economic justice movement of the early 20th century. What happened?

[...] The end of the 19th century saw corporations at their height of influence and power, with plutocrats literally buying off legislatures to elect their men to the U.S. Senate and individuals like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan having more money than the entire federal government.

Americans fixed a lot of these problems in the 20th century. The mid-20th century was a period when more Americans had a larger share of the pie, with a growing middle-class, high rates of unionization, an expanding consumer economy leading to home ownership, working-class people going to college without much debt, and a better life for all, even if too often minorities were denied inclusion in this society.

[...] In order to fight [...] [Romney en Ryan, en neoliberalisme in het algemeen; K], we have to understand the ways our ancestors fought to even the playing field.

[...] Today, we are supposed to hate paying taxes. They are our “tax burden.” We vote for politicians who will reduce our taxes, even if that means destroying the welfare state. Conservatives’ century-long war against taxes has paid off by convincing everyday Americans to think taxes are a horrible thing that pays for government waste.

Our ancestors knew this was not true. The income tax was the most popular economic justice movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. This truly grassroots movement forced politicians to act in order to stay in office, leading to the 16th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. That’s right, the income tax was so popular that the nation passed a constitutional amendment so that the right-wing Supreme Court couldn’t overturn it.

Bron illustratie: Belastingdienst.nl

Zie ook m'n blognotities:
Belangrijkste oorzaken economische crisis
Verhoog de belastingen voor bedrijven en welgestelden of geef de doodsteek aan de publieke zaak - de keuze is aan ons