John Marshall, the Federalist jurist and 3rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who is probably best known, (or perhaps more correctly, most infamous,) for having created the doctrine of judicial review out of whole cloth, quoted Noah Webster when he wrote "The power to tax is the power to destroy." Destructive tax policies having been one of the main motivators for the American revolution, this statement was hardly controversial twenty-some years afterwards. People of the time understood that taxes were destructive, not beneficial, and that the power to tax ought to be carefully constrained. Jefferson prided himself during his second inaugural speech on having reduced the tax burden imposed by the Federal Government to almost nothing, and believed that taxes were destructive to economic growth. There are any number of similar opinions expressed by a wide variety of people at the time.
This lesson was hammered home by the War between the States, perhaps more accurately named "The war started by Northern Mechantilism and Abusive tax policy" but that is probably too long a title. Taxes were the underlying reason for the War between the States; tariff barriers favoring northern textile manufacturers at the expense of cotton farmers were a frequently protested irritant from the early 1830s onward.
Tax policy has been an instrument of Federal (and State and local) political direction of the economy here in these united States for a very long time, since the inception of the Republic, and it can be argued that such policy driven direction is partisan in it's nature, but as far as I am aware it was not widely used selectively to attack or destroy specific individuals or ideological groups.
Taxation has often been selectively enforced, too, starting with Colonial excisemen winking at John Hancock's violation of the King's tariffs, but as far as I know, it was not until 95 years after the establishment and enforcement of the income tax that the Federal tax agency was used to attempt to destroy a class of opposition to those presently holding authority. Yes, I am referring to the use of the IRS by those presently in power to obstruct and punish those who are opposed to the ideas and actions of the present administration. The IRS possesses awesome destructive power; it can utterly ruin a person's life by simple accusation without trial or even a hearing. Such is the result of the folly of having allowed the Federal Government of these presently united States the power to tax individual incomes.
While taxation is theft, the IRS until 2008 went to great lengths to maintain the appearance of even-handed plunder, stealing with aplomb from all and sundry regardless of political connections. Such is no longer the case. The IRS has been unmistakeably employed in the pursuit of partisan political purposes, continues to be so employed, and will likely continue to be so employed in the future, protestations of the present administration notwithstanding.
The goal of health care is to heal and cure, yet here we have healthcare mandated by Federal fiat and enforced by the most destructive Federal agency of all, an agency which has become demonstrably corrupt and politically partisan. Being denied health care because of bureaucratic judgements on your age, fitness, or usefulness are nightmare enough, but the prospect of being denied care for having exercised one's right to free speech, and this WILL happen, is an abomination.
What is the function of government? To protect individual rights.
What powers is the Federal authority given? Only those which are specifically enumerated and delegated to it; the 9th and 10th amendments state that everything else not mentioned in the Constitution is the province of the States or the people.
So how does ObamaCare protect my rights? Where will my right to patient privacy be when the NSA and the IRS are keeping records of EVERYTHING I say, everything I post on the Internet, everything I tell my doctor in his office? Where will my free speech rights be when I dare not criticize those who deliver my heath care? Where will my right to self defense be when I'm denied care because my gun ownership is deemed an 'unacceptable health risk?' Why would the tyrants worry about keeping soldiers in my house when they can listen to and permanently store every single word I speak or write down? Where is my right against self-incrimination when the government records all my phone calls and email traffic?
Where in the Constitution does the Federal Government of these presently united States get the power to make health care decisions? Giving the IRS the power to administer health care is like putting Dr. Mengele in charge of a Jewish orphanage.
What is to be done about these Obamanible outrages?
What indeed.
To all those who serve the Light,
Historian