At 100: Birth of the income tax

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 16th Amendment, which gave Congress the power to tax American incomes. Unlike the contentious congressional drama in passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act to avert going over the "fiscal cliff," the 16th Amendment was accorded little emotion when it received a thumbs-up from both houses in 1909.

That was because most congressmen backed the amendment for the wrong reason — they firmly believed that no such taxing proposal would ever be ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states. It was thought that wealthy Americans lobbying their state legislatures would bury it. Besides, the federal government was in good fiscal shape back then.

Sure, there were a few congressmen, such as Rep. Cordell Hull, D-Tenn., who long championed such a tax in the interests of fairness.

Hull's rationale for the tax has a contemporary ring: "I do believe that the wealth of the country should bear its just share of the burden of taxation and that it should not be permitted to shirk that duty. Anyone at all familiar with the legislative history of the nation must admit that the chief burdens of government have long been borne by those least able to bear them, while accumulated wealth has enjoyed the protection and other blessings of the government and thus far escaped most of its accompanying burdens."

More at http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130210/OPINION0106/302090323/At-100-Birth-income-tax?nclick_check=1 .

Thomas V. DiBacco is a historian and professor emeritus at American University in Washington. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.