In Federalist Paper #30, Alexander Hamilton argues that the new American government must possess unrestrained power to impose taxes to support all the basic functions of that government – particularly the power to raise and supply an army or militia. He mentions building fleets and paying debts, but most of his examples deal with the nation’s defense and the ability to maintain standing armies and navies. Hamilton distinguishes between internal and external taxes – internal being state-imposed, and external taxes referring to duties and tariffs – but he also makes it clear that no form of government can survive without a steady, dependable supply of revenue ‘as far as the resources of the community will permit.’ 

He also believed that external taxes alone would not bring in enough revenue to fund such activities, especially during a time of war – therefore internal taxes must be imposed to ensure that this huge government bureaucracy can remain solvent. This is a perfectly logical argument to me, and it makes perfect sense, considering that under the Articles of Confederation the government had no authority to levy or collect taxes from individual states – although the states were perfectly willing and able to tax each other.

Since the tax was voluntary, of course virtually no one paid them. Under the Articles, a centralized national government wasn’t the intent – just a loose cooperation among the states. Still, without the authority and power to raise revenues through taxes, the government didn’t have enough money to maintain a military force. 

At one point, the Continental Congress was forced to disband the army because of this weakness in the Articles.

One of the few valid functions of government is the protection of its people and their property. Without the mandate to support the maintenance of armed forces for our protection through taxation, no central government is legitimate, let alone viable. This brings up the question of patriotism as it relates to taxes: specifically, the idea of cutting taxes for the wealthy in a so-called time of war. 

If nothing else, this sort of pandering to the wealthy in a time of crisis helps to alleviate their burden for such a profoundly important decision, like going to war. Cutting taxes during war time further separates the rich from bearing any sort of financial responsibility for the (usually illegal) actions of their government. The corporations who own this country and control most of its policies don’t believe it is their patriotic duty to pay their fair share of taxes to support and fund the very policies which benefit them the most.

The elite have nothing but contempt for the average taxpayer, and their teams of lawyers and political lobbyists exploit every possible loophole in order to avoid the same patriotic obligations they demand from the working classes. A recent study showing that more than half of US corporations pay no federal taxes whatsoever is further proof – as if any were needed – that there can be no justice in America until we have a radical re-distribution of our nation’s wealth away from evil, treasonous corporations and back into the hands of the real engine of the economy: working people.

[Repost from 2018]