100 Years of Income Tax

I hadn't realized it until I read this piece by John Hayward, but yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the passage of 16th Amendment, which enabled the federal government to set up the income tax system in this country. And Hayward reminds of us of some, ahem, inconvenient truths:

Allowing the government to sink its feeding tubes into the veins of American income has fueled astonishing government growth.  That first itty bitty tax levy brought in a paltry $16.6 billion in revenue, adjusted for the past century of inflation.  Today the income tax brings in $2.7 trillion.  Government inevitably grows to fill, and exceed, the space made available for it.

More, a lot more, at the link.