A Short History of Congress's Power to Tax

The Supreme Court has long distinguished the regulatory from the taxing power.

By PAUL MORENO

I find it amazing that until the early 1900's (nearly half the country's history) there were no federal taxes aside from tariff's on foreign goods.  It's astonishing that even until the 1930's there were relatively few federal taxes.  It seem that it was the left's 20th century hero (not to be confused with BHO, the left's 21st century hero), FDR was the one who got the ball rolling.  I suppose that should come as no big surprise.  Another great read is, The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shlaes