The sweet 16th Amendment…
Nothing to do with driving, despite what the smooth side of my brain might hope, but everything to do with giving Congress the power to tax income directly.
When it started in 1913 (federal):
1% on incomes up to $20,000 ($600,000 today)
2% on $20,000 - $50,000
3% on $50,000 - $75,000
4% on $75,000 - $100,000
5% on $100,000 - $250,000
6% on $250,000 - $500,000
7% on $500,000+ ($15 million today)
Most Americans paid 1% or nothing at all.
What people are paying now (federal):
10% on incomes up to $11,600
12% on $11,600 - $47,150
22% on $47,150 - $100,525
24% on $100,525 - $191,950
32% on $191,950 - $243,725
35% on $243,725 - $609,350
37% on $609,350+
Even the lowest earners today pay 10%, compared to 1% or less in 1913.
In terms of purchasing power, what was barely taxable 112 years ago now puts you in the highest tax bracket.
In less than 1.5 lifetimes, we’ve gone from a system where taxes barely touched the average worker to one where the middle class is handing over nearly half of their income when you factor in income tax, payroll tax, sales tax, property tax, capital gains tax, and the countless others that didn’t even exist a century ago.
Too rich to evade, too poor to do it legally, just right to be taxed to high heavens.
If that doesn’t spell evisceration…I’m beginning to understand why they never sent me to the spelling bee.
Sadly, life doesn’t get better for the poor just because there are more of them than the middle class.
The middle class isn’t disappearing by accident; it’s being bled dry.
The only ones winning are the ones with direct access to the money printer.
Yes, the ones you HATE.
Yes, the ones you ADORE.
No matter your feelings, one fact remains: having close proximity to or controlling the money printer and being elite are the same thing.
The tax burden doesn’t shrink, it just shifts.
A dollar saved is a dollar lost, so the only real solution is to stop playing the game entirely.
Opt out.
Opt for hard money that can’t be taxed through inflation.
Opt for Bitcoin.
