few folks paid federal income tax until 1930s (if memory serves, part of debate over 16th amendment to u.s. constitution - ratified in 1913 - was over whether or not wages would be taxed)...about 15% paid prior to new deal, about 80% were paying by end of ww2...fdr's one 'great' tax policy was to extend income tax to working people to pay for 'welfare' and 'warfare' states... michael hoover
I am currently reading Gore Vidal's "Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta". He argues that the big boost in federal taxes was necessary to fund the cold war. He refers to Edmund Wilson's "The Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest" who also makes this point.
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