Bill Maher

In 1820, they were at 40%. And near the Civil War, they were at 60%. Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, said December 5th, 1853... Happily, I have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the financial policy of the government. Ours is almost, if not absolutely, the solitary power of Christendom having a surplus of revenue drawn immediately from imposts on commerce.

Here's Franklin Pierce saying, hey, we're like the only country in the world and we have a surplus of money and it's all from tariff taxes. Ben Siegelman wrote in 1962 in the commentary magazine article, Tariffs, Kennedy Administration and American Politics.

Here's Franklin Pierce saying, hey, we're like the only country in the world and we have a surplus of money and it's all from tariff taxes. Ben Siegelman wrote in 1962 in the commentary magazine article, Tariffs, Kennedy Administration and American Politics.

He said in the early years of the republic, all but about twenty thousand dollars of the four point five million dollars of Treasury income stemmed from tariff levies up to the Civil War. In fact, over 90 percent of the federal government's receipts came from tariffs. It's unbelievable. But but the curveball is the majority of the tariffs were collected at southern ports.

He said in the early years of the republic, all but about twenty thousand dollars of the four point five million dollars of Treasury income stemmed from tariff levies up to the Civil War. In fact, over 90 percent of the federal government's receipts came from tariffs. It's unbelievable. But but the curveball is the majority of the tariffs were collected at southern ports.

So the South, like Charleston, South Carolina, threatened many times to stop collecting the tariffs because they were in a position as an agricultural area of having to buy more expensive stuff from Europe. or more expensive stuff, relatively, from the Northern factories. So the tariffs helped the Northern factories, but really didn't help the South.

So the South, like Charleston, South Carolina, threatened many times to stop collecting the tariffs because they were in a position as an agricultural area of having to buy more expensive stuff from Europe. or more expensive stuff, relatively, from the Northern factories. So the tariffs helped the Northern factories, but really didn't help the South.

So when the Civil War started, the South held back their tariff income. And the federal government was like, uh-oh. So Lincoln pushed through an emergency income tax, and it raised $750 million to finance the Union during the Civil War. And after the war, it was repealed. No income tax. Why?

So when the Civil War started, the South held back their tariff income. And the federal government was like, uh-oh. So Lincoln pushed through an emergency income tax, and it raised $750 million to finance the Union during the Civil War. And after the war, it was repealed. No income tax. Why?

Because the South is now part of the Union and we can go back to normal collecting tariffs at the southern ports. And so this was the way it was up until the late 80s. 1800s, it was 95% tariffs. This is what's called the Gilded Age. And you had all kinds of factories and bridges made out of steel and high rise.

Because the South is now part of the Union and we can go back to normal collecting tariffs at the southern ports. And so this was the way it was up until the late 80s. 1800s, it was 95% tariffs. This is what's called the Gilded Age. And you had all kinds of factories and bridges made out of steel and high rise.

And if you've ever been to the state capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it was built around this time. It's a gilded masterpiece. I mean, it is the most, you feel like you're in some foreign palace. There was so much opulence and wealth in America at this time. And then even into the early 1900s, I wrote a book on George Washington Carver. a Tuskegee scientist from down south.

And if you've ever been to the state capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it was built around this time. It's a gilded masterpiece. I mean, it is the most, you feel like you're in some foreign palace. There was so much opulence and wealth in America at this time. And then even into the early 1900s, I wrote a book on George Washington Carver. a Tuskegee scientist from down south.

And the United Peanut Growers Association in 1921 asked Carver to go to the House Ways and Means Committee and to lobby for a tariff on peanuts imported from China because they could bring them in from China cheaper than the southern farmers could grow them. And he was successful. They passed the 1922 Fordney-McCumber tariff bill. And then there's the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill of 1930.

And the United Peanut Growers Association in 1921 asked Carver to go to the House Ways and Means Committee and to lobby for a tariff on peanuts imported from China because they could bring them in from China cheaper than the southern farmers could grow them. And he was successful. They passed the 1922 Fordney-McCumber tariff bill. And then there's the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill of 1930.

Yeah, definitely. You know, the move away from tariffs sort of snuck in the back door. You had Marxists from Germany immigrating to America and they wanted redistribution of wealth. And so they pushed through the first income tax in a peacetime in 1892, but the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Pollock versus Farmers Loan and Trust in the 1894 Supreme Court case.

Yeah, definitely. You know, the move away from tariffs sort of snuck in the back door. You had Marxists from Germany immigrating to America and they wanted redistribution of wealth. And so they pushed through the first income tax in a peacetime in 1892, but the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Pollock versus Farmers Loan and Trust in the 1894 Supreme Court case.

The Supreme Court said any legislation that discriminates based on race, religion or economic status is class legislation. It's sort of economic DEI. We're going to tax people more because of their status. And the Supreme Court said, no, it's unconstitutional. So what did Woodrow Wilson do? Amend the Constitution.

The Supreme Court said any legislation that discriminates based on race, religion or economic status is class legislation. It's sort of economic DEI. We're going to tax people more because of their status. And the Supreme Court said, no, it's unconstitutional. So what did Woodrow Wilson do? Amend the Constitution.

With the 16th Amendment in 1913, he actually tacked a 1% income tax on the top 1% richest people in the country onto the 1913 tariff bill. It's just going to tax the Rockefellers, Carnegie's, J. Paul Getty's, Astor's, Flagler's, Harriman's. It's not going to tax you and me. And then you had World War One and everybody said, OK, we had an income tax during the emergency of the Civil War.