William Tauzin: “the tax man cometh tonight, and if there was ever a more abominable tax system than the American income tax system, we…”

“the tax man cometh tonight, and if there was ever a more abominable tax system than the American income tax system, we have yet to see it on the face of the planet. It came to use by a two-thirds vote. It did not come to this Chamber, to this body, to the American public except through a constitutional amendment that required a two-thirds vote. The first attempt to pass an income tax was declared unconstitutional because our Constitution prohibited an income tax system in our country as it was first written. So what is wrong with requiring that changes should come only with a two-thirds vote? We are not saying taxes cannot be raised in America. We are simply saying they should not be easily raised, no more easily than the American public was first inflicted with this system with a two-thirds vote when the 16th amendment was proposed and later adopted. I wish we were debating the repeal of the income tax system tonight. We have such a bill before this body, House bill 3039, a bill to establish an alternative tax system for America. This system taxes Americans twice on the same money, once when you earn it and again when you spend it, when you pay all the business taxes, when you consume American products. It taxes only American products, not products made from overseas and imported here. It is a lousy system. It costs small businesses $4 to conform to the Code for every dollar they send in tonight, and we are paying all of that cost.…”