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A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. TJ

I can get into a cut and paste quote contest but would rather not.

That government that governs least governs best. TP

But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy (1789)

"Would it not be better to simplify the system of taxation rather than to spread it over such a variety of subjects and pass the money through so many new hands?" --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1784. Papers 7:557

Justification for the flat tax!

"The government which steps out of the ranks of the ordinary articles of consumption to select and lay under disproportionate burdens a particular one because it is a comfort, pleasing to the taste or necessary to the health and will therefore be bought, is in that particular a tyranny. Taxes on consumption like those on capital or income, to be just, must be uniform." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1823. ME 15:432

TJ wouldn't like tax brackets!

I think my head just exploded.

Not so to the westerners, who revolted against the tax. Their rebellion spread swiftly but they were no match for the power of George Washington. He may have been president at the time, but was not averse to donning his old military uniform and getting back into the fray (imagine today's presidents pulling the ol' uniform out of mothballs and deciding to lead the invasion of Panama, Iraq or Somalia). Washington, with Hamilton by his side, led an army of some 12,000 men into western Pennsylvania and easily put down the revolt. That was the end of the Whiskey Rebellion although, if memory serves, the excise tax was either repealed or (unlike the whiskey) diluted.

Washington crosses the Rubicon

If I remember right old George was big whiskey distiller himself and didn't want those bootlegging rednecks cutting into his profit margin. As I said Taxes = Power.

George Washington: Major Distiller of Whiskey

George Washington was apparently the largest distiller of whiskey in the new American nation during the late 1700s. In 1798, the year before his death, Washington’s distillery at Mount Vernon produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey and produced a profit of $7,500. That was an enormous sum of money over 200 years ago.

Washington began producing whiskey at the suggestion of his plantation manager, who was Scottish. The new distiller first began by purchasing a copper still, but his first batch was so successful that he bought three more stills and built a larger distillery.

Washington’s distillery fell into disuse and was torn down about 15 years after his death. However, five years ago, archaeologists began excavating the site in preparation for its reconstruction. A $1.2 million gift from the Distilled Spirits Council of the US is funding the archaeological work and will fund the reconstruction of the distillery, which will be open to the public as an educational exhibit upon completion. It will be the only 18th century distillery operating in the country.

George Washington is also remembered as the first president of the United States.

Lemmy wrote:Not so to the westerners, who revolted against the tax. Their rebellion spread swiftly but they were no match for the power of George Washington. He may have been president at the time, but was not averse to donning his old military uniform and getting back into the fray (imagine today's presidents pulling the ol' uniform out of mothballs and deciding to lead the invasion of Panama, Iraq or Somalia). Washington, with Hamilton by his side, led an army of some 12,000 men into western Pennsylvania and easily put down the revolt. That was the end of the Whiskey Rebellion although, if memory serves, the excise tax was either repealed or (unlike the whiskey) diluted.

Washington crosses the Rubicon

I could see McCain doing that but not Obama.