Dean Kent (dkent@realworldtech.com) on 2/9/03 wrote:
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>Alejandro G. Belluscio (baldusi@hotmail.com) on 2/9/03 wrote:
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[...]
>>Paul,
>>Why do you call income tax a stop gap measure? It's been greatly discussed in
>>economic theory. And it's the best or second best of the politically appliable taxing rules (the other being VAT).
>
>Here in the U.S. (though perhaps Canada has a similar history), the income tax
>was originally implemented as a temporary (one year) solution to help pay for our
>involvement in the First World War. It was extended several times before it was
>made a permanent fixture. Since that time, it has paid for all of the government excesses since.

Exactly.

>
>I believe that this is what Paul was referring to - a stop-gap solution to a specific
>problem that has become so successful that there appears no way to ever eliminate it...

Exactly.