I just found this

I found this quote while looking up the beginning of the income tax - a quote by Thomas Jefferson - on the general welfare clause:

To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

Wow. How true this is. I'm finding that I am liking more and more of the Founding Fathers' writings. They made such sense, and it is so applicable to today, even though it was written over 200 years ago.

Want to know the highest tax rate that's been used? Right after WW2, top income tax rate was 94% on those with incomes over a million dollars. 94%? that means for every dollar earned, 94 cents is going to the government. Confiscatory taxes! This page from the Treasury gives a good history of the taxes over the years, from pre-Colonial times to today.

For more quotes from the Founding Fathers, this page has over 250 quotes. I'm fixing to go read some right now :D