advertisement

Government can give, also can take

Government can give, also can take

David Werdegar, responding to my earlier Fence Post letter, points out that Article 1, Section 8, and the 16th Amendment of the constitution empowers Congress to collect taxes to pay the debts of the country.

Mr. Werdegar’s point is that the federal government has the legal right to tax us. However, Article 1, Section 8, limits the federal government to specific activities, and it is for those activities that the federal government may collect taxes. Please read it. Much of what the Federal government does is not included in that list. The states, by the way, are not limited in the same way. Unfortunately, as a country we seem to be beyond quibbling about these limits.

Mr. Werdegar also suggests that if I don’t like the way our government spends money, I should vote appropriately. I do, and I did. My purpose in writing the original letter was to persuade others to vote for more limited government.

It was Gerald Ford who said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

Mark Bodett

Wheaton

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.