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The 16th Amendment itself was given its decisive shove through Congress in 1909 by Sen. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island (co-author of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913), who spoke for the "community of interest" of both [J.P.] Morgan and [J. D.] Rockefeller. This represented and led to an astonishing reversal of attitudes among the old-line big-business conservatives in the Senate, who had long staunchly opposed an income tax. Obviously, something was afoot to change their minds. It was that the robber barons had already figured out how to avoid the proposed income tax, especially through the establishment and use of foundations, the number of which grew from 18 in 1910 to 94 by 1920 and 267 by 1930. The super-rich have avoided the income tax ever since, leaving it to be paid instead by the middle and lower classes. -from Bill Benson's research report on the ratification of the 16th Amendment, "The Law That Never Was," Volume II (1985), pages 122-135

SAM DONALDSON: ~"[George] Soros & [Bill] Gates oppose repeal of the estate tax. GEORGE WILL: ~"Everyone knows the super-rich don't pay these estate taxes, in fact [in avoiding the estate taxes] they support a whole tax avoidance industry. These estate taxes are paid only by the middle class. If George Soros is so anxious to pay taxes, he should get busy and pay them. Why doesn't he bring all his off-shore hedge funds back here or pay all the taxes that would be due on them?" -ABC THIS WEEK, Sunday, 25 February, 2001

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