Startling Szasz On Prohibition And Income Tax

Startling Szasz On Prohibition And Income Tax

In his timeline in Ceremonial Chemistry.

1913 The Sixteenth Amendment, creating the legal authority for a federal income tax, is enacted. Between 1870 and 1915, the tax on liquor provides from one-half to two thirds of the whole of the internal revenue of the United States, amounting, after the turn of the century, to about $200 million annually. The Sixteenth Amendment thus makes possible, just seven years later, the Eighteenth Amendment.

1917 The president of the American Medical Association endorses national prohibition. The House of Delegates of the Association passes a resolution stating: “Resolved, The American Medical Association opposes the use of alcohol as a beverage; and be it further Resolved, That the use of alcohol as a therapeutic agent should be discouraged.” By 1928, physicians make an estimated $40,000,000 annually by writing prescriptions for whiskey. [63]

Chuck: Is it possible that laws are passed for much different reasons than those that are publicly given, and that they have unintended consequences