Trainman News

Ohio Solons Get Rich Man's Tax Plot

COLUMBUS, Ohio--What was labelled a Fascist effort to reduce rich men's taxes in 1944--the try to fix income taxes at a 25 per cent figure--is being given new life in the Ohio Legislature.

Sen. David Ferguson has a resolution before the committee on taxation which proposes to amend the Constitution of the United States to impose a 25 per cent limit on income, estate and gift taxes.

Effect of the rich men's tax would be to greatly reduce the tax load for the rich, and greatly increase it for the poor and medium income earners.

When the drive got under way during the war it had the support of Frank Gannett, violent anti-FDR and anti-labor newspaper publisher; renegade Democrat Sam Pettengill; and the Committee for Constitutional Government with its guiding light, Edward A. Rumely.

They thought so well of the move to reduce rich men's taxes that they passed out 82 million pieces of propaganda, made more than 10,000 radio transcriptions, sent 350,000 telegrams, and took full-page ads in 536 newspapers and sent thousands of weekly releases to papers.

The present resolution, which proposes that the Ohio legislature petitions the Congress of the U. S. to propose repeal of the 16th amendment (income tax amendment) and substitute the power to levy income taxes not to exceed 25 per cent.

The same provisions of 25 per cent top are made to apply to estate and gift taxes, thus neatly saving millions of dollars per year for the rich, should such an amendment get past the Congress.

Such a limitation of the income tax, critics pointed out when the matter came up during the war, would so limit government income that only interest on the national debt and running expenses could be met.

Gone by the board would be social security, veterans' benefits, and most of the social advances made in the nation thru legislation.

"So, I say it is a very dangerous and Fascist-inspired amendment to our Constitution," Rep. Wright Patman (D-Tex) said in the House of Representatives in 1944, opposing just such an income tax amendment as the Ohio solons are now considering.

Under such lopsided tax burdens, small business would soon be crushed by profit-heavy Big Business, which could easily run all small business out of the picture because of the huge amounts corporations could keep.

The BRT was instrumental in bringing to light the move during the war to force the rich men's tax down the throat of the Congress.

In September, 1943, the state legislative representatives were warned by the late President Whitney of the drive for the tax to make the rich richer.

By May, 1944, 12 states had adopted the resolution and liberals and labor elements were fighting strongly to defeat the drive.

The recurrence in Ohio this year of the proposition to increase the burden of taxation on the working man and reduce the burden of taxation for the rich and for corporations is the signal for another drive by labor to halt the efforts of the anti-democratic minority to slough off their duties as citizens.

William Rasey, Ohio legislative representative, has stated that his office is ready to go into action to defeat the Ohio proposal.